Did you know . . . ?

Between January and February 1995, UCRecycle recycled four tons of Chicago phone books.

A recycled aluminum can saves the energy equivalent of 87 ounces of gas.

The energy used to produce one day's junk mail in America is enough to heat 250,000 homes.

The average American uses 600 pounds of paper per year.

Each ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees.

If every newspaper printed in the United States alone were later recycled, 250 million trees would be saved each year.

A glass bottle takes 1 million years to decompose.

The plastic from five soda bottles can completely insulate a ski jacket.

If 15 people recycled all of their milk jugs for a year, together they could build a six-foot plastic park bench.

Americans produce enough Styrofoam cups every year to circle the earth 436 times.

Americans generate about 600 times their weight in garbage in their lifetime.

A slow drip from a leaky faucet can waste over 50 gallons of water a day.

Americans throw away 18 billion disposable diapers a year -- enough to stretch to the moon and back seven times.

The average American throws away 3.5 pounds of trash a day.

The aluminum can was introduced in 1964. In 1988, 88 billion were produced, and 55 billion were recycled.