Green by the numbers
Green by the Numbers
- USU recycles about 650 tons of garbage each year- 26 percent of its total solid waste.
- Each ton of garbage kept from the landfill saves USU about $60 in tipping, handling and transportation fees. Multiply that by 650 tons of garbage, and that means USU saves about $39,000 by recycling each year!
- Recycling a four-foot stack of newspapers saves the equivalent of one 40-foot fir tree.
- Americans throw away more than 600 pounds of paper products per person per year.
- Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7,000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, 4100 kilowatt hours of energy and 60 pounds of pollutants.
- Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.
- Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
- Products made from recovered plastic bottles include drainage pipes, toys, carpet, and filler for pillows and sleeping bags.
- Steel is one of the world’s most recycled products. In fact, steel is 100% recyclable, which means its life cycle is potentially continuous.
- 97% of all soft drink cans are made of aluminum. Recycling one aluminum can save enough energy to run a television or operate a computer for three hours!
- Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire U.S. commercial air fleet every three months.
- The lifespan of an aluminum can is about six weeks. That means it takes only six weeks for a beverage can to be manufactured, filled, sold, used, recycled and re-manufactured.
- Want to get involved with recycling on campus? Join Aggie Recyclers- a student club that promotes recycling and other sustainable practices. For more information email aggierecyclers@gmail.com.
Sources:
http://usu.edu/recycle/factsFigures.htm
http://www.usu.edu/asusu/clubs/index.cfm?loadpage=clubprofile.php?clubid=398