Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet
icon backReturn to Entries

New Hampshire

Nestled in northern New England, the U.S. state of New Hampshire boasts of its White Mountains, sparkling lakes, and beautiful autumn foliage. With its glorious state motto of “Live Free or Die” and Yankee attitude of self-reliance—it was the first of the original 13 colonies to declare independence from Great Britain—New Hampshire also prides itself on its independent thinking and way of life.

Residents of New Hampshire combine this deep respect and appreciation for nature with a “cando” attitude toward problem solving. Perhaps nowhere is this union of self-sufficiency and environmental ethos more evident than in the state's efforts of dealing with the generation, transportation, and disposal of solid waste. Although one of the smallest of the U.S. states in terms of both population and area, the state of New Hampshire looms large in its proficiency in addressing the issue of solid waste. In a country where the average citizen generates 4.5 pounds of waste every single day, and in an era of consumption and waste, New Hampshire's success in maintaining a relatively low level of solid waste generation is certainly worthy of note.

Source Reduction

Particularly striking is the fact that of the 50 states, New Hampshire ranks fourth in the estimated per capita generation of municipal solid waste. In other words, New Hampshire's estimated solid waste generation of 0.97, as measured in tons per person per year, is bested only by the states of Idaho, North Carolina, and Connecticut. New Hampshire's rate is below the U.S. average of 1.38 tons per person per year and significantly less than that of the state of Indiana which, with a rate of 2.15 tons per person per year, generates more solid waste on a per capita basis than any other state. This achievement was not unplanned; source reduction of solid waste has been a principal goal of the state of New Hampshire since the turn of the millennium. Source reduction received significant attention in both a 2001 report by the governor's Solid Waste Task Force as well as the 2003 publication of the State of New Hampshire Solid Waste Plan. Very similar to the concept of “hand-me-down” clothing that so many younger siblings receive from their older brothers and sisters, source reduction focuses on the reuse of a product before its ultimate disposal.

Recycling

Source reduction of solid waste is important in New Hampshire, though it is not the only success that the state enjoys when it comes to the issue of solid waste. In particular, the state's municipal recycling programs have made great progress since the 1970s. While there is no state-mandated recycling program, 228 of the state's 234 communities provide access to recycling at the municipal level. Over the years, the number of municipalities offering opportunity to recycle increased significantly along with the amount of material being recycled. From 1990 to 2008, the raw tonnage of commercial and residential recycling and composting has experienced a tenfold increase, swelling from approximately 40,000 tons to more than 400,000 tons. Paper and paper products, such as cereal boxes, are the leading portion of New Hampshire's recycling stream. Glass comprises far less of the total amount of recycling, perhaps in part because of the fact

...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Read next

More like this

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

close

Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches

close
close
close Signed In to profile You are signed in as:
close
Logged in Institution Institution