What's In a Number? Part I

300 – How many dollars an Iowa farmer might get for the ethanol produced by a quarter-acre of corn.

300,000 – How many dollars the farmer might get for a year’s worth of electricity generated by wind turbines on that same quarter-acre.


20,000 – The known number of abandoned hazardous waste sites in the United States.

600 – The number of gallons of water it takes to grow the corn that feeds the cow that produces one 1/3 pound of hamburger.

500 Billion-1 Trillion – The number of plastic bags used worldwide every year.

1000 – How many kilowatt hours of electricity the average household blows through annually on things that are turned off but still plugged in. Items left on standby continue to use energy on functions (like digital clocks), and any item with an external transformer (like phone chargers) is pulling power constantly.

7 – Pounds of difference between the average resident of pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and that of a sprawling, car-friendly neighborhood.

33 – The percentage of the world’s natural resource base that has been consumed in the last three decades alone.

40 – The percentage of CO2 emissions worldwide that comes from buildings.

35 – The percentage of CO2 emissions that comes from cars.

1000 – The number of years it could take for a plastic water bottle to break down in a landfill.

6 – Tons of carbon dioxide that the average American vehicle emits over the course of a year.

0 – The number of pre-market safety tests required of cosmetics manufacturers by the government.

90 – The percentage of time the average American spends indoors.

1.5 – How many letters the average person receives each week.

10.8 – How many pieces of junk mail the average person receives each week.

41 – How many pounds of junk mail the average person receives each year. (Check out our blog, Easy Steps to Reduce Your Paper Waste, to learn how to stop junk mail)