I must admit I was not surprised to hear that the US ranked dead last on the 2014 Greendex, a collaborative effort between National Geographic and Globe Scan to survey 18,000 consumers from 18 countries in order to measure and monitor consumer progress towards environmentally sustainable consumption.

It’s no secret that the US is lagging far behind our European, South American, South African and Asian counterparts. In fact, American consumers’ behavior has ranked dead last and is the least sustainable country since the start of the survey back in 2008.

Even more alarming, we have increased the amount of waste being produced each year. In 2013, Americans produced 254 million tons of trash, up by 3 million from 2012. That figure works out to roughly 4.5 pounds of trash per person/per day. Back in 1960 that number was 2.68 per person/per day.

Don’t despair, there are some US cities that have made a valiant effort at creating sustainable communities. Four such cities are from California; Fresno, Fremont, Anaheim and San Diego. Then there is the Texan city of San Antonia, the Vermont city of Burlington, The Pennsylvania city of Pittsburgh, the Florida city of Jacksonville, the Wisconsin city of Madison and the North Carolina city of Durham.

As Americans, we owe it to our communities and country to make a conscience effort to reduce, reuse and recycle. I humbly suggest we take a look at how we can begin to reduce our carbon footprint. Please take a look at this ’10 Myths About Recycling’ infographic created and shared by Perfect Rubber Mulch to see how to get started.

I believe that we can make America #EnvironmentallyFriendly by creating a social media movement challenging our citizens to set an example. Share with us on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram ways in which you have helped #USSustainability and made our great country a #GreenUS .

Graphic by Perfect Rubber Mulch.