Interesting Facts about Recycling
- The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years.
- The amount of office paper we throw away each year is enough to build a wall 12 feet high, stretching across the country from LA to NYC!
- Recycling 1 ton of aluminum saves the energy equivalent of the amount of electricity used by the average home over a period of 10 years.
- Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam coffee cups every year, and 2.5 million plastic beverage bottles every hour.
- Americans throw away about 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back nearly 20 times.
- Eighty four percent of a typical household’s waste – including food scraps, yard waste, paper, cardboard, cans and bottles – can be recycled. In America, we recycle only 28% of our waste.
- The typical American home uses about 300 gallons of water a day.
- If there is a tiny leak (1/32”) in a faucet, it can waste up to 6,000 gallons of water a month!
- Recycled plastic can be made into fiberfill, carpet, fleece hoodies, bottles, shower stalls, recycling bins, scouring pads, paint brushes, drainpipes, plastic lumber and flowerpots.
- Every ton of glass recycled saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil needed to make glass from original materials.
- Every three months, the US throws away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial airline fleet.
- Recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than making aluminum from ore.
- Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours.
- Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can’s volume of gasoline.
- Enough aluminum cans were recycled in 2006 to fill the Empire State Building 24 times.
- The 62.6 billion cans recycled in 2006 would make 171 circles around the earth at its equator.
- Recycling one ton of paper saves: 17 trees, over 6000 gallons of water, 587 pounds of air pollution, 463 gallons of oil
- 5 recycled bottles can make 1 large t-shirt
- Recycling a 4 foot stack of paper saves a 40 foot pine tree
- 35 recycled bottles can make 1 sleeping bag.