"Did You Know?"

"Did You Know?"
written by Mara L.Camilleri
MScA University of Bologna
MFA & MDes in Academy of Arts&Design
Free lance creator/consultant in A&D

1) 20 million is the amount of trees consumed each year for books, 4 million of those for textbooks.

2) It takes 95% more energy to create a new aluminium can than making it from recycled aluminium.


3) In the average home, 40% of all electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off.

4) More than one billion people, or 1 out of every 6 people, lack access to a safe supply of drinking water!!Diseases associated with the lack of clean water
are leading cause of death in the world.


5) About 20,000 gallons of water per year can be saved if a family of four chooses to use low-flow showerheads instead of full-flow models .


6) By 2025, the world must increase its water supply by 22 percent in order to meet its needs. Meanwhile, 40 percent of the drinking water supplied to homes
is flushed down the toilet.

Source: Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen, authors of The Green Book


7) The refrigerator is the single biggest energy-consuming kitchen appliance, and opening the refrigerator door accounts for between $30 and $60 of a
typical family's electricity bill each year. The amount of energy saved in a year by more efficient
refrigerator usage could be enough to light every house in the United States for more than four and a half months straight.

Source: Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen, authors of The Green Book


8) Arctic ice thickness has almost halved since the 1960s.The polar ice cap is now melting at the alarming rate of 9% per decade
Source: NASA


9) Since 1980, the earth has experienced 19 of its 20 hottest years on record, with 2005 and 1998 tied for the hottest and 2002 and 2003 coming in second
and third.

Source: NRDC


10) Only 1/5th of the Earth's original forests remain pristine and undisturbed.Half of the forests that originally covered 48% of the Earth's land surface
are gone.

Source: NRDC


11) Only 10% of the energy used by an incandescent bulb produces light; the rest is given off as heat.


12) A leaky faucet can waste up to 20 gallons of water per day, and a leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons a day.


13) Making a ton of paper from recycled stock saves up to 17 trees and uses 50% less water than making paper from virgin fiber.