Ecology Facts

1
Ecology Facts

• Every day a different fact will be on the board
  for you to copy in your notebook. Only copy BOLD
  TYPE.
• Number your facts.
• If you are absent, copy the fact from someone
  when you return.
• These facts were taken from our Ecology book, The
  Green Book, and reputable environmental websites.

2
FACT 1 On average, YOU generate 4.5 pounds of
trash every day.

• Over the course of your life, that will total six
  hundred times your average weight in garbage.
  This includes paper, yard trimmings, food scraps,
  plastic, rubber, metal, wood, glass, etc. In the
  end, we will each leave a ninety-thousand-pound
  legacy of trash for our grandchildren.

3
FACT 2 Americans use at least twice as much
water and energy per person as anyone else in the
world.

• Those are big problems since there is a scarcity
  of both to go around!
• Energy in the home is used mostly for heating and
  cooling.

4
Fact 3 By 2025, 2/3 of the worlds population
will suffer from water shortages.

• That means approximately 5.3 billion people will
  be affected!
• Try to flush one less time during the day and
  that will save 4.5 gallons of water-as much as
  the average person in Africa uses ALL DAY for
  cooking, drinking, bathing, and cleaning.

5
Fact 4 EIGHT million plastic water bottles are
thrown away every day.

• How many do you use a day?
• How many of those water bottles still have water
  in them when you toss them out?
• I reuse my water bottles. Do you?

6
Fact 5 If everyone in America simply separated
the paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum products
from the trash and recycled, we could decrease
the amount of waste in the landfills by 75.

• Currently, it takes an area the size of
  Pennsylvania to dump out waste each year.
• This Friday is Statesmen Café and be sure to
  BYOC! Keep the Styrofoam out of the landfill.

7
Fact 6 Not letting the water run while brushing
your teeth can save up to 1,825 gallons of water
annually.

• That much water could fill up your bathtub more
  than thirty-five times!
• What are some other things you can do to save
  your water?

8
Fact 7 More than two hours of the average
American's day is spent sending e-mail and
surfing the internet. Internet servers use as
much energy as all the TVs in the U.S. combined.

• Cut back on your computer time. Save energy.
  Save the Earth!
• How much time do you spend on the internet and
  E-mail?

9
Fact 8 The average American uses seven trees a
year in paper, wood, and other products made from
trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees
per year!

• Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save
  17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards
  of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and
  7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64
  energy savings, a 58 water savings, and 60
  pounds less of air pollution!
• If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save
  about 250,000,000 trees each year!

10
Fact 9 Every year ONE American produces over
3,285 pounds of hazardous waste.

• The term "hazardous waste" comprises all toxic
  chemicals, radioactive materials, and biologic or
  infectious waste.
• Hazardous waste presents immediate or long-term
  risks to humans, animals, plants, or the
  environment. It requires special handling for
  detoxification or safe disposal.
• Examples many types of paint, gas, antifreeze,
  solvents, pesticides, acids, bleach, industrial
  cleaning agents, batteries(The EPA has a list of
  500 types!!)

11
Fact 10 Motor oil never wears out, it just gets
dirty. Oil can be recycled, re-refined and used
again, reducing our reliance on imported oil.

• What do you do with the used oil from your
  vehicles? earth911.com
• A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of
  improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000
  gallons of fresh water.
• If you recycle just two gallons of used oil it
  can generate enough electricity to run the
  average household for almost 24 hours.

12
Fact 11 Plastic bags and other plastic garbage
thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000
sea creatures every year!

• Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as
  burning it in an incinerator .
• Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every
  hour! Most of them are thrown away!

13
FACT 12 The energy saved from recycling one
glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for
four hours. It also causes 20 less air pollution
and 50 less water pollution than when a new
bottle is made from raw materials.

• A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or
  more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in
  the landfill.
• If recycled glass is substituted for half of the
  raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80.

14
Fact 13 The U.S. is the 1 trash-producing
country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person
per year. This means that 5 of the world's
people generate 40 of the world's waste.

