There is a new book out by Elizabeth Royte called "Garbage Land: on the secret trail of trash." Royte decided it was time to analyze her own personal garbage and then follow it to its end. I have to admit I learned a few facts about garbage. So, sharpen your pencils, brew a cup of organic tea and test your knowledge of recycling and garbage.

1. What is glass made from?
1. Most glass is made from 4 simple ingredients: white sand, soda ash, limestone, and feldspar. Once sand is turned into glass, it remains glass and can be remelted (recycled) into another glass bottle over and over again. Recycling one glass bottle will light a 20 watt compact fluorescent bulb (equivalent to a 75 watt bulb) for over 20 hours.

2. Why is aluminum so valuable?

2. The simple answer is that it is easy to recycle. When aluminum was first discovered, it was so valuable that Napoleon had an aluminum rattle made for his son. It takes five million tons of bauxite ore and thirty-two million barrels of crude oil to produce one million tons of soda cans. Using old aluminum cans to make new cans saves up to 95 percent of the energy needed to make cans from bauxite and that cuts related air pollution by 95 percent.

3. How is plastic made?

3. The raw material for plastic is ethylene, a gas derived from natural gas or from a fraction of crude oil that is similar to natural gas. First the gas is heated then refrigerated. It is then combined with solvents, additives and other chemicals. The mixture is then polymerized to create long-chain molecules. This new polymer is extruded, pelletized or flaked. The finished product is called a resin. The resin is re-extruded and made into containers, films (plastic wrap) and other products. When Hurricane Katrina disrupted the natural gas pipelines, the cost of resins skyrocketed for plants in the northeast. Some companies are beginning to look at corn-based polymers more seriously.

4. What percentage of our waste stream is paper?

4. Up to 30 percent of our household and business trash is paper products. Before the 1860's most paper was made from cotton and linen rags. Because of the growing demand for paper products, techniques were developed to use wood fiber in papermaking. A wood-grinding machine was invented in 1840 In Germany and the first ground-wood pulp mill came online in 1867 in New England. Making new paper from old paper uses 55 percent less energy than making paper from trees and it reduces related air pollution by 95 percent. Recycled paper can be substituted for virgin paper in many products without any loss of quality.

5. How much raw material does it take to make your computer?

5. According to Royte, approximately 1.8 tons of raw materials are used to manufacture your average desktop computer and monitor.

6. What percentage of California Redemption Value (CRV) cans and bottles get recycled?

6. The California Department of Conservation, Division of Recycling reported that in the first six months of 2005, Californians brought back 65 percent of their cans and bottles. Aluminum tops the charts with 77 percent followed by glass at 62 percent and #1 PETE plastic bottles at 49 percent. The Container Recycling Institute estimates that a trillion aluminum cans have been tossed into American landfills since 1972. If those cans were dug up they would be worth $21billion.

7. How many states have bottle bills?

7. Oregon passed the first bottle bill in 1971. Today, only 11 states have bottle bills. They are Oregon, California and Hawaii in the west. Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Iowa and Michigan complete the list.

8. When was the first sanitary landfill created?

8. In 1937 in Fresno, California, the public works commissioner Jean Vincenz carefully positioned and compacted the city’s waste then buried it with soil. The soil kept down vermin, birds, and odors and gave Vincenz the hole for the next day’s trash.

 9. What percentage of our trash is organic waste?

9. Residents put up to 45 percent organic material in their trash. Organic waste includes: food waste (17 percent), yard waste (16 percent), textiles (3 percent), and other (9 percent). Don’t forget to fill your yard waste recycling barrel and consider starting a compost pile for your food scraps.

10. When is the next Recycled Products Trade Show?

10. REXPO is held January 19-21, 2006 during the 30th Stockton Ag Expo at the San Joaquin Fairgrounds. For more information call (209)547-2763 or click on the link on www.recycle-guide.com