Environmental Solutions |
Garbage Facts 1.Plastic is not the material that takes the longest to disintegrate- glass and aluminum both take longer. 2.One third of waste that ends up in landfills is compostable. 3.The average American creates 3,285 pounds of garbage annually. 4. 2 million plastic bottles are thrown away every 5 minutes in the USA alone! more trash statisitcs 5.The largest man-made object in the world is the Statan Island Landfill (as of April 2011). It was spread across 2,200 acres, and it was taller than the Statue of Liberty! Energy Facts 1.CF lights are up to six times more efficient than incandescent (the dome- shaped lights). 2.Farming organically uses 50% less energy than farming conventionally. 3.It takes the same amout of petroleum (oil) to make 14 plastic bags as it does to drive a car 1 mile. 4.Recycling only one plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60 watt bulb for up to six hours! 5.14%-25% of the energy used in your home is used to heat water. 6.The USA wastes more electric energy than Japan uses. 7.It takes more energy to display the color white on a computer screen than a darker color - that's why this webpage's main background color isn't white. 8.About 52% of the USA's electricity is made from coal. 9.When coal is burned, there are radioactive byproducts. 10.80% of the world's emissions are from: North America, Europe, China, Japan, Australia, India, Indonesia, South Korea, South Africa, Russia, and Brazil (see a map here). Recycling Facts 1.If you live in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Oregon, Iowa, or Hawaii, you will get a $0.05 refund for recycling plastic bottles. 2.Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 380 gallons of oil, 4,000 kilowatts of energy, and 7,000 gallons of water. 3.One car's worth of energy and resources can be used to produce 100 bicycles. Composting Facts 1. Add a little bit of water to make things compost faster. 2. Things will also compost faster if you put your composter in a sunny place (but remember that they can be a little bit smelly, so don't put them too close to your house!) 3. Look at the list on the right of things you can compost - you'll be surprised at some of the things! 4. Use a shovel to mix around the things in your composter; whatever you've put in there will decompose faster. Pollution Facts 1.There is a such thing as space pollution, and it can be very dangerous- a chip of paint can puncture an astronat's suit because it's orbiting the earth at such a high speed. 2.There is a such thing as light pollution, as is there a such thing as noise pollution. 3.Just one gallon of paint or only a quart of motor oil can pollute about 250,000 gallons of drinking water when spilled outside. 4.The average person emits about 5.5 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, but the average American emits about 27 tons of CO2 annually. Click here to see how much carbon dioxide you emit. 5.Every year, about 100,000 marine animals alone are killed by plastic bags. 6.The USA accounts for 22% of the world's carbon pollution. Water Facts 1.Americans use an average of 80-100 gallons of water each day at home. 2.46% of the earth's people don't have water piped to their homes. 3.20% of our water is used to domesticate animals, while 66% of our water, including this 20%, is used to grow food. 4.The average shower uses about 20 gallons of water. 5. In Connecticut alone, about 500,000,000 water bottles are sold every year (from Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection). 6. You use more water in your toilet than anywhere else in your house- 5-7 gallons per flush! 7.It virtually takes 1,857 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef! Click here to see more amounts of water used to produce other items. 8.An average faucet in your home can pour out 2 gallons of water per minute you leave it running! Food Facts 1.Organic foods generally contain 27% more vitamin C, 21.1% more iron, 29.3% more magnesium, 13.6% more phosphorus, and 15.1% less nitrates (nitrates are linked with cancer) than non-organic foods. 2.About one out of every $10 is spent on packaging- if a frozen food costs $10, the food itself is actually worth about $9 and the leftover dollar is really for the plastic and other materials that is used to package it. 3.80% of America's seafood is imported. Importing uses a lot more energy than just catching the food locally. Oil Spills 1.Every year 10-25 million gallons of oil are spilled. Tree Facts 1.If each person in the world planted two seedlings a year for the next ten years, it would make up for all the deforestation from the past ten years. 2.China stopped all deforestation in 1999. 3.Brazil wants to reduce deforestation by 70% by 2017. 4.The program "Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign" has planted over eleven billion trees since it was founded. 5.Between 2000-2005, the top countries for deforestation were (in order of acres deforested): Brazil, Indonesia, Sudan, Myanmar, Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela. 6.31% of the Earth's surface is made up of forests. Other Facts 1.CF lights contain mercury, so make sure you dispose of them properly. 2.Scientists think that the North Pole will turn mostly to water in the summer of 2050. 3.11,000 commercial planes take off every 8 hours in the USA alone. 4.2 countries in conflict consume about 100 times more resources than 2 countries who are friendly. 5.Changing ecosystems, high acid levels in oceans, and loss of habitat are putting 1.6 million species of animals in danger of extinction. 6.By 2300, half of the earth won't be able to support life. |
Fact of the WeekThe average American creates 3,285 pounds of garbage annually.
Idea of the WeekOpen the curtains. Why use unnecessary electricity when you could use natural lighting and be able to see the outdoors at the same time? Opening the curtains can also help you heat your house.
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Compostable Items:
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