Garbage

Riddle me this:  how do American households produce so much garbage?

We have twice weekly pick-up and average one or two 13-gallon bags per week.  Granted, we don't have an infant in the house, and there are only three of us.

Our service supplies huge, 50-gallon garbage cans, which is laughable.

To me, anyhow.  The house across the street regularly fills their garbage can plus puts extra bags on the side.  They don't own a business or work from home - in fact, I rarely see them come in or out of the house.  What are they doing to generate 300 gallons or so of garbage every week?

Really, I'm puzzled.  

I do note that they don't put out a county-supplied recycling bin - nor any container, our recycling service isn't fussy.  And yes, we do to some lengths to recycle paper, cardboard and other items that many households trash.

But still, it's enough to make me want to sneak over in dark of night and undo their Hefty bags.  Because you really, really wonder.