Things few people want to know...let alone think about

• in the past 20 years approximately 1 million species have disappeared from the world's tropical forests.
• from 1960-1985 over 40% of the central american rainforests were destroyed to create grazing land for cattle.
• the united states imports over 100,000 tons of beef from central america each year.
• it takes 23 gallons of water to produce a pound of tomatoes.
• it takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef.
• one acre of land can produce 20,000 pounds of potatoes.
• one acre of land can produce 165 pounds of beef.
• the u.s. cattle industry produces 158 million tons of waste per year.
• livestock production is the #1 cause of water pollution in the u.s.
• 22 million acres of land have become unusable due to desertification.
• 85% of the topsoil loss in the u.s. is the result of livestock production.
• in the u.s. 33% of all raw material consumption is used solely in the production or meat, egg, and dairy products.
• it takes 1 pound of grain to make 1 pound of bread.
• it takes 20 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of beef.
• 75% of the grain sent to 3rd world nations goes to livestock production.
• the countries with the diets highest in animal products are also the countries with the highest rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc.
• 80% of u.s.d.a. chicken inspectors no longer eat chicken.
• 50 percent of men who eat meat regularly die of heart disease.
• 4 percent of men who eat no animal products die of heart disease.
• if the average commuter passenger load in the u.s. were increased by just 1 person per day we would save 3 million gallons of gas each day.
• americans spend over 1 billion hours stuck in traffic each year.
• 30% of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions come from cars.
• air is sold in mexico city for $1.15 a minute by sidewalk vendors.
• what greenpeace spends in a year general motors spends in 4 hours.
• 3.5 million children under the age of 6 suffer from lead poisoning.
• in europe 50% of the cars still use leaded gas.
• 2 million gallons of motor oil are dumped in american waterways each year.
• over 8 million tons of oil are spilled into the world's oceans every year.
• 5 billion gallons of water are flushed each day in the united states.
• sewage treatment facilities in the u.s. discharge 5.9 trillion gallons of sewage wastewater into coastal waters every year.
• u.s. tuna fishermen are permitted to kill over 20,000 dolphins every year.
• 2 million sharks die in driftnets in the north pacific every year.
• only 1 in 10 baby chimpanzees survive the trip from the jungle to the zoo.
• 1 billion animals are killed each year in experiments.
• 17 million animals are trapped In the u.s. each year for fur.
• many traps are so painful that animals chew through their own limbs to escape.
• for every fur animal trapped, two other animals (dogs, cats, deer, etc) are trapped and killed.
• in 1987 450,000 minks died on fur farms from heat exhaustion.
• 1 ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and enough energy to heat the average home for 6 months.
• enough wood and paper is thrown away each year in america to heat 1 billion houses for a year.
• six times more jobs are created by recycling as by landfill operations.
• the amount of money spent on trash disposal in american schools is equal to that spent on new textbooks.
• out of every $10 that americans spend on food, $1 pays for packaging.
• 65% of garbage in the u.s. is packaging.
• 50% of all trash thrown away could be recycled into new products.
• 500 new dumps are built each year in the united states.
• over 1 billion trees are used to make disposable diapers every year.
• americans throw away 20 billion disposable diapers each year.
• americans dump the equivalent of 21 million shopping bags full of food into landfilIs every year.
• 2.5 billion batteries are thrown away each year by americans.
• over 700,000 tons of hazardous waste is produced in the u.s. every day.
• americans throw away 10 million cigarette lighters every week.
• 500,000 people die of cigarette related diseases in the u.s. each year.
• pesticides that are banned in the u.s. (such as ddt) are regularly sold to 3rd world countries.
• 90% of all food borne pesticides are found in meat and dairy products.
• 10% of nursing mothers who were vegetarians had ddt in their breast milk.
• 90% of nursing mothers who were meat eaters had ddt in their breast milk.
• in 1945, before widespread pesticide use, u.s. corn growers lost 3% of their crop to insects, last year they lost over 12%.
• 74 different kinds of pesticides have been found in drinking water.
• over 100 chemical contaminants have been found in the breast milk of nursing mothers in the u.s.
• of the 34 chemicals most widely used on lawns, 25% are widely believed to cause birth defects, genetic mutation, and cancer.
• americans spend 6 billion dollars on their lawns each year.
• 25% of u.s. nuclear reactors would not be able to contain a core breach meltdown.
• a 1985 study predicted a 5% chance of core breach meltdown in the u.s. before 2005.
• in 1992 430,000 people in the world died from cancers resulting from nuclear testing radiation.
• more money is spent in the u.s. on nuclear weaponry in one year than was spent on housing from 1980-1992.
• to date, cleaning up storage facilities for nuclear debris has cost taxpayers 200 billion dollars.
• in 1989 the u.s. military used 200 billion barrels of oil, enough to keep all american public transit systems running for 22 years.
• 1 ton of toxic waste is produced by the u.s. military every minute.

From the Moby album EVERYTHING IS WRONG 1995