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The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years.
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99.5 percent of all fresh water on Earth is in icecaps and glaciers.
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Each gallon of gas used by a car contributes about 19 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. For a single car driving 1,000 miles a month, that adds up to 120 tons of CO2 a year.
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A single polystyrene (Styrofoam) cup contains one billion molecules of CFCs--that's 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.
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Once a CFC atom reaches the ozone layer, it can take over 100 years before it breaks up and becomes harmless.
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About 110 million Americans live in areas with levels of air pollutants the federal government considers to be harmful.
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Americans dump 16 tons of sewage into their waters--every minute of every day.
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Although water covers two-thirds of the surface of the Earth, all the fresh water in lakes, streams, and rivers represents only one-hundredth of the Earth's total water.
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Each year, 1 million sea birds, 100,000 marine mammals, and 50,000 fur seals are killed as the result of eating or being strangled in plastic.
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Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year, and 2.5 million plastic beverage bottles every hour.
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Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic beverage bottles every hour.
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Americans throw away about 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back nearly 20 times.
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Eighty-four percent of a typical household's waste--including food scraps, yard waste, paper, cardboard, cans, and bottles--can be recycled.
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Using recycled paper for one print run of the Sunday edition of the New York Times would save 75,000 trees.
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If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25 million trees a year.
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Each year, 40 million acres of tropical rainforests--an area larger than the state of California--are destroyed through logging or burning.
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Only 10 percent of the 35,000 pesticides introduced since 1945 have been tested for their effects on people.
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It takes only one-twentieth as much raw materials to grow grains, fruits, and vegetables as it does to raise animals for meat.
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The typical American home uses about 300 gallons of water a day.
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A 1/32" leak in a faucet can waste up to 6,000 gallons of water a month, or 72,000 gallons a year.
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America's refrigerators use about 7 percent of the nation's total electricity consumption--the output of about 25 large power plants.
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By turning the heat down, Americans could save more than 500,000 barrels of oil each day--that's over 21,000,000 gallons.
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A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to two million gallons of fresh water.
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Driving an average of 1,000 miles a month produces about 120 tons of carbon dioxide a year.
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If all the cars on U.S. roads had properly inflated tires, it would save nearly 2 billion gallons of gasoline a year.
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60,000,000 - The number of plastic bottles thrown into U.S. landfills each day. It takes 1.5 million barrels of crude oil each year to produce these bottles - translating into enough fuel to run 100,000 cars for a year.
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45,000,000 - The number of barrels of oil saved each year by using public transportation.
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6,000,000 - The number of servers found in American data centers, consuming more energy than over 300 million televisions found in American homes.
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2,150,000 - The number of barrels of oil saved if 100,000 homes installed eco-friendly geothermal heating systems.
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400,000 - The number of Chinese that die prematurely each year from respiratory illnesses and other diseases related to air pollution.
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2,000 - The number of coal-fired power plants located in China. (One new power plant goes into operation every 4 to 7 days in China).
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13 - The number of pounds a person would lose if they walked one half hour a day instead of riding or driving a motor vehicle.
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Americans have reduced toxic releases by more than 50 million tons since 1970. If that many tons were deposited in dump trucks, the trucks would stretch from Baltimore to Dallas (all the way around the world) if lined up bumper-to-bumper.
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Currently, it would take 20 of today's new automobiles to release the same number of emissions as a 1960s model.
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Carbon monoxide emissions (CO) have decreased by 33 percent. Forty-one fewer tons are being produced per year as a result of current efforts. Much of these emissions are from cars, trucks, buses, lawn and construction equipment.
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Large utility and industrial boilers and other mechanical devices are producing 12 percent less nitrogen oxide emissions. This is 3.3 million tons fewer each year. Nitrogen oxide is a contributing factor to ozone formation.
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Sulfur dioxide emissions have reduced by 38 percent or 13 million tons per year. These emissions are typically associated with large boilers. Acid rain has been a product of these emissions in the past.
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Dropping 14 million tons per year, volatile organic compound emissions have decreased by 42 percent. VOC emissions are a factor in the formation of the ozone layer.
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Particulate matter emissions reduced by 9 million tons per year, or a 75 percent reduction.
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Decreased by 98 percent, lead emissions have reduced by 217 thousand tons per year.
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The EPA statistics indicate that the decrease in emissions is about 48 percent across the board, reducing pollution by 109 million tons of toxic fumes.
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Recycling and composting rates recovered 32.1 percent of MSW or 79 million tons. But this figure, you will recall, does not include hazardous, industrial, and construction waste. 32.1 percent is higher than before but still way too low.
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Approximately 8,550 curbside recycling programs existed throughout the United States, a lower figure than the 8,875 programs that existed in 2003.
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Composting programs, meaning that people recycle leaves and grass, and other organic items such as food, jumped from 3,227 in 2003 up to 3,470. For more details about how you can compost, read Building a Compost Bin.
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Container and packaging recycling increased to 40 percent.
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62 percent of yard waste was composted.
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50 percent of all paper products were recycled -- or about 42 million tons.
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From 1990 to 2005, the amount of MSW going to U.S. landfills has decreased by 9 million tons and continues to decrease each year. However, U.S. goals should and do continue to address the fact that these figures can be improved.
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If every US citizen between the ages of 10 to 74 walked half hour each day rather than drive, our carbon dioxide emissions would be decreased by 64 million tons.
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The majority of the earth's fresh water, about 69%, is locked up in glaciers and icecaps, mainly in Greenland and Antarctica.
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