Fun Fact Friday: Recycling

For several years, Meghan and I would hit up a Blockbuster or Movie Gallery once every couple weeks. We loved movies, watching entire series of TV shows over the course of a couple nights; it was our way of vegging out and just relaxing for a night or so. Sooner or later, though, we realized how much money we were wasting by renting a couple movies or DVDs as often as we did, and we ended up getting Netflix once we were married and living in Tampa. We love our Netflix. It's especially great to have the XBox LIVE subscription that allows us to watch our Netflix queue directly through the XBox without having to wait for a new DVD to come in the mail.

Yesterday, I came across an article or a website or something that talked about Netflix origami. You can check it out at http://www.netflixorigami.com/. You see, when you get your Netflix movies in the mail, it comes in a red envelope with a flap that covers the front. You remove the flap to open the envelop, and then it's pretty much just tossed into the trash. However, every now and then, you'll get a movie that isn't necessarily the most interesting or captivating. It's for this purpose that Netflix origami exists. Bored? You can make something out of that useless flap that you'd typically throw away! If you have Netflix and you're looking for something to make out what's normally trash, definitely check it out.

In considering this new found fun, Meghan suggested that instead of just pitching Netflix origami, I should share fun facts about all types of recycling. So... here they are!

*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!

*About 75 percent of the water we use in our homes is used in the bathroom.

*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.

*Lighting consumes up to 34 percent of electricity in the United States.

*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.

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

*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.

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

*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.

*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.

*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.

*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.

*Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy needed to produce new aluminum from raw materials. Energy saved from recycling one ton of aluminum is equal to the amount of electricity the average home uses over 10 years.

*Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, or a TV for 2 hours.

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

*Americans throw away enough glass bottles and jars every two weeks to fill the 1.350-foot towers of the former World Trade Center.

*Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever. We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled -- 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar.

*If only 100,000 people stopped their junk, mail, we could save up to 150,000 trees annually. If a million people did this, we could save up to a million and a half trees.

*The junk mail Americans receive in one day could produce enough energy to heat 250,000 homes.

*The average American still spends 8 full months of his/her life opening junk mail.

Enjoy!