How to use this: Pick a scenario button at the top to get started. Then slide the controls and choose the bins below to match your family’s home. The big number is the pounds of trash each person sends to the landfill every day. Santa Monica’s Zero Waste goal is 1.1 pounds per person per day, which means a 95% diversion rate: almost everything gets recycled or composted instead. Watch the trash-can chart to see how fast your landfill pile grows over a school year, and try moving food scraps to the organics cart to see what happens to methane. When you’re done, copy the link at the bottom to share it with your class.
Pounds your household sends to the landfill, adding up from September to June, against a typical home and the goal you picked.
Landfilled pounds per household per week by category, typical home in your region vs. your scenario. Hover for what was diverted.
Move any lever. Each change is ranked here by the landfill pounds per week it saves for the whole household.
The link below encodes every slider. Anyone who opens it sees exactly this scenario.
Interaction pattern inspired by En-ROADS, created by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan. Companion to the Household Carbon Simulator and the other wann.org simulators. Independent model, not affiliated with any city or hauler.
Everything runs in your browser. Each material stream is built per person per week, then sent to the landfill, the recycling cart, the organics cart, or prevented at the source. Landfill pounds per person per day = household landfill pounds per week ÷ people ÷ 7. Diversion rate = (recycled + composted) ÷ everything you set out. Carbon uses EPA WARM net factors per short ton for each stream and destination, shown as two positive numbers: emissions from what you landfill (the positive landfill factors) and emissions avoided by what you recycle, compost or prevent (the negative credits, sign flipped).
The Household Waste Simulator estimates how many pounds of trash, recycling and compost your home throws out each week, and what happens to it. Try swaps like reusable bottles and bags, composting food scraps or buying less packaging, and see how much waste you keep out of the landfill and how much methane and carbon that avoids.
Material amounts use EPA’s Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling. Greenhouse gas impacts use EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) and EPA research on food waste methane. California rules and diversion data come from CalRecycle, including SB 1383 organics recycling. Local defaults use Santa Monica’s Zero Waste plan and FY 2025-26 rate table. Food waste figures use ReFED.
Key sources:
EPA estimates about 4.9 pounds of municipal solid waste per person per day, before recycling and composting.
Yes. Under SB 1383, California cities must collect food scraps and yard waste for composting. Check your city’s list for exactly what is accepted.
Food breaking down in a landfill releases methane, a greenhouse gas that traps much more heat than carbon dioxide over the short term.
Composting food scraps and switching to a reusable water bottle and bags are quick wins for most households.
See all Waste & Reuse guides →
Built and reviewed by the Accessible Sustainability Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated by the Wann Heritage Foundation. Last updated October 5, 2026. Results are estimates for education and planning. Questions or corrections: contact@wann.org.