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New
Zealanders use over 22 million plastic bags each week and about 800
million plastic bags each year most of which end up in the landfill.
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It
takes 500 years for a plastic bag to break down in landfill.
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25
plastic bottles makes 1 eco fleece
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1
cup of crude oil goes into 1 disposable nappy.
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Every
month, waste going to landfill from people living and working in
Auckland city is enough to fill a rugby field to a height of 5
stories.
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Every
year NZ industries and households discard over 3 million tonnes of
construction and demolition debris into landfills and cleanfills. This
represents 1 tonne per person.
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Over
50% of packaging waste is imported into NZ.
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Steel
cans that have contained anything from baked beans to fruit cocktail,
pet food or soup can be recycled to make new cars and bridges.
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A
styrofoam vending cup can be made into a pencil or pen.
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Plastic
bags and containers can be recycled into garden furniture, decking and
fencing.
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90%
of our wetland has been lost.
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Auckland
Region has 56 threatened animal species and 105 threatened plant
species.
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Only
12% of our total land area in the Auckland Region is in native forest.
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The
risk of disaster is increasing. All households need to be prepared for
3 days without water, power or transport - less than 10% are aware.
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Auckland
air pollution exceeds World Health Organisation safety standards.
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In
the Auckland region 250 people are dying every year due to pollution
from motor vehicles.
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Our
carbon monoxide levels are higher than London.
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80%
of peak hour cars only have the driver in them.
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Among
the fine particulate pollution above Auckland is equivalent to 500
bags of cement being shaken into our air every day.
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t
is estimated that over 45,000 cigarette butts enter our harbours every
day.
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Every
year over 1000 native fish are killed as a result of storm water
pollution.
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It
is estimated that over 500,000 litres of detergent and 80,000kg of our
pollutants are entering the regions streams and harbours every year as
a result of car washing.
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There
are 250 urban streams in the region - last year alone 10 were
sterilised as a result of storm water pollution ie.
everything was killed. These
streams take over 10 years to recover - some never recover.
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In
1993, the Taranaki Regional Council estimated that the regions dairy
farmers use 13,000 kilometres of plastic biodegradable silage wrapping
each year. This is enough to encircle Egmont National Park 150 times.
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Recycling
generates more jobs than other waste management options. Six times
more jobs are created by recycling than are created by land filling.
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Recycling
paper cause 35% less water pollution, uses 65% lass water and creates
75% less air pollution.
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Each
tonne of newsprint that is recycled saves 3 cubic metres of landfill
space.
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Using
250 kilograms of paper then recycling that saves about 4.6 average
size trees a year. Over a life time of 70 years that is 325 trees per
person. At that rate a city the size of Toronto could save 1.3 billion
trees by recycling.
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Recycling
1 glass bottle saves the equivalent energy needed to light a 100-watt
bulb for 4 hours.
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Recycling
an aluminium can is the same as saving half a can of gasoline.
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The
savings in energy using recycled glass is 25%, for iron 74%, for
copper 90% and for aluminium the savings are 95%.
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Recycling
aluminium uses 5% of the energy needed to manufacture new aluminium.
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Adding
old glass to batches of new glass requires 25% less energy to operate
the furnaces.
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Approximately
500 billion litres of sewage that flow into your 258 public waste
water treatment plants each year.