A System Design to Reduce the Amount of Organic Waste Disposed in Trash

Abstract

The current trend in modern society is to use, consume and discard. People typically generate large portions of trash without fully understanding what they are actually disposing of. The majority of the trash people in the United States dispose of finds its way to landfills where it is buried indefinitely. Organic waste is one of the leading components that is discarded into trash and is buried. As large landfills are a relatively new concept, little is fully understood about the extent of the long-term environmental impact this has on the environment. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a system to alter the amount of “organic waste” people discard in trash that is not already recycled on a mass scale. This will reduce elements allocated to landfills, prolong their life, and help improve the environment. The creation of this system will target organic waste that is discarded at residential and commercial properties, and will be the focus of this thesis. The following information will provide consumers with a foundation for understanding the impacts organic waste has on the environment and their opportunities to lessen that impact. This thesis will also provide designers a process to develop systems to reduce substances that are disposed in landfills.