interesting facts
-One acre of sugar beets can be used to produce 1000 gallons of alcohol fuel. -David Blume
-It takes $1 per annual gallon of capacity to construct an alcohol fuel production plant. The U.S.
uses 140 billion gallons of gasoline per year. Therefore, it would cost $140 billion to build
alcohol plants to produce enough alcohol fuel to satisfy this demand. The U.S.
government has spent over $500 billion on the recent Iraq war. This is enough money to
build alcohol fuel plants to satisfy the entirety of the fuel demands of the U.S. and the rest
of the world. -David Blume
-25% of bottled water is nothing more than tap water. -National Resources Defense Council
-By the year 2012, all of New York City's 13,000 taxis will be hybrid and achieve atleast 30
miles per gallon. This is compared to the standard Ford Crown Victoria taxi of today
that gets 14 miles per gallon. -Associated Press
-A recycled aluminum can uses 95% less energy to create than one made from raw material.
-Hinkle Charitable Foundation
-Even driving a car is better than flying. If 4 or more people are carpooling, it is better than
taking a train. -Hinkle Charitable Foundation
-40% of all automobile trips in the U.S. are less than 2 miles....perfect for a bicycle.
-Hinkle Charitable Foundation
-Truck delivery is 90% more efficient than car errand running. -Hinkle Charitable Foundation
-Unless a store is 1 mile away or less, it is more energy efficient to make purchases
online and have them delivered. -Hinkle Charitable Foundation
-Laptop computers are 90% more efficient than desktop computers. They save 125
pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted per year over desktops.
-Hinkle Charitable Foundation
-Burning one gallon of gasoline creates 19.564 pounds of carbon dioxide and 8 pounds
of water vapor....both contributing to global warming. -Terrapass.com
-In the U.K., every ton of junk mail costs the taxpayers 100 pounds. Every year, there
is 78,000 tons of junk mail, costing the taxpayers 7,800,000 pounds.
-itv local meridian
-At least 35,000 people died as a result of the record heatwave that scorched Europe in
August 2003....15,000 in France alone. This is more than 19 times the worldwide
deathtoll of the SARS epidemic. -Earth Policy Institute
-The effects of global warming claim in the region of 160,000 lives every year....mostly in
developing countries. -Andrew Haines of the UK's London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine
-The manure from the total population of cattle in the United States can produce enough
methane gas to heat 1 million average sized american homes.
-The average home size in the United States was 2330 square feet in 2004. This is up from
1400 square feet in 1970. -National Association of Home Builders
-One houseplant per 100 square feet of your home can remove indoor air pollution such
as formaldehyde and benzene. Common plants that remove formaldehyde include
Chrysanthemums, Azaleas, Dieffenbachias, Philedendron, Spider Plants, Golden
Pothos, Bamboo Palms, Corn Plants, and Mother-in-Law Tongues. Common plants
that remove benzene include Chrysanthemums, Berbera Daisies, Peace Lilies,
and English Ivy. -Foliage for Clean Air Council
-5 billion gallons of drinking water is flushed down the toilet everyday in the United States.
-USGBC
-Studies show that one-half of our nation's 115,000 schools have problems linked to
indoor air quality, affecting approximately 10 percent of the US population, nearly
28 million people - mostly children. -Air Quality Sciences
-At the present rate the world only has 200 years of coal energy, 60 years of natural gas,
and a mere 45 years of petroleum energy left before our supplies are depleted. This
is a terrifying fact when 85% of our commercial energy production comes from
these three sources. -University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire
-Lowering the thermostat by just one degree can save up to 3% of heating system energy
use, raising the thermostat by one degree can save the same amount of cooling
system energy use.
-Reducing energy consumption by 1 kilowatt results in a 4 kilowatt reduction in
production at the powerplant.
-As of 2003, as many as 111,000 people died of indoor pollution annually in China. -AFP
-One hour on a typical snowmobile emits more air pollution than driving a modern car for
a year. -Sierra Club
-Studies show that a 2-stroke personal watercraft engine operating for seven hours
produces the same amount of cancer-causing and smog-forming pollutants as an
automobile being driven over 100,000 miles. -Sierra Club
-Each year, marine 2-stroke motors spill 15 times more oil and fuel into waterways than
did the Exxon Valdez. -Sierra Club
-A 2-cycle gasoline-powered lawnmower pollutes as much in one hour as 40 new model
cars. Nationwide, there are 89 million small 2-stroke engines in lawn and garden
equipment directly exposing users to emissions. -Sierra Club
-Air conditioners themselves use one-sixth of the U.S. electricity every year. On a hot day
during summer, they can eat up 40% of energy expenditures.
-From 1970-1995, the space of one generation, the world has lost 30% of its natural
wealth of forests, wildlife, marine and freshwater species.
-World Wildlife Fund
-Every year, the United States paves more area than the Roman Empire did throughout its
entire existence. -Kim Sorvig
-A single tree can provide the same cooling effect as ten room sized air conditioners
running 24 hours a day. -John Lyle
-Buildings consume atleast 40% of the world's energy. They thus account for about a
third of the emissions of heat trapping carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning,
and two fifths of acid rain causing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
-David Roodman and Nicholas Lessen
-We have decimated 97% of the ancient forests of North America and globally we are
losing 27,000 species a year largely due to the 500,000 trees that are cut every
hour in tropical forests. -Paul Hawken