Did you know...

• The United States makes up about 5% of the world's population. The U.S. is also the world’s largest trash producing country at 1,609 pounds of trash per person, per year.

• This means just 5% of the world's population produces about 40% of the world's waste.

• Every bit of recycling makes a difference. For example, one year of recycling on just one college campus, (Stanford University), saved the equivalent of 33,913 trees and the need for 636 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone.

• To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down. (read your news online!)

• Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.

• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.

• There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled

• It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from raw materials.

• It is important to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. Recycling helps us do that by saving energy.

• Well-run recycling programs cost less to operate than waste collection, land filling, and incineration.

• On average, each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day. This adds up to almost a ton of trash per person, per year.

• Mount Rumpke is the highest point in Ohio at over 1000 ft. It is entirely composed of garbage located in the Rumple landfill.

• The more people recycle, the cheaper it gets.

• Recycling creates four jobs for every one job created in the waste management and disposal industries.

• Recycling conserves natural resources, such as timber, water, and minerals.

• Manufacturing with recycled materials, with very few exceptions, saves energy and water and produces less air and water pollution than manufacturing with virgin materials.

• A national recycling rate of 30% reduces greenhouse gas emissions as much as removing nearly 25 million cars from the road.

• Mining is the world's most deadly occupation. On average, 40 mine workers are killed on the job each day, and many more are injured. Recycling reduces the need for mining.

Information provided via:
http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html