- With only 6% of the world's population, Americans generate 35% of the trash and consume 35% of the world's resources.
Energy
- 80% of all the oil discovered in North America to date has already been extracted.
- Mines and smelters use up a tenth of all annual global energy expenditures.
Rainforests
- The amount of water that a single rainforest tree returns to the atmosphere in its lifetime of 100 years or more is truly prodigious - on the order of 2.5 million gallons.[1]
Recycling
- Every year, Americans receive 2 million tons of junk mail of which less than 50% is openned.
- Metal: The energy saved from one recycled aluminum can will operate a television for 3 hours.
- Paper: Waste paper makes up 40% of our solid waste. We could reduce by 6 million tons the waste going to landfills if we recycled all our newspapers. Americans recycle 24 million tons of paper every year.
- Plastics: Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. Recycling just 10% of these bottles would keep 200 million pounds out of landfills every year. We make enough plastic film every year to shrink-wrap the state of Texas.
- Recycling Factoids by the Uinveristy of Virginia EcoWeb
Resources - Non-Renewable
- More river miles (12,000) have been devastated by acid mine drainage pollution than are protected in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in the U.S.
- Between 1,000 and 40,000 tons of radioactive waste are produced for every tonne of marketable uranium.
- Wastes, including arsenic, lead and radium-226, brought to the surface as a normal consequence of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico have resulted in the creation of a 5000 square kilometre "dead" zone on the sea floor.
Transportation
- Every year Americans abandon 3 million cars.
Water
- Each toilet flush uses about 6 gallons of water and a 5 minute shower can use 35 gallons. A leaky toilet can waste 90,000 gallons of water every year.
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