Did You Know? 101 Eco-Facts

Click Here to Download a Copy

Did you know that…

1. You can make a huge difference by being aware of your habits?

2. Burning coal produces CO2 – the main contributors to global warming.

3. Americans use 170 gallons of water per day – 7 times per capita average.

4. We are in a severe drought all over the state, and world wide.

5. Water in Los Angeles travels as far as 500 miles to get the faucets – its comes from the Sierra’s and the Colorado River.

6. 2.5 million bottles of water are tossed every hour in California.

7. 3 million bottles end up in landfills daily in California alone.

8. Plastic out weighs plankton in our oceans 24:1.

9. Glass can be recycled indefinitely.

10. Plastic downgrades and after being recycled becomes inert and ends up in landfills.

11.  Fish and birds mistake plastic for food, and consume it – this effects our food supply.

12. Many popular types of fish are endangered – reference your Seafood Watch card when making your decisions.

13. Garbage thrown on the street in Pasadena will make it to the beaches in Santa Monica, through storm drains – if it is not collected by beach clean up after a storm, it washes into the ocean.

14. Plastic does not biodegrade.

15. 6-pack rings should always be cut to avoid sea life getting tangled.

16. Americans consume 400 – 500 beverage containers annually.

17. American use 326 lbs of plastic annually.

18. We have a garbage patch of plastic in the Pacific Ocean 2 times the size of Texas and is 300’ deep.

19. 90% of floating marine litter is plastic.

20. Californians use more than 90 billion plastic bags annually – about 552 bags per person.

21. In LA county we have:  318 miles of polluted rivers, 250 square miles of polluted lakes, bays, and wetlands, and 116 miles of polluted beaches and coastline.

22. Californians throw away 600 plastic bags per second.

23. 500 billion plastic bags are used hourly worldwide.

24. Tossing cigarette butts into the streets end up on our beaches and in our oceans and in our fish resulting in our food supply.

25. Even when electronic devices are turned off, but plugged in, they still uses energy – Save over 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.

26. Can save 300 lbs. of CO2 by changing 3 frequently used bulbs with CFL’s.

27.  Its illegal to throw away batteries – dispose of them properly.

28. You an save 5 Lbs. of CO2 per ream of paper if used 100% post consumer.

29.  You can remove your name from receiving junk mail for free.

30.   Dimmers save 25% of energy.

31. What is considered hazardous waste?  Know how to dispose of it locally.

32.   Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $150 per year.

33.   CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb.

34.   Keep your water heater thermostat at 120°F and save 550 lbs. of CO2 and $30 per year.

35.   Move your heater thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up two degrees in the summer – Save 2000 lbs of CO2 and $98 per year.

36. Caulk and weather strip your doorways and windows – save 1,700 lbs. of CO2 and $274 per year.

37.   CFL’s lasts 10 times longer and a regular bulb, each bulb will keep 1,500 lbs. of CO2 over the lifetime of the bulb.

38.   Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket – You’ll save 1,000 lbs. of CO2 a year.

39.  You can save 700 lbs. of CO2 when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year, use a clothesline instead of a dryer.

40. You can save 2,400 pounds of CO2 a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates.

41. That recycled paper products takes 70 – 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.

42. The average fruit or vegetable travels over 1500 miles to get to your store.

43. Conventional farming destroys biodiversity, pollutes our water and is responsible for 1/3 loss of top soil.

44. The FDA approved cloned meat in January 2008 – It is not required to be labeled.

45. 40% of waste is food waste – organic matter can be composted and used instead of placed in a landfill.

46. By shopping at the farmers market it reduces the amount of energy required to grow and transport the food to you by 1/5

47. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

48. Almost 60% of food found in conventional supermarkets is genetically modified.

49. An estimated 13 chemicals are found on conventional fruits and vegetables.

50. FDA only samples a very small percentage of food sold to consumers.

51. You can improve gas mileage by more than 3% by checking your tires for proper pressure.

52. The average American will throw away 600 times his or her adult weight in garbage during their lifetime.

53. We throw 90% of what we buy within 6 months.

54. A low flow shower head uses 1 gallon of water less per minute – using the technology of air to distribute the same amount of pressure.

