My dear friend Ashley Sue has left the RTP area for bigger and better things - or for a more sustainable lifestyle!  She is heading out to Asheville to explore a career in sustainablility - while I will miss her, she truly has taught me so much.  Everything she has taught me has led me to ask for more - more information, more ways to better my lifestyle, etc.

A few of the statistics really hit home for me and I hope to incorporate these in my ongoing education that Ashley Sue helped ignite not too long ago!

Statistics:

Eighty-four percent of a typical household's waste--including food scraps, yard waste, paper, cardboard, cans, and bottles--can be recycled.

If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25 million trees a year.

Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year, and 2.5 million plastic beverage bottles every hour.

Each year, 1 million sea birds, 100,000 marine mammals, and 50,000 fur seals are killed as the result of eating or being strangled in plastic.

Each year, 40 million acres of tropical rainforests--an area larger than the state of California--are destroyed through logging or burning.

It takes only one-twentieth as much raw materials to grow grains, fruits, and vegetables as it does to raise animals for meat.

And the list goes on, but when she open my eyes to this world of sustainability, it seemed more like a "fad" or the "trend" of the year, but the truth be told, this is a very real concept, and a very real part of everyone's lives.  The above statistics really resonanted with me, and left me wanted to help in all the little ways I can.  Any other statistics you have come across that would be of value?\Everything she has taught