Jul
24
2008
24
2008
What Counts?
Filed under: Environmentalism, Green Living
When we were in San Francisco, I picked up the May 2008 edition of Common Ground magazine and found this interesting list of stats compiled by Jenny Rough. I found them really interesting and in some cases quite crazy (like the 2nd one!). They will make you think.
1.4 million
Americans who suffer from hoarding or clutter.80
Percentage of things Americans own that they never use.300 Million
Number of shoes thrown into landfills in the U.S. each year (donate them to www.giveshoes.org instead).11
Percentage of retired personal computers that were recycled in 2001 (visit www.techsoup.com for info on donating computer hardware).75
Percent of employed people of recycle at home (yet only 49 percent recycle at work).5
Number of items needed for “zen-cleansing” (baking soda, borax, lemon, salt, and white vinegar).25
Percent more headaches experienced by pregnant women who use air fresheners and aerosol cans at home.92 Billion
Number of plastic bags grocery stores and pharmacies go through each year (San Francisco was the first U.S. city to ban large grocery stores and pharmacies from using them).Sources: treehugger.com, soles4souls.org, techsoup.org, Rastad USA survey, The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing, New Scientist, Newsweek.
Posted by Sara @ 9:42 pm | Leave a Comment
25
2008
92 billion plastic bags a year?!! Wow. I knew the number was high, but not that high!
25
2008
Go San Fran! What is “zen-cleansing”?
25
2008
Sara,
I don’t know if you remember me, but I used to work with Matt at Shamineau and then we hung out a bit at NW. I stumbled onto your site and am so impressed by what you are doing with the live lightly tour! It looks like you and Matt are doing so well! I’d love to hear from you- and send Matt my best.
Love,
Sarah (Stoltzfus) Wolfe
25
2008
twofish4: It’s a term they are using for green/natural cleaning…I’m assuming it came from the book with the same name that they used as a source.
25
2008
Sobering, isn’t it! I have switched to natural cleaners (what they call Zen-cleansing) and been using them for well over a year now. I mix them myself, they are safe enough for my kids to use and there are no fake/chemical smells. The only scent is the essential oils I sometimes add.
We have also switched to cloth towels (instead of paper towels) and cloth napkins. The next switch will be to cloth hankies from Wallypop.
If we all make little changes a little at a time, it makes a BIG difference. And then we raise our children, the next generation, to see “green/simple living” as normal.
This post so inspires me to go clean out my kitchen drawers and to donate the gadgets that I don’t need or use. I have been meaning to do that!
28
2008
Ahh..such as home made cleaning products. Got it. Thanks