April 6, 2014 – 16 Days until Earth Day…
Thankfully, because so many of them are recycled, aluminum cans
account for less than 1% of the total U.S. waste stream. Even so,
the energy required to replace just the aluminum cans wasted
in 2001 was equivalent to 16 million barrels of crude oil,
enough to meet the electricity needs of all the homes in
Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco and Seattle.
That’s over 3 million households! A single barrel of crude oil can go to the production of 44 gallons of various other products including 22.6 gallons of gasoline — enough to drive 622 miles in the average American car. Other resources created through the use of crude oil are asphalt and liquefied gas, which is used in heating appliances and vehicles. As for the barrel itself, 170 wax birthday candles are always an option. Despite the decline in oil consumption in developed countries due to rising prices, expectations are that this number will be outweighed by the expected increase seen in developing countries.
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