• The US population discards each year
  16,000,000,000 diapers, 1,600,000,000 pens,
  2,000,000,000 razor blades, 220,000,000 car
  tires, and enough aluminum to rebuild the US
  commercial air fleet four times over.

15
Fact 14 If all our newspaper was recycled, we
could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!

• If every American recycled just one-tenth of
  their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000
  trees a year.
• The amount of wood and paper we throw away each
  year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20
  years.

16
Fact 15 There is no limit to the amount of
times aluminum can be recycled.

• An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be
  a can 500 years from now!
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to
  run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of
  a half a gallon of gasoline.
• Used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled
  item in the U.S., but other types of aluminum,
  such as siding, gutters, car components, storm
  window frames, and lawn furniture can also be
  recycled.

17
Fact 16 Compared to regular food, there are
about 40 more antioxidants in organic food.

• Organic foods are those that are grown/produced
  without hormones, steroids, and other chemical
  enhancements to promote growth and appearance.
• Antioxidants are substances or nutrients in our
  foods which can prevent or slow the oxidative
  damage to our body. When our body cells use
  oxygen, they naturally produce free radicals
  (by-products) which can cause damage.

18
Fact 17 The appliance that uses the most
electricity in your house is the HOT WATER HEATER.

• You can wrap the hot water heater with an
  insulation wrap to trap the heat to reduce your
  electric bill.
• Make sure before purchasing a hot water heater
  you choose one that is the right size for your
  home.
• Gas hot water heaters provide instant heat and do
  not require any electricity to heat the water or
  to keep it hot.

19
About 10 to 15 percent of your TVs energy is
still used when powered of.The average American
household has two TVs if everyone would unplug
there TVs we could save 1 billion dollars in
electric bills.

• Fact 18 Unplug your TV when its not in use.
  Phantom loads increase your electric bill.

20
Fact A typical four square mile patch of
rainforest contains as many as 1,500 flowering
plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of
birds and 150 species of butterflies.

• Why is this important to you?
• What are we doing about it?

21
Fact 19 Kudzu, an invasive vine from Japan, was
imported because it grew fast and was a good
groundcover that helped stop erosion.

• Its rapid growth caused it to take over entire
  forests, blocking sunlight until the trees died.
  It grew over barns, houses, fences and power
  lines.
• Controlling it has not been easy. So far, the
  most effective control is grazing goats!

22
Fact 20 Ozone depleting gases are CFCS found
in refrigerants, aerosols, solvents, methyl
bromide fumigant, and halon.

• ChlorofluorocarbonsCFC
• 1978-U.S. banned the use of products that
  released CFCS into the air.
• The first hole in the ozone was discovered in the
  early 1980s.
• In 1987 the Montreal Protocol was established
  uniting 180 nations in the agreement to stop
  making products that released harmful gases.
• Scientists say that the ozone can be repaired
  over time.

23
Fact 21 Many houseplants found in American
homes came from the rainforest originally, like
philodendron, orchids, and bromeliads.

• Rainforest plants are adapted to survive in the
  dim sunlight under the thick forest canopy.
• Thats a perfect trait for a plant that will live
  in you living room and only get a little light!

24
FACT 22 Some bogs are so acidic that when a
human body is found in one they are often
preserved like a mummy.

• Bogs form from shallow ponds that have slowly
  collected plants and leaves until they are thick.
• Moss and ferns root right over the water in the
  rotting plant matter. Over time this makes a
  thick mat on top of the water that is called
  peat.
• No air can get in and the rotting plants beneath
  build up acids.
• The oldest body found in a bog was in Denmark and
  is thought to be 10,000 years old.

25
Fact 23 Ivory used for jewelry and other
decorative pieces represents the death of an
elephant or walrus. The exotic animal pet trade
is not regulated in all countries around the
world.

• Owning an exotic pet does drive the hunting of
  exotic species.
• Its best to leave wild animals in their natural
  habitat.

26
Fact 24 The Organic Food Production Act was
passed in the U.S. in 1990 and calls for the
U.S.D.A. to make national standards for organic
products.

