Eco facts

 Ice caps are white, and reflect sunlight, much of

which is reflected back into space, in turn cooling
Earth; but with the ice caps melting, the only
reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb
sunlight, further warming the Earth.

 Scientists blame global warming for the declining

penguin population, as warmer waters and smaller
ice floes force the birds to travel further to find
food.

 Stressed by cyanide fishing, harbor dredging, coral

mining, deforestation, coastal development,
agricultural runoff, careless divers, and now global
warming, there is a devastating loss of coral across
the world.

 With accelerated global warming, and the ice

covering melting, the earth would be absorbing
more sunlight, and is on its way to becoming hotter
than before.

 Due to global warming the polar ice cap in the

Arctic region is shrinking and rupturing; if this
continues, summers in the Arctic would become
ice-free by the end of this century.

 Everytime we burn oil, coal and gas to generate

electricity and power, we produce the heat
trapping gases that cause global warming.

 Deforestation is one of the main causes of

atmospheric carbon dioxide; burning and cutting
 millions of acres of trees each year, it is
responsible for 20-25 per cent of all carbon
emissions.
 Water vapour is the most prevalent and most
powerful greenhouse gas on the planet; it holds
onto two-thirds of the heat trapped by all the
greenhouse gases.

 Every week about 20 species of plants and animals

become extinct!

 Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100

acres per minute!

 One-third of the water used in most homes is

flushed down the toilet.

 A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of

improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000
gallons of fresh water.

 Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into

the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures
every year.

 A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or

more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in the
landfill.

 Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to

light a 100-watt bulb for four hours

 Energy-saving lightbulbs last around ten times

longer than ordinary lightbulbs- over 10,000 hours.
 A laptop is more environment friendly than a
desktop. It consumes five times less electricity.

 An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a

can 500 years from now!

 A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide

over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also
reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15 per
cent.

 Tissue paper is a major source of waste. It takes

60,00,000 trees to make 1 year's worth of tissues
for the world.

 A ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in

paper production.

 A plant on your desk acts as a natural filter,

absorbing airborne pollutants and computer
radiation while replenishing oxygen levels.

 Lawns only need watering once a week, post rain

only after two weeks. Do watering early morning
for minimal evaporation and water conservation.
 Crawling traffic contributes eight times as much as
air pollution by traffic moving at regular highway
speed.

 Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would

eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide
emissions a year!

 Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and

soaping your hands. This can save around 16 litres
 a day. That's 11,000 litre of water per person per
year.
 A dripping tap can waste over 20,000 litres of
water every year.

 The garbage in a landfill stays for a for about 30

years.

 In 1995 over 200 of the world landfills were full.

 Each person throws away approximately four

pounds of garbage every day.

 One bus carries as many people as 40 cars!

 More than 1/3 of all energy is used by people at

home

 Most families throw away about 88 pounds of

plastic every year

 We each use about 12,000 gallons of water every

year

 1/3 of all water is used to flush the toilet.

 The 500 million automobiles on earth burn an

average of 2 gallons of fuel a day.

 Each gallon of fuel releases 20 pounds of carbon

dioxide into the air.

 Approximately 5 million tons of oil produced in the

world each ear ends up in the ocean.
 The energy we save when we recycle one glass
bottle is enough to light a traditional light bulb for
four hours

 For every 2000 pounds of paper (1 ton) recycled,

we save 7,000 gallons of water free from
chemicals.

 Recycled paper requires 64% less energy than

making paper from virgin wood pulp, and can save
many trees

 Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees

 The amount of wood and paper we throw away is

enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years

 Earth is 2/3 water. but all the fresh water streams

only represent one hundredth of one percent.

 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean

every year

 It takes 90% less energy to recycle aluminum cans

than to make new ones

 5 billion aluminum cans are used each year

 84 percent of all household waste can be recycled.

 Computers pose an environmental threat because

much of the material that makes them up is
hazardous. A typical monitor contains 4-5 pounds
of lead.
 Each year billions of used batteries are thrown
away in the United States. This constitutes 88% of
the mercury and 54% of the cadmium deposited
into our landfills

 Approximately only 10 percent of every landfill can

be cleaned up.

 Ivory comes from dead elephants, its best not to

buy it.

 Fur coats often come from endangered animals,

it's best not to buy them.

 One gallon of motor oil can contaminate up to 2

million gallons of water. so dispose of properly!

 Here is an example of the water we use everyday:

 3-7 gallons for toilet,

 25-30 gallons for tub,

 50-70 gallons for a 10 minute shower,

 1 washing machine load uses 25-40 gallons,

 1 dishwasher load uses 9-12 gallons

 Here is an example of how long it takes some

things take to break down:

 plastics take 500 years,

 aluminum cans take 500 years,

 organic materials, take 6 months,

 cotton, rags, paper take 6 months.

 It is estimated that up to 1 trillion plastic bags are

consumed worldwide each year, more than one million per
minute.*

British supermarkets give away approximately 10 billion

plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to
retailers is £50 million and of course that cost is passed on
to you the shopper.)*
 In South Africa, the plastic bag has been described as
their national flower thanks to it’s ubiquity.
 Even in the UK with the recent drive to recycle our plastic
bags, only 1 in 200 is actually recycled. The rest end up in
landfill or strewn across the countryside.*
 Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they just turn brittle and
break up, contaminating soil and waterways and entering
the food chain when animals, believing the pieces to be
food, ingest them. Some studies have suggested that
these plastic particulates also act as a sponge, soaking up
even more harmful chemicals such as pesticides and
heavy metals which are then released into the animals gut
and work their way up the food chain to humans.
 Plastic bags floating in the sea resemble jellyfish, a staple
part of the diet of many marine mammals. Many
thousands of animals die every year from choking on our
discarded waste or getting entangled in it and drowning.
 Market research has shown that at the right price, up to
80% of the UK’s supermarket shoppers would be
prepared to purchase fabric carrier bags. Ecosheek are
working with a number of the UK's major retailers to
encourage the promotion of sustainable cotton bags as a
viable alternative.
 30 years ago there was essentially no plastic bag industry,
when you went shopping you took your own bag with you,
 yet today the government is being lobbied by plastic bag
manufacturers who threaten job losses if a tax were to be
imposed to curtail plastic bag use.
 In 2001, the Irish economy consumed 1.2 billion plastic
bags per year. The plastic bag tax introduced in 2002 has
reduced consumption by 90%. In the 3 months directly
following the imposition of the new tax 3.5 million Euros
was collected in tax which was then pledged to
environmental projects. Unfortunately a lot of retailers are
now giving away paper bags instead.*