Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

1) A recycled product saves space by it being used and not going to a landfill.

2) New products usually are sold with packaging (i.e. Boxes, styrofoam, bubble wrap, tape, plastic wrap, etc.) that will need to be recycled or discarded. Recycled products do not usually get repackaged so there is no additional packaging material being sent to the landfill.

3) The manufacturing of a new product has a waste stream which creates excess materials that wind up in the landfills. By purchasing a previously owned product there is no manufacturing and therefore less trash entering the landfills.

The Expert answers:

WATER

*Between 1950 and 2000, the U.S. Population nearly doubled. However, in that same period, public demand for water more than tripled! Americans now use an average of 100 gallons of water each day — enough to fill 1,600 drinking glasses! (EPA, 2008)

*A recent government survey showed that at least 36 states are anticipating local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013. (EPA, 2008)

* Most people realize that hot water uses up energy, but supplying and treating cold water requires a significant amount of energy too. American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kilowatt-hours per year — enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes for an entire year. (EPA, 2008)

Appliances and Fixtures in General

*If all U.S. Households installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion dollars per year! (EPA, 2008)

*If one out of every 100 American homes was retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, we could save about 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year — avoiding 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The greenhouse gas savings would be equivalent to removing nearly 15,000 automobiles from the road for one year! (EPA, 2008)

Bathroom: Sink, Toilet, Bath, Shower

*About 75 percent of the water we use in our homes is used in the bathroom. (California Energy Commission, 2006)

*If your toilet is from 1992 or earlier, you probably have an inefficient model that uses between 3.5 to 7 gallons per flush. Newer, high-efficiency toilets use less than 1.3 gallons per flush — that’s at least 60 percent less water per flush! (EPA, 2008)

*If just 1 percent of American homes replaced an older toilet with a new WaterSense labeled toilet, the country would save more than 38 million kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough electricity to supply more than 43,000 households for one month. (EPA, 2008)

*The average bathroom faucet flows at a rate of two gallons per minute. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at bedtime can save up to 8 gallons of water per day, which equals 240 gallons a month. (EPA, 2008)

*Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours. (EPA, 2008)

*Leaky faucets that drip at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year; A leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water every day. If your fixtures have leaks, you should get them repaired! (EPA, 2008)

*A full bath tub requires about 70 gallons of water, while taking a five-minute shower uses only 10 to 25 gallons. (EPA, 2008)

Other Household Water Needs

*The average washing machine uses about 41 gallons of water per load, whereas newer, high-efficiency washing machine models use less than 28 gallons of water per load. (EPA, 2008)

*The typical single-family suburban household uses at least 30 percent of their water outdoors for irrigation. Some experts estimate that more than 50 percent of landscape water use goes to waste due to evaporation or runoff caused by overwatering!
Consider installing a drip irrigation system to water your lawn and garden. These systems use between 20 to 50 percent less water than conventional in-ground sprinkler systems. They are also much more efficient than conventional sprinklers because no water is lost to wind, runoff, and evaporation. (EPA, 2008)

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ENERGY

*World electricity demand is expected to double between 2000 and 2030. The greatest increase will occur in the developing world, and the most rapid growth will occur in people’s homes. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

*Electricity production is the leading cause of industrial air pollution in the United States, and is responsible for 40 percent of the nation’s carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

*At most, 35 percent of coal’s energy in a power plant converts to electricity. The remaining two thirds is lost as waste heat, benefiting no one and often harming surrounding ecosystems. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

Heating

*Almost half of the average home’s energy consumption is used for heating. (EIA, 2007)

*Improperly sealed/caulked windows can account for up to 25% of total heat loss from a house. (Environment Canada, 2007)

Lighting

*Lighting consumes up to 34 percent of electricity in the United States. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

*Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are an energy-saving alternative to incandescent bulbs — they produce the same amount of light, use one third of the electricity, and last up to ten times as long. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

*If every household replaced its most often-used incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, electricity use for lighting could be cut in half. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

*Where electricity is produced from coal, each fluorescent lightbulb used prevents 1,300 pounds (nearly 600 kilograms) of CO2 emissions and 20 pounds of sulfur dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

Appliances and Electronics

*If you need to warm up or defrost small amounts of food, use a microwave instead of the stove to save energy. Microwave ovens use around 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens do. (California Energy Commission, 2006)

*A refrigerator built 20 years ago uses 70% more energy than today’s energy-efficient models. (Environment Canada, 2007)

