The American lifestyle is the
most wasteful and unsustainable in the world. Each American exerts three times
as much pressure on the natural environment as the global average. The numbers
tell the story.
Every
day, the average American:
- generates 4.5 pounds of trash.
- uses over 100 gallons of water.
- causes the release of 110 pounds of carbon dioxide.
In a lifetime, the average
American:
- uses 18 tons of paper
- uses 23 tons of wood
- uses 16 tons of metal
- uses 32 tons of organic chemicals.
- leaves behind 90,000 pounds of garbage.
America is home to 5% of
the world's population, yet it:
- consumes 1/3 of the Earth's timber and paper.
- consumes 26% of the world's energy.
- produces 24% of the world's carbon dioxide output.
College
and University campuses are like small cities and therefore produce as much
waste and use as many resources as a small city. Most Colleges and Universities
have entirely ignored the huge impact they have and continue to use resources
and create waste at lightning speed.
All of this creates an incredible
environmental impact from the extraction of resources such as timber, minerals,
and oil, to the processing of these raw materials which often involves the use
and production of highly toxic chemicals.
In addition to diminishing
resources, our behavior creates massive amounts of pollution and waste. Americans
produced 239 million pounds of waste in 2000, about 4.5 pounds per person. This
waste goes into landfills, which leak toxic chemicals into our groundwater and
waterways, and incinerators, which spew pollution into our air. Toxic substances
such as mercury, lead, and dioxin end up in our air and water from the disposal
of solid waste.
America can make our practices
more sustainable through energy efficiency, using alternative energy sources,
conserving resources like water, and increasing the amount of our resources that
are recycled. We need to manage our development and our use of natural resources
in ways that maintain and improve environmental quality and quality of life in
order to meet the needs of present and future generations.
College campuses and communities
can take steps to create change and move towards sustainability. Efficient management
of a college's energy and water resources, the products and energy it buys,
and the quality of its recycling program have a direct effect on the local and
regional environment. Greening our campuses is a great first step to creating
large-scale environmental change.
Recycling
Currently, only about one tenth of all trash in the U.S. gets recycled. Americans
throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. Recycling an aluminum soda
can saves 96% of the energy used to make a can from ore, and produces 95% less
air pollution and 97% less water pollution. Many recycled products can last
forever, being recycled over and over, without drawing out more resources. Every
campus should have a campus wide recycling system for bottles, cans and paper
that's easy for all students to use. If your school does not have a recycling
program or has one that's insufficient, work to make sure that a great program
is implemented on campus.
Check out our On-Campus
Recycling Guide for more information about how to improve your campus' recycling
program.
Tree
Free Paper
The average American uses 650 pounds of paper every year. The wood to make this
paper often comes from national forests, old growth forests or other endangered
forests. In addition, paper is the largest part of the waste stream at 37.5%
of the total waste stream. We can prevent this destruction and waste by using
recycled paper and paper from other fibers like hemp and kenaf. One ton of paper
from recycled pulp saves 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7,000 gallons
of water, 4,200 kilowatt hours (enough to heat your home for half a year), 390
gallons of oil, and prevents 60 pounds of air pollutants. You can help prevent
the destruction of our forests by making sure that your campus implements a
policy to buy paper with no or low virgin wood content.
Check out our Tree
Free Paper Campaign Guide for information about how to change the paper
purchasing practices at your school.
Organic Cotton
The simple act of growing and harvesting the one pound of cotton fiber needed
to make a T-shirt takes an enormous toll on the air, water, and soil, not to
mention the health of people living and working in cotton plantations. This
is because of the huge quantities of pesticides used to grow most cotton in
the U.S. and abroad. In "conventional" or chemical-intensive agriculture, it
takes about 1/3 pound of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to grow enough
cotton for one T-shirt. Growing cotton organically decreases the environmental
impact of farming it. Numerous studies have shown that farming cotton organically
can produce yields equivalent to conventional farming, and the fibers have essentially
the same strength, length and aesthetic properties as conventional cotton. Your
campus can help the move toward organic cotton by increasing the demand for
it by making organic cotton collegiate apparel. Convince your campus to provide
organic cotton collegiate clothing, which provides a sustainable alternative
to the conventional collegiate apparel industry.
Check out the Organic
Cotton Campaign Guide for more information about how to get your campus
to provide organic cotton collegiate apparel.
Sustainable
Energy
Power plants are the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the US, contributing
33% of our carbon dioxide pollution. The majority of our power plants also burn
oil or coal, resources which are running out quickly. The extraction of these
resources involves road-building, mining and drilling, often in wilderness areas.
Your campus can do its part to stop this destruction by becoming more energy
efficient and buying a portion or all of its energy from a renewable energy
company. In recent years, students at campuses across the country have convinced
their administrations to implement energy efficiency strategies or purchase
renewable energy.
Climate
Campaign - Coalition of student environmental networks working to help the
Colleges and Univertisies in the Northeast become leaders in the fight against
global warming, including developing sustainable energy policies.
Greenpeace
USA's Clean Energy Now - Has resources for students working to get renewable
energy on campus, including a weblog about what other schools have done.
Every
day, the average American: 
College
and University campuses are like small cities and therefore produce as much
waste and use as many resources as a small city. Most Colleges and Universities
have entirely ignored the huge impact they have and continue to use resources
and create waste at lightning speed. 
Recycling
Tree
Free Paper
Sustainable
Energy
