Thursday, August 28, 2008

UN-green - By The Numbers.









136 million tons - waste from home remodeling per year.

3,000 gallons - water wasted each year by leaving it running while brushing your teeth.

25+ - percentage of bottled water is just processed tap water.

20 gallons - average number of gallons of hot water used for a shower or a bath. (Yep, they're the same, so do whichever you prefer.)

1,500 miles - how far most produce travels to get to supermarkets. (Buy local!)

50 to 100 billion pounds - estimated food wasted in the U.S. each year.

20 - percentage of the energy bill in a typical U.S. home from appliances and home electronics.

70 - approximate percentage of power saved by putting your computer in sleep/stand by mode.

15 minutes - turn off fluorescent lights if you are going to be out of the room longer than this to be the most efficient.

0 minutes - (Yes, zero) turn off incandescent lights if you are going to be out of the room longer than this to be the most efficient.

7.5 tons - the national average individual carbon foot print annually.

13.9 tons - my personal carbon footprint each year. (And I thought I'd been doing pretty well!)
Go here to calculate your carbon footprint.


35 - My eco-footprint rating (I feel a little better now.)
Go here to calculate your eco-footprint.


5 comments:

Ruth said...

Good info!
Sometime when I am feeling very brave I will calculate my carbon footprint...

Tracey@Aloha Monkeys said...

I've been trying to go green--slowly, but surely--, but I think I'm back-sliding.

Thanks for visiting my blog. The book you're reading is another book that was recommended to me. How is it so far?

Anonymous said...

I thought the percentage of bottled tap was higher. I've been suspicious of bottle water ever since the time I saw a hotel employee in Mexico putting water in bottles from a hose on the side of the building.

DoubleDeckerBusGuy said...

Sobering numbers... and we can all do a little bit more to help.

I'm shocked at the incandecent bulb thing though... goes against certain aspects of what I understand, but I don't dispute it. Need to do a little more studying, obviously!

Louis la Vache said...

"Louis" marvels at how many of those thirty years ago were predicting we were about to enter a new ice age are now the ones hawking the 'Global Warming' hoax, conveniently ignoring the fact that in the past ten years the average Global temperature has actually dropped by .6ยบ. And Al Gore flies around in private jets making millions in his carbon credits scam while living in a 20,000 sq. ft. house that consumes more energy than 20 typical family homes. And those compact florescent bulbs contain dangerous levels of mercury...(sigh)

Nonetheless, "Louis" feels we need to be more conscious of our consumption.

Albany Point, often a subject of "Louis's" images taken from his balcony was once a dumping ground for construction waste. The dumping was banned in the 1980s and the point is gradually reverting to nature. Enterprising Urban Artists visit the point and recycle the construction waste into Urban Art.