Fun Facts
Fun facts
Impress your friends, convince your colleagues, and expand your brain power with these sustainability fun facts.
Energy & Water
Office buildings use approximately 19 percent of all energy consumed in the US
Energy use can account for over 30 percent of a company's operating budget, while adding 20 percent to the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions.
Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems account for between 40 percent and 60 percent of total energy use (all forms of energy) in the commercial sector.
An American family of four uses up to 260 gallons of water in the home per day.
Running tap water for two minutes is equal to 3-5 gallons of water.
A five minute shower is equal to 20-35 gallons of water.
A full bath is equal to approximately 60 gallons of water.
Water efficient fixtures can cut water use by 30%
Though accounting for only 5 percent of the world's population, Americans consume 26 percent of the world's energy.
America uses about 15 times more energy per person than does the typical developing country.
Events
UCLA produces, on average, about 50 tons of waste per day, not including sewage. This includes landfill, waste-to-energy, and recycled as well as green waste. Landfill represents about 50% of that value.
One ton of paper made completely from recycled scrap saves 7000 gallons of water, 4100 kilowatt-hours of energy, three cubic yards of landfill space, and 17 trees
Each year, the United States uses 85.5 million tons of paper, of which we recycle only 22%, or 19 million tons. Of the remaining paper, we could recycle up to 70% or 46 million tons. And those 46 million tons could save 782 million trees.
Recycling 1 ton of glass saves the equivalent in energy of 10 gallons of oil.
Americans represent only 5% of the world's population, but generate 30% of the world's garbage.
We can really accomplish a lot when we all pull together and recycle! During WWII, salvaging metal straps from corsets saved enough metal to build 2 warships.
Every individual in the United States produces an average of 4.3 lbs. of garbage every day!
Producing a soda can from recycled aluminum uses 96% less energy than manufacturing a can from ore and produces 95% less air pollution and 97% less water pollution.
Over a ton of resources are saved for every ton of glass recycled:
-1,330 lbs. of sand
-433 lbs. of soda ash
-433 lbs. of limestone
-151 lbs. of feldspar
Every ton of paper recycled saves enough energy to heat and air condition the average American home for at least six months.
Americans use four million plastic bottles every hour, yet only one out of four is recycled.
1 ton of aluminum saves the equivalent in energy of 2,350 gallons of gasoline. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used by the typical home over a period of 10 years!
The average American uses 650 lbs. of paper a year.
One ton of paper from recycled pulp saves 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7000 gallons of water, 4200 kWh (enough to heat your home fore half a year), 390 gallons of oil, and prevents 60 pounds of air pollution.
More than half of plastic containers still go straight into landfills or incinerators.
Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever!
In 1993, for the first time in history, more paper was recovered for recycling in the United States than was landfilled.
The energy saved from recycling aluminum in 1993 alone was enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years.
"Tin" cans (like those used for tuna and soup) are actually 99% steel. Americans throw away enough steel every year to build all the new cars made in America.
Source: Bruins for Recycling
Mail & Documents
A single-sided 10 page letter costs $.55 to mail and it is going up, copied on both sides the letter uses only 5 sheets and costs only $.34 to mail.
One ton of 100% recycled paper saves the equivalent of 4,100 kWh of energy, 7000 gallons of water, 60 pounds of air emissions and three cubic yards of landfill space.
In the US over 40% of municipal solid waste is paper about 71.8 tons a year.
Purchasing
Using soy based inks because they not only produce clearer and sharper images but they use only .5% of the total energy needed to create ink.
90% of the daily newspapers in the US with circulations of more than 1500 use soy ink.
A single-sided 10 page letter costs $.55 to mail and it is going up, copied on both sides the letter uses only 5 sheets and costs only $.34 to mail.
One ton of 100% recycled paper saves the equivalent of 4,100 kWh of energy, 7000 gallons of water, 60 pounds of air emissions and three cubic yards of landfill space.
In the US over 40% of municipal solid waste is paper about 71.8 tons a year.
Recycling
Energy saved from recycling one aluminum can could operate a computer or TV for three hours and a six-pack saves enough energy to drive a car five miles.
One glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 400-watt light bulb for four hours.
Americans throw away enough wood and paper annually to heat 500 homes for 200 years.
Biodegrading in a landfill takes:
- 90 years for an aluminum can
- 700 years for a plastic bottle
- 1 million years for a glass bottle
Every 40 cases of 100% post consumer fiber paper saves the equivalent of the following:
- 24 trees 40 feet in height
- 7,000 gallons of water
- 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity
- 60 pounds of air pollution
Transportation
State & Federal mandate requires 75% of new vehicle purchases be alternative fuel
Electric vehicles produce no tail pipe emissions
A CNG vehicle is 95% cleaner than a gasoline-powered vehicle
The Transit Campus Shuttle Program is fueled 100% by CNG
There are 165 vanpool vans, with more than 2,200 full-time riders and 800 part-time riders
The UCLA drive alone rate is 53% - the regional LA drive alone rate is 74%
Annually, UCLA’s commute emissions of CO₂ are approximately 10,000 metric tons less than what they would be without our carpool, vanpool, public transit and bicycle programs.
The UCLA Bike Shop, located in the John Wooden Center, manages the Bicycle Library, where students can rent a bicycle for $35 a quarter.
You can get real-time predictive BruinBus arrival times at each bus stop via your computer, landline, cell phone or web enabled device
Almost 40% of UCLA Transportation’s campus fleet of approximately 1,000 vehicles is alternative-fueled, ranking it among the top 50 clean fleets nationwide.
More than 1,800 buses operated by UCLA’s six public transit partner agencies arrive at, depart from, or pass through UCLA and Westwood Village each weekday.
From 1984 through 2009, the UCLA Vanpool Program saved approximately 6.7 million pounds of CO2 emissions per year