• Any product labeled organic must be raised
  without synthetic chemicals or in ground that has
  been clear of chemicals for at least 3 years!
• Plants can not be genetically altered.
• Meats have to come from animals that were not
  given hormones or antibiotics.
• A study by the USDA found that pesticides stay on
  fruit even after they have been washed and peeled.

27
Fact 25 Frankenfoods are plants and animals
that have had genes added to them in laboratories
to enhance their traits.

• These added genes can keep plants from growing
  mold in the field or allow them to withstand
  drought conditions
• Genetic Engineering can help plants resist pests
  and reduce the need for pesticides.
• Genetic Engineering can add vitamins to our food
  and help with the shortage of food.
• Will this process affect humans and how?

28
Fact 26 Toxic chemicals leach out of Styrofoam
products into the food that they contain
(especially when heated in a microwave). These
chemicals threaten human health and reproductive
systems.

• Bring your own mug/cup for Statesmen Café.
• Each year, Americans throw away 25 trillion
  Styrofoam cups.
• Many cities and counties have outlawed
  polystyrene foam (i.e. Taiwan, Portland, OR, and
  Orange County, CA

29
Fact 27 While some humans destroy habitats,
others are creating habitats. Examples flower
gardens, landfills and dumps, sewers, subways,
barns, vegetable gardens, and agriculture fields.

• It is thought the grizzly bears in Yellowstone
  Park would have gone extinct if it were not for
  the garbage dumps there in the 1950s and 60s.
• Sometimes man-made places provide alternate
  habitats to adaptive animals.

30
Fact 28 Perhaps the most famous extinction of
animals happened from the careless introduction
of predators to a protected ecosystem-the island
of Mauritius, off the coast of Africa.

• The large flightless birds (dodos) had never seen
  predators before.
• The sailors brought over on their ships dogs,
  cats, pigs and rats which preyed on the dodo
  birds.
• The dodos were clueless and flightless.
• It took less than 100 years for all the dodos to
  disappear completely.

31
Fact 29 More than 20,000,000 Hershey's Kisses
are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of
aluminum foil. All that foil is recyclable, but
not many people realize it.

• How many Hersheys Kisses have you unwrapped
  lately?
• Using recycled aluminum scrap to make new
  aluminum cans, for example, uses 95 percent less
  energy than making aluminum cans from bauxite
  ore, the raw material used to make aluminum.

32
Fact 30 An area of a rainforest the size of a
football field is being destroyed each second.

• The forests of Central Africa are home to more
  than 8,000 different species of plants.
• More than 2,000 different species of butterflies
  are found in the rainforests of South America.

33
Fact 31 1 out of 4 ingredients in our medicine
is from rainforest plants.

• The trees of a tropical rainforest are so densely
  packed that rain falling on the canopy can take
  as long as 10 minutes to reach the ground.
• Giant bamboo plants can grow up to 9 inches a
  day.
• 80 of the flowers in the Australian rainforests
  are not found anywhere else in the world.

34
Fact 32 Rainforests act as the world's
thermostat by regulating temperatures and weather
patterns.

• One-fifth of the worlds fresh water is found in
  the Amazon Basin.
• Rainforests are critical in maintaining the
  Earth's limited supply of drinking and fresh
  water.

35
Fact 33 It takes 10 inches of snow to equal 1
inch of rain.

• How much snow did you measure at your house this
  week?
• We are still in need of more rain in our area.
• Snow fall is better for the land than rain
  because the ground absorbs it slowly instead of
  running off into our streams and ponds.

36
Fact 34 More gas is spilled every year when
people fill up their lawnmowers, weed trimmers,
and chippers than was spilled in the whole Exxon
Valdez oil spill.

• March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, a huge oil
  tanker, hit a reef in Alaska and burst open.
• 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the
  ocean killing massive amounts of wildlife.
• Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of
  1990.(stricter rules, stronger hulls on tankers
  and better communication guidelines)

37
Fact 35 As polyethylene breaks down, toxic
substances leach into the soil and enter the food
chain.It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags
to break down.

