This year the Royal Statistical Society’s International Statistic of the Year was 90.5%, the amount of plastic that has never been recycled. About 90.5% of all the plastic waste ever produced is the equivalent of 7.2 trillion grocery bags full of plastic. Assuming that a grocery bag of plastic is about 1 foot high, if you stacked the grocery bags, you could go to the moon and back 5,790 times. Because one of those grocery bags would contain about $1 worth of plastic material production, 7.2 trillion grocery bags is equal to $7.2 trillion. With $7.2 trillion, you could buy Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Walmart, Exxon, GM, AT&T, Facebook, Bank of America, all the NFL teams, and all the MLB teams. This year, I served on the judging panel for The Royal Statistical Society’s International Statistic of the Year . On Dec. 18, we announced the winner: 90.5% , the amount of plastic that has never been recycled. Okay — but why is that such a big deal? Much like Oxford English Dictionary’s "Word of the Year" competition, the international statistic is meant to capture the zeitgeist of this year. The judging panel accepted nominations from the statistical community […]
If you could monetize all of the plastic garbage around the world, you could buy the NFL, Apple, and Microsoft

Latest Articles
This home floats in a self-sufficient Amsterdam neighborhood
In a city characterized by fast population growth, Amsterdam residents are beginning to entertain alternative living situations. Enter Schoonschip, a sustainable floating neighborhood...
USPS cuts emissions with new delivery vehicle fleet
The United States Postal Service announced last week that it was awarded a multi-billion-dollar contract to update the postal delivery fleet. Oshkosh Defense...
How Siemens Energy Is Targeting the US Green Hydrogen Opportunity
Siemens Energy's Silyzer electrolyzer is part of a green hydrogen technology line the company is hoping will gain market share in the nascent...
11 Natural Lawn Alternatives
Laszlo Podor / Getty Images While lush, green lawns are nice, they do very little for the environment. In fact, because so many lawns...
Chemists close in on greener way to make plastics
Conventional polyethylene production, powered by fossil fuels, could one day be replaced by chemical reactors that rely on renewable energy and consume carbon...
A Guide For Eco-Conscious Homeowners in 2021
A Guide for Eco-Conscious Homeowners in 2021
Guest Post By Rebecca Clarke As climate change continues to have an adverse effect on the natural world around...