Your Trash is Older than You Are

Ever wonder how long it takes the trash you throw away to break down in a landfill? The answer is that, for most items, your garbage will stick around longer than you will. Since the three necessary components for decomposition – sunlight, oxygen, and moisture – are hard to come by in a landfill, the trash we deposit there isn't likely to break down any time soon.

Check out these rough estimates from the United States Composting Council and the New York City Department of Sanitation for how long it takes common items to degrade in a landfill.

• Glass bottles: one million years
• Plastic bags: 500 years
• Plastic bottles: 500 years
• Aluminum cans: 80-200 years
• Cigarette butts: 1-5 years
• Newspapers: 2-4 weeks
• Apple cores: 1-2 months

As you can see from the data, the items that take the longest to biodegrade are also the most recyclable. Remember these numbers the next time you make a mistake and throw away your soda can or water bottle instead of recycling it; it's a mistake that will last not just a lifetime, but more than several lifetimes.