Environmental Facts

If you stacked all the refrigerators Americans buy in a single week, you'd have a tower more than 80 miles high.

Rainwater washing off urban pavement can be shockingly polluted.

Sixty percent of the world's lead supply comes from recycled batteries.

Every day, American families produce an estimated 4 million pounds of household hazardous waste (nail polish, paint thinner, batteries, etc.)

Fifty U.S. states dispose of toxic waste in another state.

Enough hazardous waste is generated in one year to fill the New Orleans Superdome 1,500 times over.

Not only does recycling paper reduce waste, it also saves energy. Making one ton of recycled paper uses only 60 percent of the energy needed to make a ton of virgin paper.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the U.S. has lost about 60 acres of wetlands per hour for the past 200 years.

Sewage treatment plants are essentially bacteria farms. The living bacteria breakdown the wastes in the sewage. The result is water that contains useful nutrients that can then be released into rivers or reservoirs safely. Modern multi-step water treatment techniques can even return wastewater to drinking water quality if necessary.

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