• Four to five trillion plastic bags are
  manufactured each year
• Americans use over 380 billion polyethylene bags
  per year
• Americans throw away approximately 100 billion
  polyethylene bags per year
• Of those 100 trillion plastic bags, 1 are
  recycledRead more "Say No To Plastic Bags The
  Shocking Facts About Polyethylene Bags" -
  http//environmental-activism.suite101.com/article
  .cfm/say_no_to_plastic_bagsixzz090Y8OsRQ

38
Fact 36 Out of every 10 spent buying things,
1 (10) goes for packaging that is thrown away.
Packaging represents about 65 of household
trash.

• Therefore, try to purchase items with less
  packaging and think of ways to reuse the
  packaging.
• Throwing packaging materials in the garbage is
  just like throwing money in the garbage.
• Recycle the packaging material instead of
  throwing it in the trash can.

39
Fact 37 A major use for discarded tires is as a
component in rubber modified asphalt and
concrete. Old tires are recycled into floor mats,
blasting mats, and muffler hangers.

• Whole tires can be used in artificial reefs, such
  as those used to control erosion.
• Tires which have been ground into crumb can be
  used in traffic cone bases, mud flaps, moisture
  barriers, and other products.

40
Fact 38 Only 5 percent of the original prairie
in the United States remains.

• A quarter of Earth was once covered by
  grasslands, but much of these have now been
  turned into farms.
• This has resulted in a widespread loss of
  wildlife habitat.

41
Fact 39 When taxpayers purchase replacement
windows that meet specific energy efficiency
requirements, they are eligible for 30 of the
amount returned in as a tax credit. This credit
is capped at 1,500 for the years of 2009 and
2010.

• Unlike a tax deduction that only reduces the
  amount of your taxable income, a tax credit
  reduces the amount of tax you owe.
• The credit is provided for all qualified windows
  purchased and installed in 2009 and 2010.

42
Fact 40 If you run a company with 1,000 PCs
left on overnight, you can save about 28,000 a
year if they are turned off after hours.

• CCPS has approximately 750 computers. Therefore,
  we would save _____________ annually.
• That's not chump change!
• Of course, it's also a fact that your PC will
  function better if you restart it regularly, and
  nightly shutdowns can help you avoid having to
  suddenly reboot in the middle of the day when
  you'd otherwise be productive.

43
Fact 41 Heres how long it takes (on average)
some things take to break down plastics - 500
years,aluminum cans - 500 yearsorganic
materials- 6 monthscotton, rags, paper - 6
months

• Therefore, when given a choice, choose the items
  that decompose the fastest!
• UNLESS, that is, you really do want to live near
  a landfill one day!

44
Fact 42 Wash clothes in cold water whenever
possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy
used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the
water.

• How many loads of laundry does your family wash
  each week?
• Sometimes warm water is necessary to remove
  greasy stains. Otherwise, keep your settings on
  COLD/COLD!
• Consider using a drying rack or a clothesline
  instead of the clothes dryer.

45
Fact 43 The United States has 8 of all forests
in the world, making it the fourth most
forest-rich country with approximately 750
million acres of forestland.

• There are approximately 689 species of trees in
  the United States.
• The majority of forestland is located in the
  Pacific Coast (including Alaska), and South
  regions.

46
Fact 44 20 of US forestland is under some type
of conservation program, which is almost twice
the world average of 11.

• The CRP offers landowners, operators, and tenants
  the opportunity to voluntarily convert land with
  high erosion rates and other environmentally
  sensitive land to permanent vegetative cover.
  Permanent cover options include grasses and
  legumes, tree plantings, and wildlife habitat.

47
Fact 45 The world's tallest tree is a Coast
Redwood in California, measuring more than 360 ft
or 110 m.

• The world's oldest trees are 4,600 year old
  Bristlecone pines in the USA
• The 236 ft or 72 m high Ada Tree of Australia has
  a 50 ft or 15.4 m girth and a root system that
  takes up more than an acre.
• One of the tallest soft wood trees is the General
  Sherman, a giant redwood sequoia of California.
  General Sherman is about 275 ft or 84 m high with
  a girth of 25 ft or 8 m.

