Been meaning to get a handle on some of the facts surrounding climate change,  carbon emissions and everything else sustainability? Or simply want to have some planet trivia to whip out at the pub to impress your friends? You’re not alone!

There are far too many facts, stats and research out there to keep up with – unless of course you live on your Twitter feed and read every article posted on the internet (if so, we salute you!) But for us mere mortals who want to know the facts in a nutshell, and in easily sharable form, I have pulled together 20 of the most pressing facts which inspired me to go green.

Many of these actually come from my two favourite sources of info: You can Save the Planet, by Rich Hough (buy it, it’s green living in a nut shell and I love it!) and random internet searches that start with “the number of….” or “the percentage of…”. What? Don’t judge me, I told you I was lazy!

Note: The below is more of a Christmas Cracker, down-the-pub-showing-off style list of facts NOT a comprehensive list of all issues surrounding climate change etc.

 Face the facts…

1. Every year, a person will use 10x their weight in household rubbish
2. Washing up by hand uses 30-200 litres of water. A dishwasher uses about 15 litres when full (now that’s the kind of lazy green living I like!)
3. An average bath uses 80 litres of water. A power shower can produce as much as that in just 5 minutes – who knew?!
4. Demand for water has doubled in the last 30 years – by 2025, two thirds of the world population will face water shortage
5. A whopping £740 million of energy is used by electronic like TVs and stereos, just by leaving them on standby!
6. Of the 40 million litres of paint sold each year in the UK, 20% is never used – naughty, lazy DIY-ers!
7. 10% of greenhouse gases come from livestock, as well as 35% of the world methane emissions
8. 300 million sq metres of landfill is used every year. That’s equivalent to 28,450 football pitches!!
9. More than three million people die from air pollution and 2 million from water pollution each year – whilst there are some hot spots in developing countries, this is relevant worldwide
10. Every year, 45,000 tonnes of plastic waste is dumped in the world’s oceans – killing up to 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals 
11. If 3 light bulbs were swapped to energy efficient it would produce enough energy to light ALL street lamps in the country! So they’re a bit more pricy but WAY more efficient!
12. Get repaired, don’t replace – 6.5 million tonnes of electrical products is wasted in Europe each year
13. Meat consumption has doubled in the last 50 years, and is increasingly becoming an unsustainable industry for the growing population
14. The average household produces 3.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, or in party terms: 200,000 balloons!
15. About 5 billion items of essential bathroom products (deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste) are used and thrown away every year
16. Every year, in Europe alone, cosmetic manufactures test products on 38,000 animals – and as shops like Body Shop prove, they really don’t have to!
17. A staggering £800 million of electricity and 500 billion litres of water are used for UK washing machines in just one year.
18. At this moment in time, there are more than 400 million cars and truck on the world’s roads – there’s no use moaning about traffic when you’re sat alone in the car in it yourself!
19. In the UK alone, 2 million PCs will be discarded in just one year
20. 96% of fruit and 50% of veg eaten in UK is imported – what about our local farmers?