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RECYCLING: MORE FACTS |
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People buy fast food because
it’s cheap, quick, and heavily promoted. §
Meals devoured in the car or
at our desks are replacing home cooked fare enjoyed with family and friends. §
Around the world, diets and
recipes are yielding to sodas, burgers, and other highly processed and
standardized items that are high in fat, sugar, and salt—fuelling a global
epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. §
McDonald’s operates 30 000
restaurants in 119 countries and serves 46 million customers each day. On
opening day in Kuwait City, the line for the McDonald’s drive-thru was more
than 10 kilometres long. § Keep healthy snacks in your car and home to defeat the urge to
stop at fast food joints. |
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World electricity demand
is expected to double by 2030. §
Electricity production is
the leading cause of air pollution in the United States, and is responsible
for 40 percent of the carbon emissions. §
At most, 35 percent of
coal’s energy in a power plant converts to electricity. The remaining two
thirds is lost as waste heat, benefiting no one and often harming surrounding
ecosystems. § To minimize your electricity use, buy the most energy-efficient
appliances and light bulbs available and turn off all lights and appliances
when not in use. |
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As we replace our old
computers with the latest models, we’re contributing to a mounting global
problem: electronic waste. §
Despite an international ban
on trade in hazardous waste, many old computers from the United States and other
industrial countries make their way to “recycling” facilities in Asia and
elsewhere. Investigations reveal that these facilities expose workers and the
environment to a slew of deadly toxins. §
Buy computers that can be
easily upgraded to avoid having to purchase entire new systems as the
technologies advance. § Don’t just throw your old electronics in the trash! Bring them to
school, let Mr. Recycle dispose of it correctly. |
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Walk, bike, or take public
transportation whenever possible. Encourage your community to be more
bicycle-friendly by investing in bike lanes, stoplights for cyclists, and
other developments that would make cycling safer. §
If you have a car, combine
trips to reduce total mileage, and keep it well maintained to reduce oil
leaks and runoff. §
Consider joining a
car-sharing club if there’s one in your city, especially if you don’t use
your car frequently. §
If you’re planning on
buying a car, ask your dealer about the most fuel efficient models available.
§ Consider buying a hybrid vehicle if you can. |
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The average American adult
now spends 72 minutes a day behind the wheel, often alone. §
Ford Motor Company’s Model
T got better mileage a century ago than the average Ford on the roads today. §
Chinese auto sales
increased by more than 80 percent in the first half of 2003. By 2015, analysts
expect 150 million cars to jam China’s streets. §
People who drive sport-utility
vehicles rather than fuel-efficient cars not only consume about three times
more petrol per kilometre driven, but also use more water since it takes 18 litres
of water to produce just one litre of petrol. |
§
For every kilometre driven
by private vehicle, people consume two to three times as much fuel as they
would by public transit. §
The United States is home
to a quarter of the world’s cars. Most households own two or more vehicles,
and there are now more private cars than people licensed to drive them. §
The average car in the
U.S. travels 10 percent more per year than a car in the U.K., 50 percent more
than one in Germany, and 200 percent more than one in Japan. |
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The average baby will go
through 5,000 diaper changes before he or she is toilet trained. §
Americans throw away 18
billion diapers each year, making them the third largest source of solid
waste in the nation’s landfills. §
Producing one ton of paper
requires 2-3 times its weight in trees. Newly cut trees account for 55
percent of the global paper supply, while 38 percent is from recycled wood-based
paper, and the remaining 7 percent comes from non-tree sources. §
More than 65 percent of
Chinese city dwellers now own a refrigerator, and more than 90 percent own a washing
machine— less than 5 percent had those 20 years ago! |
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75% of Unites States homes
have air conditioners. § Standby power—the electricity consumed when appliances are turned
“off” but not unplugged—use as much as 10 percent of total electricity. § Make an effort to turn
your appliances off. Educate your work place, school, or house of worship
about this by posting information in common areas like kitchens and computer
centers. § Refill your water bottle at the tap rather than buying a new one. § Buy large size containers for juices, soda, and water, rather
than single serving sizes. |
§ At 87 percent, Brazil has one of the highest aluminum can
recycling rates in the world! § Recycling just one aluminium
tin saves enough electricity to run a laptop computer for 4 hours. §
If every household
replaced its most often-used incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, electricity
use for lighting could be cut in half. § While fluorescent lamps save energy, they need to be disposed of
properly because they also contain mercury, a highly persistent and toxic
chemical that builds up in the tissue of fish, wildlife, and people. |
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www.worldwatch.org/topics/consumption/ |
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