Houston Attorney James Walker Promotes Earth Day

Earth Day is April 22, 2018.

What began in America in 1970 as a day to promote environmental awareness has become a year-round global campaign to protect and conserve the Earth and its resources. Today we celebrate Earth day.

Here are 11 facts for all to know and make a change to your day to day routines.

1. The first Earth Day in 1970 also led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
2. The United States consumes water at twice the rate of other industrialized nations.  On average, each person uses 50 gallons in the U.S.
3. According to the group Conservatree, one tree makes 16.67 reams (one ream = 500 sheets) of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets.
4. The shower uses 30-50 gallons of water; flushing the toilet uses 2-7 gallons; filling the bathtub uses 25-30 gallons; washing one load of clothes uses 25-40 gallons.
5. To save water, experts recommend never watering at the hottest times of the day or when it’s windy.
6. On average, 50-70 percent of household water is used outdoors for watering lawns and gardens.
7. Nearly 97 percent of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2 percent is locked in ice caps and glaciers.¬† Which means approximately 1 percent of the water in the world can be used to meet the agricultural, residential, manufacturing, community and personal needs of humans.
8. It takes 450 years for a plastic 6-pack holder to disintegrate.
9. According to the EPA, the U.S. pumps more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other country in the world. Each U.S. resident contributes about 22 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, whereas the world average per capita is about 6 tons.
10. Every year, enough paper is thrown away to make a 12′-high wall stretching from New York to California.
11. In the same amount of time, a water heater consumes the most electricity out of all home appliances. The water heater uses approximately 4,000 watts, more than double of any of the other appliances.

To learn more on how to get involved and make a change go to https://www.earthday.org/