This is not my... Fact
There are some amazing, astounding and down right strange facts out there. So we thought we'd start collecting them...
Previous Facts
Between 1990 and 2004, the number of people using airports in the UK rose by 120%, and the energy the planes consumed increased by 79%
Each 1.5 litre coke bottle recycled saves enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 6 hours.
If UK homes used 10 fewer plastic bags a month this would save almost 2 million bags a year.
In slow moving traffic, pollution levels are 2 or 3 times higher inside the car than outside.
It is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts enter the environment every year.
If UK homes used 10 fewer plastic bags a month this would save almost 2 million bags a year.
By switching your washing machine to 40 degrees C instead of 60 degrees C, you can cut your electricity consumption by a third.
In the UK, packaging adds an average £470-per-year to household food bills.
Around 1 million tonnes of junk mail are delivered in the UK every year. If 100 000 homes put a stop to it, 150 000 trees a year could be saved.
An aluminium can takes up to 100 years to break down naturally.
7 000 000 trees are cut down each year just to make disposable nappies.
Cost of total food waste in Britain and the US each year: $134.26 billion. - The Ecologist
Amount of money required to halve chronic hunger worldwide over 19 years: $24 billion.
When doing the dishes, washing them by hand requires 37% less water than a dishwasher.
Depending on age, if a TV, photocopier or computer is left on standby / sleep it is still using 40 - 70% of the energy it would use if being used.
25% of road traffic in UK transports food. We should all make more effort to buy goods sourced locally.
The U.N. estimates that poor countries lose about US$2 billion per day because of unjust trade rules,14 times the amount they receive in aid.
The richest fifth have 80% of the world’s income and the poorest fifth have 1%; this gap has doubled between 1960 and 2000.
At the start of the 19th Century, the ratio of real incomes per head between the world’s richest and poorest countries was three to one. By 1900, it was 10 to one. By 2000, it has risen to 60.
UK citizens could save £72 billion on their energy bills by 2020 if energy efficiency measures were implemented now.
A photocopier left on overnight uses enough energy to produce over 1500 copies.
Sixty five per cent of energy produced in electricity generation is wasted before it reaches our homes and offices.
Leaving electronic devices on stand-by requires an amount of energy equivalent to that produced by a 1500 MW power station.
Lighting an office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1000 cups of tea.
Sixty five per cent of energy produced in electricity generation is wasted before it reaches our homes and offices.
We could halve the energy consumption of our homes and offices using existing energy efficiency measures and CHP.
33 per cent of the heat produced in a typical home is lost through the walls, 33 per cent of space heating through the roof, and 20 per cent of all heat loss through ventilation and draughts.
Just 6-8 per cent of boilers in homes are the most efficient (condensing variety).
According to a world bank study, the elimination of FW-favoring trade barriers systematically approved by the UN would lift 300 million people out of poverty.
A garden sprinkler uses twice as much water in an hour as a family of 4 in 1 day.
60% of what we put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies.
The average car puts around 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.
In slow moving traffic, pollution levels are 2 or 3 times higher inside the car than outside.
200 glass jars and bottles are thrown away in the UK every second.
Good for employment? The 200 largest multinationals hold 28% of global trade but only 1% of global employment.
During the 20th century, the UK lost more than 100 plant and animal species, mostly due to loss of habitat.
In the First World, the gap between upper executive and worker salaries has never been wider - it is many times bigger than it was twenty years ago.
500 chemicals are routinely used in conventional farming. Only four are permitted in organic farming.
Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil.
To date there have been 20 million deaths from AIDS.
Glass containers go from recycling bin to store shelf in as little as 30 days.
Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty.
Using a 40°C wash cycle rather than 60°C means you use a third less electricity.
UK households use £1.2 billion worth of electricity every year on cooling and freezing food and drinks.
The amount of heat lost in homes annually through roofs and walls is enough to heat three million homes for a year.
Replacing an old boiler could save you over a fifth on your fuel bills – and up to 32% if you opt for a condensing boiler.
According to the WTO, poor nutrition causes nearly one in three people to die prematurely or have disabilities.
A photocopier left on overnight uses enough energy to produce over 1500 copies.
182 million people in sub-Saharan Africa could die of disease directly attributable to climate change by the end of the century.
The older your boiler is, the more inefficient it is likely to be. If it is 15 years or older, you should definitely think about changing it.
In 2001 UK households produced the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets per week in packaging waste.
Within 25 years, half the world’s population could have trouble finding enough freshwater for drinking and irrigation.
Recycling aluminium drink cans saves up to 95% of the energy needed to make aluminium from its raw materials.
"A typical window left open overnight in winter will waste enough energy to drive a small car.
Every year, an estimated 17½ billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets.
Driving a 4x 4 rather than an average 25mpg car for a year will waste more energy than leaving the TV on for 32 years.
One sixth of the world's population do not have access to safe water.
Nearly £5 billion is wasted on energy in the UK every year. This is enough to give every man, woman and child £84 a year.
Denmark will use wind for 50% of the country’s electricity by 2030.
The world's population will reach 9 billion by 2050.
Annually an area the size of Belgium is cut down in the Brazilian rainforest.
Today, men in Western countries have less than half the sperm count their grandfathers had at the same age.
Drax power station* in the UK emits more CO2 than all energy production, transport, and industry in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique & Tanzania combined.
*Though Drax is the biggest the UK has over 2,000 power stations.
Each 1.5 litre coke bottle recycled saves enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 6 hours.
On average, a person in the developing world uses 10 litres of water a day. The same a toilet in the UK takes to flush once.
Almost 35% of greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings.
Failure to act on climate change may cost 20% of global GDP.
Today, 1 billion people, or 1 of every 3 urban dwellers, live in slums.
More than 8,000 tonnes of wrapping paper will be used on Christmas presents, using the equivalent of approximately 50,000 trees.
If every family saved 0.6 meters of Christmas ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet.
The lower the food miles the better choice the product is for the environment.
Lowering the temperature by 1C can cut you heating bill by 10%.
Remember to switch off your computer monitor when it is not in use. Monitors use over 60% of your computer’s electricity output.
In the UK, we buy over 680 million batteries each year. Get a charger, get rechargeable, get the number down.
CD’s, books and shoes can be recycled at most supermarket recycling facilities. Make room for your new presents by recycling your old ones. - Recycle Now
80,000 tonnes of clothes and textiles are thrown out after Christmas. Make sure you take your unwanted gifts to the charity shop.