48
Fact 46 One acre of trees removes up to 2.6
tons of carbon dioxide each year.

• The amount of oxygen produced by an acre of trees
  per year equals the amount consumed by 18 people
  annually. One tree produces nearly 260 pounds of
  oxygen each year.
• Shade trees can make buildings up to 20 degrees
  cooler in the summer.
• Trees lower air temperature by evaporating water
  in their leaves.

49
Fact 47 Dendrochronology is the science of
calculating a tree's age by its rings.

• Tree rings provide precise information about
  environmental events, including volcanic
  eruptions.

50
Fact 48 As a part of the stimulus package, 70
billion dollars is directed towards promoting
GREEN JOBS.

• This is a whole category of jobs with a wide
  ranging need for experience, technical expertise,
  and physical ability.
• These positions are in solar, solar installation,
  solar panels, energy efficiency, home design,
  wind power, and many other fields.
• These jobs will be more and more plentiful in the
  coming years.

51
Fact 49 20 pink bikes make getting around the
Sweetbriar College campus fun and eco-friendly.

• The bikes can be picked up and dropped off at
  several bike racks located around campus.
• According to the ACUPCC Web site, becoming
  climate neutral means having no net greenhouse
  gas emissions. Colleges are supposed to get
  there by minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as
  much as possible and using carbon offsets or
  other measures to mitigate the remaining
  emissions.

52
Fact 50 40 of America's rivers are too
polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.

• Even worse are America's lakes46 are too
  polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.

53
Fact 51 In any given year, about 25 of beaches
in the US are under advisories or are closed at
least one time because of water pollution.

• 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm
  water, and industrial waste are discharged into
  US waters annually. The US EPA has warned that
  sewage levels in rivers could be back to the
  super-polluted levels of the 1970s by the year
  2016.

54
Fact 52 Though accounting for only 5 percent of
the world's population, Americans consume 26
percent of the world's energy. (American Almanac)

• Worldwide, some 2 billion people are currently
  without electricity. (U.S. Department of Energy)
• Among industrialized and developing countries,
  Canada consumes per capita the most energy in the
  world, the United Sates ranks second, and Italy
  consumes the least among industrialized
  countries.

55
Fact 53 A wind farm is a group of turbines/wind
machines in one place used to make electricity.

• More and more states are using wind farms to make
  electricity.
• California makes more than twice as much wind
  power as any of the other 30 states using it!
• One wind machine can be as tall as a twenty story
  building with three blades that are 200 feet long!

56
Fact 53 A really good diverse forest in the US
has about 12-15 different species of trees in an
acre. In the Amazon Rainforest, a single acre of
jungle will have about 300 different species of
trees and another 300 to 400 species of higher
plants.

• The main problem in trying to capture this on
  film is perspective.
• What angle lense do you use to take a picture of
  a 12 story tree without losing definition, much
  less one that is surrounded by hundreds of other
  12 story trees intermingled with literally
  hundreds of other species of trees, vines, shrubs
  and bushes?

57
Fact 54 Reasons to rooftop garden

• Increase access to private outdoor green space-at
  home or at work-within the urban environment
• Support food production
• Promote individual, community, and cultural
  diversity
• Improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions
• Delay storm water runoff
• Increase habitat for birds
• Insulate buildings
• Increase the value of buildings
• for owners and tenants alike
• Create job opportunities in the field of
  research, design, construction,
  Iandscaping/gardening, health, and food
  production

58
Fact 55 The Roanoke River watershed is about
9,580 square miles. An estimated 700,000 people
live in the Roanoke River watershed.

• The headwaters of the Roanoke River are in
  Montgomery and Floyd counties, and the
  400-mile-long river empties into the Albemarle
  Sound near Plymouth North Carolina.
• The Roanoke River exceeds the state standard for
  coliform bacteria nearly throughout its entire
  length, and urban and agricultural runoff
  pollution are increasing in magnitude. PCB
  contamination also has been found in the river,
  resulting in health advisories for fish
  consumption in certain stretches of the waterway.
  Sediment, another type of nonpoint source
  pollution, is also a major concern in the basin.

