Each of us generates trash throughout each day. The usual routine is to make sure that the trash that each of us generate ends up in 'the trash can' in each room. From there, we know that the trash that is deposited will then get shipped to either a dump or a boat to another country. Did you know that? What if other countries cannot except anymore trash? Why do I ask this question? Read onto find out.
Recently, in an article in The New York Times titled "‘The Dump Killed My Son’: Mountains of Garbage Engulf India’s Capital" the author reported two stunning statistics regarding gigantic trash piles which were looming close to neighborhoods and carrying the possibility of transmitting disease. Here is an excerpt which caught my eye regarding total amount of waste:
In the metropolitan area of Delhi, which includes the capital New Delhi, trash heaps are towering monuments to India’s growing waste crisis. About 80 billion pounds of trash have accumulated at four official dumping sites, on the fringes of a capital already besieged by polluted air and toxic water, according to the supervisors of the dumps.
Some of these dumps are simply open aired rooms which span up to 17 stories in height. Yes, that is equivalent to around 170 feet in height. WOW. The weight in trash was another mind blowing statistic which was too much to comprehend. Therefore, I decided to carry out a little dimensional analysis in order to better understand this mind blowing number -- 80 billion pounds of trash. I asked the following question:
How many trash carts could be filled with 80 billion pounds of trash?
How many pounds of trash in a trash cart?
In order to start the analysis, the metric which will be used to cast this enormous number needs to be known. The trash cart of interest is shown below:
This trash cart is commonly used in the United States by various waste management corporations. The average amount of trash in pounds which each can hold might be tricky to figure out -- since not all trash weighs the same or takes up the same volume -- not all trash has the same density!
To get an answer, Google can be consulted by inserting the following question: "how many pounds of trash does a 96 gallon trash cart hold?" The answer is shown below:
According to text in image, a 96 gallon trash can is able to hold up to 250 lbs of trash. As I just mentioned, the exact amount of trash (weight) is difficult to calculate for a given volume. Trash might weigh different amounts depending on the composition of the trash. At this point, you might be a little disappointed. No worries.
A common theme in this blog site is to "approximate" an answer. Which is what is being done by us when we consult Google. With an answer obtained, the analysis may be carried out to obtain a final answer. With this in mind, lets move on to calculate the total amount of trash cans which may be filled with 80 billion pounds of trash.
How Many Trash Bins Hold 80 Billion Pounds Of Trash?
In the last section, the amount of trash was determined (in weight) which each trash bin (or can) could hold. Given now the enormous statistic of 80 billion pounds -- the amount of trash in four different sites within the city Delhi, how many trash bins would be required to hold all of that trash?
The calculation can be done in a single step once the values (or numbers) and units of measurement have been inspected to ensure uniformity. By uniformity of units, we mean that if a number such as the total amount of trash is reported in 'units of pounds', then our conversion factor must also be expressed in 'units of pounds' -- which is the case.
In the paragraphs above, the conversion factor for the 'density' of trash was determined by asking the search engine Google. The density of trash was determined to be (approximated to be) around 250 pounds/96 gallons. Density traditionally is expressed in units of 'grams/milliliters or kilograms/cubic meter. For the sake of the current analysis, we can choose the units - we wish - as long as the answer is expressed in units typical for density.
Since a single 96 gallon trash can (or bin) holds around 250 pounds of trash, the density can be expressed as follows:
We drop the 96 gallons and substitute 'per trash can' -- meaning 1 trash can = 96 gallons. Yes, volume is expressed as a single trash can -- strange. This is acceptable as long as we state our assumption explicitly for the reader. Therefore, the total amount of trash cans needed to hold 80 billion pounds of trash is calculated by dividing the total amount of trash by the density of trash as shown below:
The answer indicates that a total of 320,000,000 trash cans or 320 million trash cans. Wow! Not a small amount. Naturally, when I read a startling statistic like this, I wonder why such an enormous amount of trash has been allowed to accumulate over time? What about the propagation of disease? Is there a possibility of disease propagation with such a staggering amount?
In another section of the same article, the description of a single pile was 17 stories high? That is over 170 feet tall (an approximate value) as mentioned above. Wow. Now that the following analysis has been performed, you (the reader) have been liberated to carry out similar analyses using the same method. In addition, analyses such as the one above shed a greater amount of light on the magnitude of the problem at hand -- the accumulation of trash.
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