• Aluminum is a durable and sustainable metal: Two-thirds of the aluminum ever produced is still in use today (Earth 911).
• Only about 1,000 square miles of land lie in the watershed above Lake Lanier to capture the rain water and send it downstream to the metro area's water intakes for 3.5 million people. That's just one-fifth of an acre to capture rainwater for each person in metro Atlanta (Upper Chattahoochee River Keeper)
• Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. (Earth 911)
• In the 2011 “State of the Air” Report from the American Lung Association, Atlanta was ranked 23rd (out of 277 cities) in the country for high ozone days. It was also ranked 30th worst in the country for 24-hour particle pollution (State of the Air 2011)
• Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95 percent less energy than using virgin materials (Earth 911).

RECYCLING FACTS

• The U.S. currently recycles 32.5 percent of its waste, compared with about five percent in 1970.
• According to the EPA, recycling cuts global warming pollution by the equivalent of removing 39.6 million passenger cars from the road.
• Before 1973, no curbside recycling programs existed in the United States. By 2006, about 8,660 curbside programs had sprouted up across the nation.
• 31 percent of plastic soft drink bottles, 45 percent of aluminum cans and 67 percent of all major appliances are now recycled.
• Less than half of all post-consumer paper discarded in the United States is recovered for recycling.
• Only 13 percent of water bottles are recycled. In 2005, Americans purchased 30 billion water bottles, and 26 billion of them wound up in landfills.
• Airports and airlines recycle less than 20 percent of the 425,000 tons of passenger-related waste they produce each year.
• The Average American generates 4 lbs. of trash each day (1,460 lbs. a year).
• Two plastic bottles recycled can make enough polyester fiber to make a baseball cap.
• Recycling 1 aluminum can creates enough power to run a TV for 3 hours. One glass bottle
  can light a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours.
• One ton of recycled paper saves: 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic feet of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water.
• Everyday Americans buy 62 million newspapers and throw out 44 million, equivalent to dumping 500,000 trees per week.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum every 3 months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.
• Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates 1 job. Land filling the same amount creates 6 jobs. Recycling the same 10,000 tons creates 36 jobs.
• It takes one million years for glass to break down.
• It takes 75,000 trees to print the Sunday Edition of the N. Y. Times.
• Thirty recycled plastic bottles can be used to make one sq. yd. of carpet