The Green Groove by Trish Smith
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According to the Clean Air Council, 4.39 pounds of trash are produced every day in the U.S., and that equates to about 56 tons of trash per year. What's sad is that only about one-tenth of the trash gets recycled. The rest of it gets dumped into our increasingly crowded landfills. Not only does that trash contaminate our water and soil, but it also makes us Americans look like we don't give a hoot about the environment.

Now I don't know about you, but I think that we could learn a little about reducing and recycling our waste from other countries who are well on their way to solving the landfill problem. One such country is Israel, whose Ministry of the Environment has taken successful steps to reduce the amount of waste the entire country generates.

Back in 2001, the Israeli Cabinet decided that all government ministries and any affiliates bodies would recycle and reduce any waste that was produced in their offices. That included everything from used batteries to laboratory waste. Its eventual target: to reach a 35%-40% recovery rate in 2005 and a 50% rate by 2010.

Did this ruling work? Let's take a look at some of its effects:

• 500 illegal dumps were improved or shut down
• 74 out of the 77 sites that received domestic waste on a daily basis were closed
• 10 sites following closure were rehabilitated
• More than 80% of the country's waste is disposed or treated in an environmentally sound manner
• Waste disposal site owners and managers now have to pay a landfill fee
• Over 4,000 collection bins were distributed to 90 local authorities (this number will hopefully double by next year)
• Half of the cost of backyard composting devices for gardening purposes is now subsidized

These are only a few of the eco friendly effects produced from the Ministry of the Environment's recycling initiatives. For a full list you can check out the website's Toward Waste Recovery file.

Did I mention that in addition to reducing waste, Israel has created a Green Tax Reform aimed at eliminating automobile pollution?

Recycling rates in Israel have jumped from 3% of municipal solid waste in the 1990s to nearly 14% by the end of 2000, so it's obvious that Israel's Ministry of the Environment knows what it's doing. Other countries, especially the U.S., can learn a lesson from these great green initiatives, and maybe one day we can work together to eliminate waste entirely!