FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I love lists. 

I have lists of websites, list of to do's, lists of dreams, lists of accomplishments, lists of trivia, lists of books I want to read, lists of movies I want to see, lists of this and lists of that, and the list goes on.   There is a serene sense of order to a list, quite opposite from the hectic lifestyle of today. 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT                                                                

     Enough aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our commercial air fleet 4 times every year.

1. Recycling of one glass container saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours. Recycled glass saves 50% energy vs. virgin glass. (EPA)
2. Recycled glass generates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution. (NASA)
3. 1 ton of glass made from 50% recycled materials saves 250 lbs. of mining waste. (EPA)
4. Glass can be reused an infinite number of times; over 41 billion glass containers are made each year.  (EPA)  
5. Recycled paper saves 60% energy vs. virgin paper. (Center for Ecological Technology)
6. Recycled paper generates 95% less air pollution: each ton saves 60 lbs. of air pollution.(Center for Ecological Technology)
7. Recycling of each ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7000 gallons of water. (EPA)
8. Every year enough paper is thrown away to make a 12 foot wall from New York to California.
9. If we recycled every plastic bottle we used we would take 2 billion tons of plastic out of landfills. (Penn State)
10. According to the EPA, recycling a pound of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) saves approximately 12,000 BTU's.
11. We use enough plastic wrap to wrap all  of Texas every year.   (EPA)
12. A ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in paper production.
13. Production of recycled paper uses 80% less water, 65% less energy and produces 95% less air pollution than virgin paper production.
14. If offices throughout the country increased the rate of two sided photocopying from the 1991 figure of 20% to 60%, they could save the equivalent of about 15 million trees.  (from Choose to Reuse by Nikki & David Goldbeck)
15. Global paper use has grown more than six-fold since 1950. One fifth 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.  Pulp and paper is the 5^th largest industrial consume of energy in the world, using as much power to produce a ton of product as the iron and steel industry.  In some countires, including the United States, paper accounts for nearly 40% of all municipal solid waste.  Making paper uses more water per ton than any other product in the world. (The Worldwatch Institute)
16. The world's annual consumption of plastic materials has increased from around 5 million tons in the 1950s to nearly 100 million tons today. (Waste Online)
17. Half the world lives on less than two dollars a day. (Global Watch)
18. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in November of 1958 were at 313.34 parts per million. In November of 2007, levels were at 382.35 parts per million, an increase of over 20%.  (Carbonify.com) 
19. In 1950, Americans consumed 144 pounds of meat and poultry per person on average. In 2007, that's projected to shoot up to 222 pounds. (Factory Farming Campaign.)
20. Global oil production is currently about 81 million barrels a day and is predicted to fall to 39 million barrels a day by 2030 due to diminishing resources.  (Energy Watch Group)
21. Half the world lives on less than two dollars a day. ( GlobalWatch.)
22. The average household uses 350 gallons of water per day. That's enough to fill almost 100 bathtubs.
23. Recylced aluminum reduces pollution by 95% (Reynolds Metal Co.)
24. Enough aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our commercial air fleet 4 times every year.

A leaky faucet can waste up to 20 gallons of water per day, and a leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons a day.
                                              

 These statistics are certainly thought provoking. 

 Think about what you can do to help the environment and pass that thought on. 

 Our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, the list goes on, will be glad you did.