59
Fact 56 Sustainability-Property by which a
process can be continued indefinitely with out
depleting the energy or material resources on
which it depends. It is the practical goal
toward which our interactions with the natural
world should be working.
60
Fact 57 RHHS is having a co-mingle recycling
contest. Recyclables are due to the library by
Thursday, April 29. Participants of the winning
grade level will be invited to a party!
61
Fact 58 Insulation is made from old jeans and
newspaper glass tiles from recycled bottles or
automobile windshields countertops are made from
waste paper, plants, cloth fiber, glass, cement,
aluminum, and polystyrene and floor tiles from
car tires.
62
Fact 59 April 22- EARTH DAYwas founded in 1970
by John McDonnell. Earth Day is intended for
all of us to recognize how we influence our
limited resources from our planet. There are
often activities, campaigns, and events scheduled
on this day to promote awareness of Earth issues.
Make everyday Earth Day!Charlotte County
Earth Day is MAY 8th!
63
Fact 60 An ENERGY STAR qualified compact
fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about 30
over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6
months.
It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10
times longer than an incandescent bulb.
64
Fact 61 There were an estimated ten million
Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five
centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.

• Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the
  Rainforests today are 70 years old or more. Each
  time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if
  a library has burned down.
• When a medicine man dies without passing his arts
  on to the next generation, the tribe and the
  world loses thousands of years of irreplaceable
  knowledge about medicinal plants.

65
Fact 62 Rainforests provide many important
products for people timber, coffee, cocoa and
many medicinal products, including those used in
the treatment of cancer.

• A typical four square mile patch of rainforest
  contains as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750
  species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150
  species of butterflies.

66
Fact 63 April 28th is Save the Frogs Day. Frog
populations have been declining worldwide at
unprecedented rates, and nearly one-third of the
worlds 6,418 amphibian species are threatened
with extinction.

• At least 100 species have completely disappeared
  since 1980!

67
Fact 64 Seventy percent of the plants
identified by the U.S. National Cancer Institute
as useful in the treatment of cancer are found
only in rainforests.

• More than 2,000 tropical forest plants have been
  identified by scientists as having anti-cancer
  properties
• Less than one percent of the tropical rainforest
  species have been analyzed for their medicinal
  value.

68
Fact 65 Only 20 of the worlds population has
running water, and more than one billion people
do not have access to clean water.

• Keep thinking of ways you can conserve water.
• The next generation is depending on us to leave
  behind a legacy that includes water conservation.

69
Important Dates in Ecology

• Environmental Study- most of next week
• 3 ring binder check- test grade- next week
• Lab notebook check test grade-next week
• Lab notebook test- open notebook- May 13
• Ecology exam- May 17 (100 questions)

70
Fact 66 Arbor Day is a day designated to tree
planting and increasing awareness of the
importance of trees. 

• First Arbor was in Nebraska in 1872.
• Founded by Julius Sterling Morton
• Arbor Day is also now celebrated in other
  countries including Australia.
• Arbor Day is an excellent opportunity to take
  stock of the trees on your property and plan for
  the future.
• Plant a tree! April 30, 2010 was Arbor Day.

71
Fact 67 Fresh water siphoned for agriculture
accounts for 70 percent of all global water use.

• More than half of it is wasted.
• Rivers are dammed to provide some farmers fresh
  water.

72
Fact 68 At least 20 percent of all freshwater
species are either extinct or threatened with
extinction.

• As freshwater habitats are further degraded and
  stressed, wars over access to fresh water may
  darken the world's future.

73
Fact 69 Resistance to wetland development,
efficient agricultural use of water, and a switch
to solar and wind energy from hydroelectric dams
are ways we can help save our Fresh Water Biomes.

• These positive actions will make a difference!
• Hope lies with cooperation among nations to
  better manage, conserve, and share the planet's
  scarce freshwater resources.

74
Fact 70 An ENERGY STAR qualified compact
fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about 30
over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6
months.

• It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10
  times longer than an incandescent bulb.

75
Fact 71 You can buy a 15-watt (w)fluorescent
bulb that generates the same amount of light as a
60w incandescent. This makes a fluorescent bulb
four to six times more efficient.
Incandescent bulbs are very inefficient since
their mode of generating light is just a
by-product of generating heat.
76
Fact 71 Every year we throw away 24 million
tons of leaves and grass. Leaves alone account
for 75 of our solid waste in the fall.

