Every year, in the United States alone, more than 230 million tons of waste ends up in landfills. By some estimates, more than 70% of this waste could be reused or recycled. Teaching the next generation how to effectively separate trash in a way that is both waste reducing and fun could ultimately have significantly positive effects on environmental, economic and public health problems. Helping them to understand the overall impact of our consumer culture -- that trash doesn't simply disappear once it leaves our hands -- can be a first step in helping to reduce our culture of disposability.

 

With all this in mind, we created Trash Dash, a fast paced game in which players race to put more trash into their own appropriate recycling bins than their opponents, while minimizing the amount of trash left in their "landfill" at the end of the game. "One Person's Trash Is Another's Treasure" cards give players a bonus while reinforcing the idea that much of what we think of as useless in our own lives still holds great potential utility for others.