Durham’s landfill is closed — so where does our trash go?

Durham’s landfill has been closed since 1994 and all of our trash is trucked ONE HUNDRED miles away to a landfill in Sampson County. That’s a 200 mile round trip for an average of TEN semi-tractor trailers EVERY DAY!

Those trucks get an average of 6 miles per gallon — so 10 trucks per day burns 250 gallons of diesel fuel. So, in one week it’s 1,500 gallons and in one YEAR it’s 78,000 gallons! WOW!

Now, that’s a LOT of pollution and a lot of money spent on fuel.

Here are some articles about trash that you may find interesting:

“Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean” — Jambeck Research Group

Durham’s landfill is closed — so where does our trash go?

So how can you create less trash?

Here are some articles about trash that you may find interesting:

“Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean” — Jambeck Research Group

“Plastic superhighway: the awful truth of our hidden ocean waste” — Laura Trethewey for thegaurdian.com

Your Recycling Gets Recycled, Right? Maybe, or Maybe Not — the New York Times

“Garbage Patches: How Gyres Take Our Trash Out to Sea” — National Ocean Service

“The Terrible Truth About Trash” — Laura Tenenbaum for Forbes.com

U.S. Recycling Industry Is Struggling To Figure Out A Future Without China — Christopher Joyce for NPR.org

The Truth About Recycling — The 5 Gyres Institute