SBA Green Team Tip of the Week (1/20/09)

From the Can Manufacturers Institute

(courtesy of the PSU Sustainability website)

Recycling aluminum can saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore. Energy savings in 1993 alone were enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years.

Since the early 1970's, Americans have earned $6.4 billion from their recycling of aluminum cans.

Did you know?:

• Making cans from recycled aluminum cuts related air pollution (for example, sulfur dioxides, which create acid rain) by 95%.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.
• Every day Americans use steel and tin cans equivalent to make a steel pipe running from Los Angeles to New York and back.
• The average American throws out about 61 lbs. of tin cans every month.
• Enough energy is saved by recycling one aluminum can to run a TV set for three hours or to light one 100 watt bulb for 20 hours.
• Throwing away an aluminum beverage container wastes as much energy as pouring out a soda can half-filled with gasoline.

Questions? Want to join the SBA Green Team? Email: greenteam@sba.pdx.edu for more information.