55. One ton of recycled paper uses: 64% less energy,50% less water, 74% less air pollution, saves 17 trees and creates 5 times more jobs than one ton of paper products from virgin wood pulp.

56. In the United States, we have less than 4% of our original forests left.

57. 40% of waterways in the U.S. have become undrinkable.

58. The U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but we’re consuming 30% of the world’s resources and creating 30% of the world’s waste.

59. 75% of global fisheries now are fished at or beyond capacity.

60. 80% of the planet’s original forests are gone.

61. In the Amazon alone, we’re losing 2000 trees a minute – that is seven football fields a minute.

62. There are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals in commerce today.

63. Only a handful of chemicals have even been tested for human health impacts and none of them have been tested for synergistic health impacts, that means when they interact with all the other chemicals we’re exposed to every day.

64. In the U.S., industry admits to releasing over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals a year.

65. The average U.S. person now consumes twice as much as they did 50 years ago.

66. During WWII we produced 40% of our from our Victory Gardens.

67. In the U.S. we are targeted with more than 3,000 advertisements a day.

68. Americans each generate 4.6 lbs. of garbage a day.

69. Recycled aluminum saves 95% energy vs. virgin aluminum.

70. Recycling of one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours.

71. Recycled aluminum reduces pollution by 95%.

72. 4 lbs. of bauxite is saved for every pound of aluminum recycled.

73. Recycled glass saves 50% energy vs. virgin glass.

74. Aluminum can endless be recycled.

75. Recycling of one glass container saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours.

76. Recycled glass generates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution

77. 1 ton of glass made from 50% recycled materials saves 250 lbs. of mining waste.

78. Glass can be reused an infinite number of times; over 41 billion glass containers are made each year.

79. Recycled paper saves 60% energy vs. virgin paper.

80. Recycled paper generates 95% less air pollution – each ton saves 60 lbs. of air pollution.

81. Recycling of each ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7000 gallons of water.

82. Every year enough paper is thrown away to make a 12′ wall from New York to California.

83. If we recycled every plastic bottle we used, we would keep 2 billion tons of plastic out of landfills

84. According to the EPA, recycling a pound of PET saves approximately 12,000 BTU’s.

85. We use enough plastic wrap to wrap all of Texas every year.

86. A ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in paper production.

87. Production of recycled paper uses 80% less water, 65% less energy and produces 95% less air pollution than virgin paper production.

88. Global paper use has grown more than six-fold since 1950.

89. 1/5 of all wood harvested in the world ends up in paper – it takes 2 to 3.5 tons of trees to make one ton of paper.

90. Pulp and paper is the 5th largest industrial consumer of energy in the world, using as much power to produce a ton of product as the iron and steel industry.

91. In some countries, including the United States, paper accounts for nearly 40 percent of all municipal solid waste.

92. Making paper uses more water per ton than any other product in the world.

93. Over a ton of resources is saved for every ton of glass recycled — 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar.

94. A ton of glass produced from raw materials creates 384 pounds of mining waste.

95. Using 50% recycled glass cuts the waste by 75%.

96. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

97. If every household in the U.S. replaced just 1 bottle of 25 oz. conventional based petroleum based dish liquid with a plant derived natural cleaner we would save 86,000 barrels of oil a year – enough to heat and cool 4,900 homes for 1 year!

98. The average home has 60 toxic chemicals in it.

99. Globally, we are using 15% more resources than the earth can support.

100. The United States has the world’s largest Footprint at 23.7 acres per person – a sustainable footprint would be 4.6 acres.

101. Santa Monica residents average use is 20.9 acres per person.