Decomposition time for what you
throw away! Why recycling is a better idea!
Item Decomposition Time:
glass bottle approximately one million years
plastic 6-pack cover 450 years
aluminum can 200-500 years
rubber boot sole 50-80 years
leather up to 50 years
nylon fabric 30-40 years
plastic film container 20-30 years
painted wooden stake 13 years
plastic bag 10-20 years
plastic coated paper 5 years
wool clothing 1-5 years
cigarette butt 1-5 years
cotton rag 1-5 months
orange peel or banana peel 2-5 weeks
Styrofoam container over 1 million years
Plastic jug 1 million years
disposable diaper 550 years
tinned can 90 years
leather shoe 45 years
paper bag 1 month
Next time, recycle. Don't just throw.
| Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water |
| Recycling one aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a TV for 3 hours |
| Recycling one glass bottle or jar saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours |
| Recycling one ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 1,000–2,000 gallons of gasoline |
| More than 30 million trees are cut down to produce a year’s supply of newspapers |