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Environmental Facts

  • Over 300 plant species in the UK face extinction.
  • Internationally, 1 in 6 species of mammal face extinction.
  • Batteries produce 50 times less energy than it takes to make them!
  • In the UK, 20 million tonnes of food is imported, and 12 million tonnes exported, every year.
  • On average every person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every three months.
  • In 1990 less than 10% of children walked to school.
  • On average, each UK resident uses 6,500 buckets (55,000 litres) of water every year.
  • A dripping tap can waste 13 litres of water a day.
  • Taking a shower instead of a bath saves up to 25 litres of water. But power showers can use even more water than a bath.
  • Inflating your vehicle tyres to the correct pressure can save you up to 5% on your fuel bill.
  • Nearly a third of all car mileage is clocked up by people driving to work or during their work.
  • Public transport uses, on average, less than half as much fuel per passenger mile than a private car.
  • Turning your thermostat down by just 1oC can cut 10% off your fuel bill.
  • Replacing one normal 100 watt lightbulb with an energy-saving one can save up to £10 a year, or £50 over the bulb's lifetime (energy saving light bulbs last up to ten times as long as ordinary ones).
  • Within the UK, food travels 50% further around the country than it did 15 years ago.
  • The ten warmest years in the last 130 have all occurred since 1978.
  • It takes around 450 years for a plastic bottle to degrade.
  • Over a third of all UK energy use, and 38% of its carbon emissions, are accounted for by transport - mostly road traffic.
  • Aviation generates nearly as much carbon dioxide in one year as the total population of Africa.
  • An area of tropical rainforest equivalent to 16 football pitches is destroyed every single minute.
  • Housing in the UK accounts for 30% of total fuel use and energy-related CO2 emissions.
  • For every tonne of waste we produce in our homes, it is estimated that 5 tonnes of waste has already been created at the manufacturing stage, and 20 tonnes at the point where the raw material was extracted.