Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Earth Day Fun Facts

Here are some fun facts about Earth Day:

  1. Earth day was started in 1970, established by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. The idea came from a plastics worker in Iowa, John McConnell.
  2. Only one country participated in the first year, and this year, 175 countries celebrate Earth Day.
  3. In 1970 20 million people celebrated Earth Day and last year the number was 500 million people.
  4. 75% of the water pumped out of the ground is recycled.
  5. Today 32% of our waste actually gets recycled.
  6. It takes 100 years for a wire coat hanger to be broken down in a landfill.
  7. If the auto industry meets its gas mileage targets of an average MPG of 35 by the year 2018, there will be 241,000 new jobs just in the auto industry.
  8. When this gas mileage average is attained, consumers will save $37 billion a year in lower gas costs.
  9. 70% of toxic waste in landfills is caused by electric products being thrown away even though they are all recyclable. Things like your old televisions, computers, cell phones, etc.
  10. Water is a big issue worldwide. In the US, each of us has a water footprint of 660,430 gallons of water per year, compared with Japan 303,000 and China 184,000. This figure of course takes into account all of the water that is used in the US from watering grass, fountains, producing goods, drinking water, sewer, etc. 

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