• In the past 30 years, one-third of the planet’s natural resources base have been consumed.
• In the United States, less than 4% of the original forests remain.
• Forty percent of waterways in the US have become undrinkable.
• The US has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources and creates 30% of the world’s waste.
• If everybody consumed at rates, similar to those of the UK we would need 3 to 5 planets to support us all.
• There are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals on the market today.
• Only a handful of synthetic chemicals have even been tested for human health impacts and NONE have been tested for synergistic health impacts.
• In the US, industry admits to releasing over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals a year.
• The average person now consumes twice as much as they did 50 years ago.
• We each see more advertisements in one year than a people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime.
• In the US, national happiness peaked sometime in the 1950s.
• Average house size has doubled since the 1970s.
• For every binfull of waste you put out, 70 binfulls of waste were made upstream to make the waste in that one bin.
well, when you put it like that, how can I NOT join in with Buy Nothing Month??
ReplyDeleteShocking statistics and scary too :(
I am so excited to have discovered you blog...I am eagerly following your 'buy nothing month' and am very interested to see how you do. I am totally rootting you all on with this project - I don't think I go through a day without buying something - even a sandwich. I will look at all your tips and maybe start out small - like the not buying anything for a day project and then eventually working my way up.I would definitely need to be buying fruit and veg...hard to grow anything in the winter in Canada, Calgary especially - our growing season is about three months, if that. But, I love the concept and will be following closely. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteYay - good to hear that you are in Rae - though I didn't mean to push anyone into it with those stats - they are shocking aren't they?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support Raining Sheep - celebrating Buy Nothing Day at the end of Nov is a great way to start to look at our attitudes to consumerism. I hear you on the homegrown veg front - our plot hasn't been as productive this year. I think its important to start small and set manageable goals otherwise it can all feel a bit overwhelming! Thanks for reading!