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2011 - 2012
Water is absolutely essential to the survival of our society; however, choices are made every day, by both individuals and businesses alike, that could potentially harm or deplete our most precious resource.
While almost 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water, only .003% is fresh and unpolluted. With our rapid population increase, along with the current effects of an extreme drought, it is important to identify and implement new strategies that will help ensure our water supply is clean and plentiful for generations to come.
Students are invited to step up to the One World Challenge, and create a solution to address the protection and conservation of our water resources.
Refer to the Texas PTA Website http://www.txpta.org/programs/environmental-awareness/ under the section STUDENT FORMS for more information about the guidelines and to get a copy of the student entry form. Contact your local PTA for the deadline associated with your school (late March 2012).
RECYCLING FACTS...
◦ If just 25% of U.S. families used 10 fewer plastic bags a month, we would save over 2.5 BILLION bags a year.
◦ On the average, the 140 million cars in America are estimated to travel almost 4 billion miles in a day, and according to the Department of Transportation, they use over 200 million gallons of gasoline doing it.
◦ Every year we throw away 24 million tons of leaves and grass. Leaves alone account for 75% of our solid waste in the fall.
◦ Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil.
◦ About 1% of U.S. landfill space is full of disposable diapers, which take 500 years to decompose.
◦ Energy saved from one recycled aluminum can will operate a TV set for 3 hours, and is the equivalent to half a can of gasoline.
◦ Glass produced from recycled glass instead of raw materials reduces related air pollution by 20%, and water pollution by 50%.
◦ Americans use 50 million tons of paper annually -- consuming more than 850 million trees.
◦ Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers.
◦ By turning down your central heating thermostat one degree, fuel consumption is cut by as much as 10%.
◦ Insulating your attic reduces the amount of energy loss in most houses by up to 20%.
◦ One ton of carbon dioxide that is released in the air can be prevented by replacing every 75 watt light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs.
◦ The human population of the world is expected triple by the year 2100.
◦ A three percent annual growth rate will result in the doubling of consumption and production of food and other products in 25 short years.
◦ The world's per capita grain production has been on the downfall since 1985 despite the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
◦ Already a train system has been developed (back in 1987) which is based on magnetic levitation and causes minimal pollution. These versions of a train are already in use in several countries.
◦ Fibre optics, made of glass, are being used to replace copper cables throughout the world.
◦ The uncontrolled fishing that is allowed has reduced the amount of commercial species. Some species, up to one-tenth of their original population.
◦ Every day 50 to 100 species of plants and animals become extinct as their habitat and human influences destroy them.
IF THAT DOESN'T GET YOUR ATTENTION, MAYBE THIS WILL ....
• 80% of the world's forests are gone.
• 2000 trees a minute are cut down in the Amazon alone. That is 7 football fields a minute!
• The US has less than 4% of its forests left.
• 40% of our waterways are undrinkable.
• The US has 5% of the world's population and 30% of the waste.
• 75% of global fisheries have been fished beyond capacity.
• 200,000 people a day are moving to cities from environments that no longer support them.
• Average person consumes twice as much as 50 years ago.
• We see more ads in one year than people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime. 3,000 ads a day.
• People in US spend three to four times as much time shopping as Europeans do.
• Average house size has doubled in the US since the 1970's.
• Average American creates 4.5 lbs. garbage a day -- an amount doubled from 30 years ago.
• For every one garbage can you put out at the curb, 70 cans were filled by all the processes
needed in order to make it.
• 99% of all those things we buy are not in use after 6 months.
• Over 300 million cartridges and over 55 million cell phones are thrown away each year.
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Each laser toner cartridge recycled saves 3 quarts of oil that is required to produce a new cartridge.
• Over 400,000,000 printer cartridges are sold in the U.S. every year and less than 20% of these are recycled.
• Every cartridge that is discarded in our landfills takes over 1,000 years to decompose.
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