TUE, 7 SEPTEMBER, 2010
- Making a ton of paper from recycled stock saves up to 17 trees and uses 50% less water than making paper from virgin fiber.
- For every ton of paper recycled, we save 4,100 kilowatts of electricity for three hours.
- The average American generates 4.5 pounds of trash every day, which is almost twice the amount of trash the average American produced daily in 1960.
- The National Recycling Coalition reports that recycling supports 1.1 million jobs in the U.S.
- If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes.
- Indoor air pollution has been described by the EPA and Congress as America's #1 environmental health problem.
- EPA estimates the U.S. is responsible for the release of 104 metric tons of mercury emissions each year. Most of these emissions come from coal-fired electrical power.
- Only 10% of the energy used by an incandescent bulb produces light; the rest is given off as heat.
- A ton of glass produced from raw materials creates 384 pounds of mining waste. Using 50% recycled glass cuts it by about 75%. We get 27.8 pounds of air pollution for every ton of new glass produced.
- Daily building operation (lighting, electricity, heating, and cooling of homes, offices, and schools) accounts for more than one-third of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.
- Creating a new aluminum can from scratch takes 95% more energy than making a can from recycled aluminum.
- Annually, recycling steel saves enough energy to supply the City of Los Angeles with almost a decade worth of electricity.
