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Facts About Consumption

Posted on Sat Nov 1 2008
By:
Craig Baird
in
Daily Green Tips
,
Environment
,
Green News

As Canadians, my wife and I have been guilty of consuming more than our fair share. Even with the green initiative we created called Our Green Year, we know that while we have lowered our consumption by 90 percent, we still consume more than most of the world's population. Now, as my wife and I came across some startling statistics to do with consumption, it becomes evident that it is nearly impossible to escape a civilization that is built on disposable items and consumerism.

These statistics are eye-openers when you think about them, and hopefully they can help you lower how much you consume on a regular basis.
  • The average baby uses 10,000 diapers before being toilet trained. Each year, 1,000,000,000 trees go to the use of making diapers.
  • By the age of six months, the average Canadian consumes the same amount of resources as a person in the developing world does in their entire lives.
  • North America has eight percent of the world's population, consumes 33 percent of the world's resources, and produces half of the world's non-organic garbage.
  • Only one percent of all the water on Earth is usable. Only two percent is in the poles, the rest is in the oceans.
  • One ton of newspapers can be recycled to save 19 trees.
  • The average North American throws away 600 times their weight in garbage during their life.
  • Canadians produce seven million tons of organic waste each year, 66 percent of which is compostable. In fact 70 percent of all landfill waste is recyclable or re-usable, and 35 percent of municipal solid waste is packaging.
The good news is that we can all change if we want to, and all it takes is realizing how much you consume and changing your life so that you can recycle, re-use, compost and limit the packaging you buy. It is not hard, but it is a long road. My wife and I began our own long road of lowing our consumption six months ago, and now we throw away much less, recycle much more and feel good that while we are only two people, we are doing our part to help the world and improve the environment, one piece of trash at a time.








3 Comments so far!!

ACCER Says:
Wow, that was some interesting information. We could go a long way to improving things if we just banned disposable diapers!
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flowerhorn08 Says:
I always know along the line that we, human, does the most damages to the environment. The only way that I look at it is we just got to produce less babies!
Reply
Samantha Reif Says:
Hi, my name is Samantha Reif and I'm posting up about how many people are complaining about the world being poluted by coal powerplants when they don't do a single thing to make a change. Dont't say I haven't because I live on a farm where we grow our own food practicaly while my family's house is being powered by a wind generater and solar panels. My dad not only made our house with the help of my three uncles, but now he even makes our furniture! We also use geothermal heating and cooling and we reduce, reuse, and recycle. I myself, being a "nonfitting-in" 13-year-old girl, try to encourage others to recycle and conserve as much as possible. All my friends sure listened. And guess what else. We don't even have a computer! I typed this up on my grandmother's computer. We're pretty disconnected from the world without cable or satelite on our practicaly 30-year-old TV! Now, we're tryng to save enough money to buy a hybrid car. It's kind of hard to get a job as a young teenager in the middle of nowhere ( Plainville,Kansas.) The point that I'm trying to get across is that people are just getting to lazy to stand up and do something to make a change in the world. It took a lot of hard work ( and a lot of saving money) to get this far. I also just want to be heard that someone out there (me) is really trying to make a difference without any cuts, cheats, or easy way outs. I just hope that this messege gets read by other people out there and they decide to actually change and make a difference in the world themselves. This messege is an encouragement to everyone who is willing to try to survive in this ending world. Thank you people who took the time to read this article.
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