Did you know that...? 

• The medals that honored the winning athletes at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver were the first in history to contain gold, silver and copper recovered from end-of-life electronics otherwise destined for the landfill.  The 2016 Olympic medals were made from recycled mirrors and x-ray plates while the ribbons attached to the medals were made from recycled plastic bottles.

• If you recycle just two gallons of used oil, it can generate enough electricity to run an average household for almost 24 hours.

• Americans throw away enough trash every minute to fill a house. At least 39.9% of the waste stream in the U.S. is paper.

• Five recycled soda bottles make enough fiberfill for one ski jacket.

• Every year, we make enough plastic film to shrink wrap Texas.

• If you stacked the aluminum cans that people sent to the landfills, in just five weeks they would reach the Moon!

• Mesa collected more than 32,000 tons of recyclables from the Blue Barrel Program and more than 17,000 tons of green waste from the Green Barrel Program in 2018.  However, Mesa residents still sent more than 122,000 tons of trash to the landfill.

Visit Earth911 to learn more about recycling and other important environmental issues.