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Fewer Purchases Means Less Trash In Landfills

Tribune file photo by JIM REED

In Pinellas County, some waste is used to produce energy. The county overall reported a 16 percent drop in waste tonnage in February.

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By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 19, 2009

Updated: 03/19/2009 08:38 am

TAMPA - Perhaps you held off buying that new refrigerator, or didn't buy a new home altogether. Either way, that meant a bit less garbage on the way to the landfill.

Multiply that frugality across several million people in the Tampa Bay area, and the down economy is having a direct impact on the flow of garbage to government dumps.

"Less commercial activity is the driving force behind this," said James Ransom, a spokesman for Hillsborough County's solid waste department. Less home construction means less construction debris, plus less waste from new lawns and residents.

Hillsborough had an 8 percent drop in the flow of solid waste into landfills in 2008.

Pinellas County recorded almost the same drop-off in waste tonnage; February figures fell 16 percent.

Solid waste tends to be a "trailing indicator" of the economy, said Deb Bush, operations manager for Pinellas County's solid waste operations.

When people buy fewer things, there are fewer things to haul to the trash.

Also, some of the decline comes from the popularity of new Web services such as Freecycle.org that match up people who have items they're offering for free. Some is also due to conservation and more people recycling electronics and other home goods, especially with the conversion to digital television, which has spawned a wave of people recycling their analog TVs.

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