*Today’s dishwashers are about 95% more energy-efficient than those bought in 1972 — your old dishwasher may be costing you more money in energy bills than it would take to buy a new one. (Environment Canada, 2007)

*Many idle electronics — TVs, VCRs, DVD and CD players, cordless phones, microwaves — use energy even when switched off to keep display clocks lit and memory chips and remote controls working. Nationally, these energy “vampires” use 5 percent of our domestic energy and cost consumers more than $8 billion annually. (Alliance to Save Energy, 2005)

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PAPER

*Each of us uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year. (EPA, 2008)

*More than 56 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. During 2007 was recovered for recycling — an all-time high. This impressive figure equals nearly 360 pounds of paper for each man, woman, and child in America. (Paper Industry Association Council, 2007)

*More than 400 paper mills in the United States use at least some recovered materials in their manufacturing processes, and more than 200 of those mills use recovered fiber exclusively. (EPA, 2008)

Savings: Energy, Water, etc.

*De-inked paper fiber is the most efficient source of fiber for the manufacturing of new paper products; one ton of de-inked pulp saves over 7000 gallons of water, 390 gallons of oil, and reduces air emissions by 60 lbs compared to traditional virgin fiber processes. (Abitibi Consolidated, 2005)

*Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for five months. (EPA, 2008)

*Recycling paper instead of making it from new material generates 74 percent less air pollution and uses 50 percent less water. (EPA, 2008)

*Producing recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp. (EPA, 2008)

Uses of Recycled Paper

*Just over 48% of office paper is recovered for recycling. This becomes raw material for paperboard, tissue, and printing and writing papers. (Keep America Beautiful, 2006)

*Over 73% of all newspapers are recovered for recycling. Almost a third goes back into making more newsprint. The remainder is used to make paperboard, tissue, and insulation, or exported. (Keep America Beautiful, 2006)

*Approximately 1.5 million tons of construction products are made each year from paper, including insulation, gypsum wallboard, roofing paper, flooring, padding and sound-absorbing materials. (American Forest and Paper Association, 2002)

*Recycled paper can also be made into paper towels, notebook paper, envelopes, copy paper and other paper products, as well as boxes, hydro-mulch, molded packaging, compost, and even kitty litter. (EPA, 2008)

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METAL

*Every year we save enough energy recycling steel to supply L.A. With nearly a decade’s worth of electricity.

*We save enough energy by recycling one aluminum can to run a TV set for three hours.

*Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch. That means you can make 20 cans out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can out of new material. Energy savings in 1993 alone were enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years. .

*Americans throw away enough aluminum every month to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.

*Recycling steel and tin cans saves 74% of the energy used to produce them.

* Americans use 100 million tin and steel cans every day.

*Americans throw out enough iron and steel to supply all the nation’s automakers on a continuous basis.

*A steel mill using recycled scrap reduces related water pollution, air pollution and mining wastes by about 70%.

** When you toss out one aluminum can you waste as much energy as if you’d filled the same can half-full of gasoline and poured it into the ground.

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ALUMINUM CANS

*More than 50% of a new aluminum can is made from recycled aluminum.

*The 36 billion aluminum cans landfilled last year had a scrap value of more than $600 million. (Some day we’ll be mining our landfills for the resources we&#3

The Expert answers:

This is are average indicators of the period of time that it takes to breakdown a biodegradable product completely

* Paper: 2-5 weeks
* Banana peel: 3-5 weeks
* Orange peels: 6 months
* Cotton rags 1-5 months
* Cigarette butts: 1-12 years
* Plastic or cardboard milk carton: 5 years

hope this helps

The Expert answers:

They all start with the letter R.
They all involve producing less greenhouse gases and pollution.

The Expert answers:

Well, I cut my littering by 50% !!

I started drinking beer from 24 oz. Cans, so now I only throw THREE cans out of the car window instead of six!

Don’t thank me…I’m just doin’ my part.

The Expert answers:

A simple google search for the following will help

Recycling facts
Recycling glass
recycling plastic
recycling aluminum
add statistics to each of those and you’ll have more than you could ever need to do a project – or at least get you well on your way – add your state, province or country and you’ll get even more refined datum

The Expert answers:

It doesnt wake up

The Expert answers:

Washington DC – They recycle more old farts than any other state could manage.

The Expert answers:

Why dont you look up the site for C.A.T. ? (centre for alternative technologies ) I have been there, it’s fantastic, and their site is not bad, either…
Take care, lorette