Some Basic Recycling Facts:

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Some Basic Recycling Facts: * Making a ton of aluminum cans from virgin ore, or bauxite, uses 229 BTUs of energy. In contrast, producing cans from recycled aluminum uses only 8 BTUs of energy per can. * By recycling one aluminum can, enough energy is saved to run a TV set for three hours. * Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil. * A ton of recycled paper will save enough energy to power the average American home for six months. * A ton of recycled paper will save 7,000 gallons of water. * If every household reused a paper grocery bag for one shopping trip, about 60,000 trees would be saved. * If Americans recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers we would save 25 million trees a year. * In 2006 the amount of plastic bottles recycled reached a record high of 2,220,000,000 pounds. * Did you know that Americans throw away more than 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. * The largest man-made structure in the world is the Fresh Kills Landfill serving New York City. It is now the highest point on the east coast. Some Recycling Facts about Montgomery County, Illinois: * Between 1996 and 2008 Montgomery County has recycled over 21,785,267 pounds of material. You could build a 3’ high by 4’ wide wall around the entire border of Montgomery County and then some. * Between 1996 and 2008 Montgomery County recycled 1,111 tons of office paper, which saved the following:      18,895 trees      7,777,000 gallons of water      66,660 lbs. of pollutants out of our air, and saved enough energy to power 1,111 average homes for 6 months How long it takes the following to degrade? Material                          Biodegrade     What to do instead.                  (How long it takes to Breakdown) *     A banana peel?          3-4 weeks        Compost *     A paper bag?             1 month             Recycle *     A cotton rag?             5 months            Reuse *     A piece of wood?      10-15 years        Reuse *     A leather shoe?          40-50 years       Rethink *     A tin can?                  80-100 years     Recycle *     An aluminum can?     200-500 years    Recycle *     Disposable diapers?  500-600 years    Rethink - Cloth *      A plastic jug?            1 million years    Recycle *      Glass bottle?             Forever!            Recycle *      Styrofoam?               Forever!             Reduce – Rethink – Don’t purchase