Recent reports from six cities which have complete collection systems show considerable variation in the per capita amount collected. These cities report as follows:
┌────────────┬──────────────────────────┐ │ │Lbs. of Garbage per Capita│ ├────────────┼──────────────────────────┤ │Columbus │ 203⅓│ │Grand Rapids│ 97 │ │Buffalo │ 80 │ │Worcester │ 127 │ │Rochester │ 260 │ │Cleveland │ 162 │ └────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
The average weight of garbage per cubic yard according to statistics from nine large American cities has been from 1,100 to 1,475 pounds, and the number of pounds per one thousand of population per day from 331 to 875.
The food conservation campaign throughout the nation since our entry into the world-wide war, however, has created havoc with garbage production figures and estimates. Although it was known for many years that the American housewife has been a most notorious profligate in the waste of food, it was not until the war forced upon America the necessity for food conservation that there was any decrease in the contents of the garbage pail. Remarkable changes have been reported by cities, the following reductions by New York State cities being typical:
┌─────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Name of City │ Amount of Garbage Collected During │ ├─────────────┼─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┤ │ │ June, 1916 │ July, 1916 │ June, 1917 │ July, 1917 │ ├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │Rochester │ 2563 tons │ 2580 tons │ 1,870 tons │ 2,167 tons │ │New York City│ │ │ │ │ │ (Boro. │ 82,503 cu. │ 89,568 cu. │ 76,550 cu. │ 84,628 cu. │ │ Manhattan) │ yds. │ yds. │ yds. │ yds. │ │ (Boro. │ │ │ │ │ │ Brooklyn) │ │ │ │ │ │Kingston │ 140 tons │ 140 tons │ 120 tons │ 120 tons │ │Cortland │ 37½ tons │ 37½ tons │ 31½ tons │ 31½ tons │ │Schenectady │312 tons, 680│ 350 tons │330 tons, 655│ 398 tons, │ │ │ lbs. │ │ lbs. │ 1,400 lbs. │ │[52]Syracuse │ 1,100 tons │ 1,373 tons │ 1,062 tons │ 1,087 tons │ │Albany │ 954 bbls. │ 1,094 bbls. │ 786 bbls. │ 877 bbls. │ │Buffalo │ 2,319.770 │ 1,250.280 │ 2,247.790 │ 1,748.700 │ │ │ tons │ tons │ tons │ tons │ │Utica │40 tons daily│40 tons daily│35 tons daily│35 tons daily│ └─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