Top 10 Stats That Will Inspire You to Recycle

1. Recycling 1 six-foot stack of newspapers saves the life of one 35-foot tree.
2. If we recycled all the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a Sunday, we’d save 26 million trees per year.
3. Recycling 1 aluminum can saves enough energy to run your television for three hours. Recycling 100 cans could light your bedroom for two weeks.
4. Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
5. Glass can be recycled an infinite number of times. Recycling just 1 glass jar equals enough electricity to power an 11-watt CFL bulb for 20 hours.
6. Recycling 20 plastic bottles saves enough energy to power an air conditioner for two hours.
7. We generate 21.5 million tons of food waste each year. If we composted that food, it would be like taking 2 million cars off the road (in terms of greenhouse gas reduction).
8. Every ton of paper recycled saves 7,000 gallons of water.
9. If all the recyclable materials in the U.S. waste stream were actually recycled, it would generate 7 billion dollars in revenue!
10. The average American will throw away 600 times her adult weight during a lifetime. This means each adult will leave 90,000 pounds of trash for her children.

Video: Will It Recycle?

Here’s what Eek the Monkey has to say about what can and can’t be recycled. This video is a fun introduction to recycling for the kids.

Sources:
http://www.greenwaste.com/recycling-stats
http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Recycling_Facts_and_Stats
http://pp.fullerton.edu/Information/Recycle/AmazingRecyclingFacts.aspx
http://www.recycleacrossamerica.org/recycling-fact.html
http://www.WarwickRI.gov

This post is featured at Small Footprint Fridays and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.