Waste Statistics

Measurement Decisions

Unit of measure = pounds per week
Per person is the number of people that are in the Businesses in Residence and regular volunteers
Industry standards for waste per person/per month were taken from: NYC Mayor's Office on Environmental Coordination (Chapter 14)

Average NY Office Space Waste Amounts from NYC CEQR Technical Manual

Garbage goes out on Fridays. It is picked up by the City of Detroit Department of Public Services.
Recycled material (paper, cardboard, styrofoam, glass, metal and plastics) goes to our waste/recycling station just at the edge of the green alley, next to Motor City Brewing Works. It is picked up weekly by Recycle Here.
Compost goes to 2 locations: Palmer Park, where we mix it with spent brewing grains from Motor City Brewing Works and horse manure; and some to our worms, located in the greenhouse.

Monthly waste statistics

With spike in January, we'll be looking at Feb and March numbers to see if this was just a blip. If numbers continue to increase, we'll need to do another trash audit.

Monthly waste statistics per person

Monthly waste comparison, Green Garage vs industry standards

This chart compares our waste output with an industry standard of 13 pounds of waste per person per week, which equates to about 56 pounds of waste per person per month. As the numbers of people in the building have risen throughout the year, our waste numbers have remained surprisingly constant. The 'industry standard' red line shows how these numbers might have looked if we were a typical office building.

In January we had 65 people in the building and 48 lbs of waste. According to the NYC Mayor's Office on Environmental Coordination for 65 people, the industry standard for waste would equate to 3,600 lbs per month.