BIODEGRADABLE MATERIAL: Material that readily decomposes, especially by bacteria, into natural elements.

COMPOSTING: A process that converts most organic materials, such as food and yard trimmings, to humus by micro-organic activity.

GARBAGE: Wet or dry discarded materials that are not recovered.

LANDFILL: Waste burial between layers of earth, the final destination of unused, unrecovered materials.

POST-CONSUMER WASTE: Waste generated from residential or commercial sources that have completed their intended use (aluminum cans, soda bottles, old newspapers and scrap paper).

PRE-CONSUMER WASTE: Waste from any manufacturing process, such as glass broken in the factory or paper offcuts from a paper mill; specifically, materials that never reach the consumer.

RECYCLING: Any process by which materials otherwise destined for disposal are collected, separated, remanufactured and reused (soda bottles converted into fabric or newspaper into cardboard).

REDUCE: A method of waste reduction in which we create less waste in the first place by minimizing packaging or eliminating disposable product manufacturing.

REUSE: Use of descarded materials in the same or another way as was originally intended.

WASTE STREAM: Total amount of garbage produced by a community.