• If the amount of leaves on the grass is not too
  deep you can just run them over with a mulching
  mower. Make a few passes over the area in
  different directions and set the deck high. Going
  slowly and keeping the blade very sharp also
  helps.
• Haul large amounts of leaves to an area that they
  can naturally decompose. They can be used for
  fertilizer.
• Dead leaves are full of Nitrogen which is good to
  use as fertilizer.
• They are especially good to put in your garden
  area. Your plants will love them!!

77
Fact 72 The average amount of recycled fiber
content in newsprint used by U.S. newspapers has
increased from 10 percent in 1989 to more than 30
percent today.

• Not only have old newspapers been used to produce
  recycled newsprint, newspapers are recycled into
  other products such as cereal boxes, egg cartons,
  pencil barrels, grocery bags, tissue paper,
  cellulose insulation materials, and many more
  diverse products.
• By recycling one ton (2,000 lbs.) of news paper,
  we save 17 trees 6,953 gallons of water 463
  gallons of oil 587 pounds of air pollution 3.06
  cubic yards of landfill space and 4,077 Kilowatt
  hours of energy.

78
Fact 73 Buying foods and other products in
reusable or recyclable packaging can reduce CO2
emissions by 239 pounds a year.
79
Fact 74 Consider the environment when purchasing
presents for the holidays or birthdays.

• Check out this solar light!  Great for the garage
  or shed.  Includes solar panel, rechargeable
  batteries and light, new ultra-bright LED
  technology,   Waterproof design mounts anywhere
  and works in cloudy conditions. 
• Water Amplifying Adjustable Showerhead with
  H2OKINETIC Technology - Saving water is
  important!  Saving water save money too!  30!

80
Fact 75 VA and MD governors are asking the
federal government for 365 million dollars to
restore the Chesapeake Bay.

• The money would be used to protect land, help
  farmers reduce pollution, restore streams and
  help upgrade Washingtons Blue Plains sewage
  treatment plant among other things.
• Without the money the bay will continue to face
  deteriorating ecological conditions and economic
  value.

81
Fact 76 Burning to clear land is illegal in
Indonesia, but it is widely practiced on the
island of Sumatra.

• Already 85 percent of Sumatra's forests are
  gone. What is left is vanishing at an alarming
  rate -- an area the size of 50 football fields
  disappears every hour, according to Greenpeace
  and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
  United Nations.

82
Fact 77 In the United States, the most common
way to make electricity is by burning coal.

• Thomas Edison owned the first power plant ever! 
  The power plant opened in New York City in 1882.
• Today one power plant can make enough electricity
  for 188,000 homes to use.

83
Fact 78 When you open your refrigerator, 30 of
the cold air gets out.

• Every year all around America, home refrigerators
  use the amount of energy that is produced by 25
  big power plants.

84
Fact 37 Next week the SCA is sponsoring a GO
GREEN WEEK. Each ecology student is expected to
support this effort.

• Tuesday Everyone Wear GREEN! Prizes will be
  awarded to the winning Take Ten. (Ecology
  students get class credit for this.)
• Wednesday Go Green Photo Contest! Take pictures
  of students recycling or being environmentally
  friendly.
• Thursday- Environmental Facts Find- Find the
  facts hidden and take them to Mrs. Dunnavants
  room for a prize.
• Friday- Mr. and Mrs. Green Contest -Be on the
  look out for students and staff you feel are
  really going green...submit entries in library.
  Wear recycled clothes that have been handed
  down or you got from Good Will/yard sales.
•  All week- bring in used books to donate to the
  library!

 
85
Fact 47 Turn out. Take action.Be part of this
historic event.Earth Hour-March 28, 2009, 830
pm World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals,
businesses, governments and organizations around
the world to turn off their lights for one hour
Earth Hour to make a global statement of
concern about climate change and to demonstrate
commitment to finding solutions.
86
Fact 59 Southside Soil and Water District
Representative Julie HamlettCharlotte County
Extension Agent Bob Jones