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Aluminum Can photo by Michael Bednarek/Shutterstuck

Recycling One Aluminum Can Will Power a Laptop for More Than Five Hours

And other facts you should probably know.

2 MIN READ
Mar 25, 2014

Hours a day the average American spends online with a computer: 2.31

Hours a laptop could be powered from the energy saved by recycling one aluminum can: 5.22

Aluminum cans recycled in 2012: 62 billion

Aluminum cans shipped by the U.S. Aluminum Industry in 2012: 92 billion


 Years since the first cell phone call: 40 

Percentage of Americans who can’t imagine living without their cell phones: 29

Percentage of American adults who text who admitted to texting while driving in 2010: 47

Number of Americans that died in driving accidents due to cell phone use in 2012: 3,328


Total number of bacteria species found in a study of 60 belly buttons: 2,368

Range of number of bacteria species found in those 60 belly buttons: 29–107


Pieces of mail processed by the United States Postal Service in 2012: 160 billion

Miles driven by United States Postal Service letter carriers and truck drivers annually: 1.3 billion

Number of career people employed by the United States Postal Service in 2012: 522,144

Tax money paid to the United States Postal Service for operations in 2012: $0


Percentage of global GMO crops produced in the United States: 69.5

Countries other than the United States requiring GMO food labels: 64


Daily calories recommended for adults with moderate activity: 2,300

Estimated calories consumed daily by average adult American in 2000: 2,700

Number of Americans who are chronically hungry: 18 million

Estimated number of people who could be fed entirely by surplus calories of

Americans aged 18–64: 33.8 million


Average number of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island annually from 1892–1924: 375,000

Average number of immigrants deported annually during President Barack Obama’s first term: 382,500

Estimated number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States in 2012: 11.7 million


Families made homeless by flooding and other damage after Hurricane Katrina: 600,000

U.S. cities expected to be affected by sea level rise in 2050: 315

Mayors who signed the “Resilient Communities for America” agreement for climate preparedness: 78


Sources

1. “” eMarketer, August 2013

2. “,” United States Environmental Protection Agency, September 2013.

3. “,” Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc., October 2013.

4.

5. “ Pew Research Center, as cited in Pew Internet, April 2013.

6. “” Pew Research Center, as cited in Pew Internet, April 2013.

7. “,” Pew Research Center, as cited in Pew Internet, June 2010.

8. “” National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as seen in Distraction.gov.

9. “,” Plos One, November 2012.

10. .

11. “,” International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, March 2012.

12. “,” Center for Food Safety, April 2013.

13. “,” Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

14. “,” Agriculture Fact Book, United States Department of Agriculture.

15. “” United States Economic Research Center, September 2013.

16. “,” United States Census Bureau, May 2011.

17. “,” Agriculture Fact Book, United States Department of Agriculture.

18. “” Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

19. , as cited in National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy.

20. “” Pew Research Center, September 2013.

21. “” Pew Research Center, September 2013.

22. “” Brookings Institute, November 2005.

23. “” Benjamin H. Strauss, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2013.

24. .



Miles Becker
Christine St. Pierre is a former editorial intern for YES!

Spring 2014

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