• 80% of our forests have been completely destroyed.
• 2000 trees, or the equivalent of 7 football fields, are cut down every minute in the Amazon rainforest. This doesn’t take into account the massive logging being practiced in other areas of the world.
• In the United States, only 4% of our original forests remain. The rest are gone.
• 40% of the United States water sources are unfit for human consumption. Many of the others possess levels of contaminants that have been deemed within regulations, but are still dangerous.
• Although United States citizens constitute only 5% of the global population, they account for more than 30% of the world’s waste.
• 75% of the world’s fisheries have been abused to the point where they are officially beyond capacity. We may soon find ourselves running out of not only water, but also fish.
• 100,000 synthetically-produced chemical substances are considered “safe” for use in everyday production, meaning that their levels of toxins are considered acceptable. This means that anything you use which has been mechanically manufactured may be slowly poisoning you.
• Computers, mattresses and pillows are just three examples of common household goods that contain significant amounts of BFR. BFR stands for Bromated Flame Retardant. It is a potent neurotoxin that damages your brain’s ability to function.
• Thanks to modern food sources and how they affect women’s bodies, the most contaminated food is currently mother’s milk.
• Each day, 200,000 people are forced to move to a big city because their previous environment is no longer capable of supporting them.
• Official numbers (the real amount is probably several times greater) indicate that the United States puts out 4 billion pounds of dangerously toxic pollutants.
• Today, individual rate of consumption is more than double what it was in the 1950’s.
• It is estimated that we view 3,000 advertisements every day. This is more than twice what the average 1950’s consumer would have seen in their entire life.
• United States citizens spend three to four times as much of their life shopping and consuming than Europeans.
• The average size of the United States home has doubled since the 1970’s.
• Each United States citizen creates about 4.5 lbs of garbage each day. This is twice the amount that was produced 30 years ago.
• For every single garbage can that you take outside on garbage day, 70 equivalent cans of garbage were produced by all the various manufacturing processes that created the can.
• 99% of all consumer goods are no longer being used 6 months after their purchase.

These pollution facts and figures make it seem almost impossible to fight the rising tide of pollution that threatens to engulf our world, but the environmental facts don’t necessarily mean that all is lost. We created this situation, and we can provide the solution if we simply work together and take the right steps. Here are some things we can do every day to make sure that the environment gets well soon:

• If 25% of United States citizens would use 10 less plastic bags each month, 2.5 billion bags would be saved a year.
• 380 gallons of oil are saved for each box of paper that gets recycled rather than wasted.
• Environmental pest control can greatly reduce pesticide contamination of food.
• We could do a lot for the environment if we developed an alternative to disposable diapers, which take 500 years to biodegrade. About 1% of all U.S. landfills are devoted entirely to disposable diapers.
• Lowering your thermostat by one degree reduces up to 10% of your fuel consumption.
• A train system was invented in 1987 that uses magnetic levitation and has almost no associated pollutants. Many other countries are implementing this technology, but the United States remains tied to its short-term lucrative automobile industry.

The facts above are frightening , and need to be changed – If you would like to help make a change today there are lots of ways to help the environment.

1. Clean air filters associated with your air conditioning system so that no energy gets wasted.
2. Lower your water heater’s temperature to 120 degrees.
3. Try putting an insulated blanket on top of your water heater to keep it warm.
4. If you’ll be gone from the house for long periods of time, shut off or turn down your water heater.
5. Make sure that the refrigerator is set between 36 and 38 degrees and that the freezer is between 0 and 5.
6. Try to avoid opening the door of an oven in use; this wastes valuable heat energy.
7. Clean your dryer’s lint filter regularly to avoid wasted energy.
8. Unplug appliances that you don’t use often. This is one of the most effective ways to help the environment.
9. Try to replace your stove and oven cooking with microwave cooking wherever possible.

10.  Set your washing machine to use warm water or, if possible, cold.

11.  When buying big appliances, check to see if they have a label on them that reads “Energy Star.”

12.  Switch to compact energy-saving fluorescent bulbs.

13.  Set your thermostat low; keep it in the high 60’s during winter and the high 70’s during summer.

14.  Make sure your home is insulated.

15.  Shut off equipment as you leave the workplace.

16.  Plant trees around your home—they provide both shade and oxygen. People often don’t think of this when considering ways to help the environment.

17.  Install energy efficient windows.

18.  Turn off lights when you leave the room.

19.  Turn off your thermostat if you will be gone for extended periods of time.

20.  Put outdoor lights on a timer.

21.  Find a producer of green electricity for your utilities.

22.  Find alternative house cleaning chemicals that don’t involve toxic elements.

23.  Avoid pest poisons; try traps.

24.  Invest in a lawn mower that runs on electricity.

25.  Use lawn clippings as fertilizer.

26.  Mulch your garden with wood chips.

27.  Use minimal fertilizer and try to eliminate pesticides.

28.  Water grass in the morning rather than later in the day. This seems like a strange way to help the environment, but it works.

29.  Create a habitat for local wildlife in your backyard. Birds are an easy place to start.

30.  Try renting large household appliances or borrowing them from neighbors (ladders, chainsaws, decorations.)

31.  Use leaves and reasonably-sized yard debris for compost.

32.  Make a habit of double-sided printing and copying; it saves trees.

33.  One of the best ways to help the environment is to make sure your paper is recycled; also try printing with less toxic soy inks.

34.  Use ceramic dishes instead of disposable paper or plastic.

35.  Investigate flex-time and telecommuting possibilities to cut down on fuel expenditures.

36.  Recycle your office’s printer cartridges.

37.  Avoid burning things that produce fumes or large amounts of exhaust.

38.  Burn old wood instead of green wood.

39.  Try experimenting with solar power to heat your home.

40.  Try using wood stoves built after 1990 (the emissions standards were raised that year.)

41.  Try walking, riding your bike, or joining a carpool whenever possible. This is healthy for your body and a great way to help the environment.

42.  Check your home for water leaks and try to fix them promptly in order to conserve wasted water.

43.  Limit your dishwashing and clothes-washing to full loads so that you don’t waste water.

44.  Install a shower head that has a low flow and try timing yourself in the shower; hot water is extremely energy-consuming.

45.  NEVER dump into storm drains; dilution is no solution to pollution.

46.  Buy in bulk and try to select products that have minimal amounts of packaging material. We discard 33% of all consumer goods in the form of packaging material.

47.  Maintenance and a little fixing will help you get more use out of what you already have instead of consuming.

48.  Shop with fabric bags each time you go to the store.

49.  Start using rechargeable batteries. Every time you recharge a battery instead of buying a new one, that’s one less battery that ends up in a landfill.

50.  Consider settling for used furniture. The market is saturated with perfectly good previously-owned furniture and it’s a great way to help the environment.