Earth Day 2014 Facts And Features

Posted by Heidi Schwartz
Earth Day 2014

April 22, 2014, marks the 44th anniversary of Earth Day ― a day intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. The day came from reaction to a massive oil spill in waters near Santa Barbara, CA, in 1969.

On April 10, 2014, FacilityBlog shared Strategic Tips For Ensuring Year-Round Earth Day Benefits. As a follow up—and in honor of Earth Day and Earth Week (April 16-22)—here are some examples of Census Bureau statistics pertaining to energy and the environment.

Commuting To Work

25.7 minutes
Estimated average time for workers age 16 and older across the country spent getting to work in 2012, up from 25.5 minutes in 2011 and 25.3 minutes in 2010.

31.9 and 31.8 minutes
Estimated average time for workers age 16 and older in Maryland and New York spent getting to work in 2012, the longest commute time in the nation. (The two times are not statistically different.) Maryland’s time is down from 32.2 minutes in 2011.

16.7 and 17.4 minutes
Estimated average time workers age 16 and older in South Dakota and North Dakota spent getting to work in 2012, the shortest one-way commute times in the nation. (The two times are not statistically different.)

864,883
Estimated number of people who rode a bicycle to work in 2012. This comes out to about .6% of the American workforce.

3,969,058
Estimated number of people who walked to work in 2012. This comes out to about 2.8% of the American workforce.

Source: 2012 American Community Survey

Working In The Nuclear And Forestry Fields

50,778
Number of workers employed in nuclear electric power generation (NAICS 221113) across the U.S. in 2011, up from 49,174 in 2010. They had an average salary of $111,750, up from $109,021 in 2010.

53,034
Number of workers employed in forestry and logging (NAICS 113) across the U.S. in 2011, down from 53,525 in 2010. They had an average salary of $37,986, up from $37,215 in 2010.

Source: 2011 County Business Patterns

Using Energy

18,817 trillion Btu
The energy consumption in the U.S. manufacturing sector in 2010, down 17% from the 22,576 trillion Btu (British thermal units) consumed in 2002.

-32%
The drop in the consumption of coal in the U.S. manufacturing sector from 2002 to 2010, going from 1,956 trillion Btu in 2002 down to 1,328 trillion Btu consumed in 2010.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2010 Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

$7.6 billion
Product shipments value of recycled paperboard in 2011. This is up from $7.2 billion in 2010.

Source: 2010 and 2011 Annual Survey of Manufactures

Collecting Revenue

$1.2 billion
Estimated revenue for “waste collection – hazardous waste management collection services” in 2012 for estimated sources of revenue for U.S. employer firms. This was down 13.1% from 2011.

$5.7 billion
Estimated revenue for “waste treatment and disposal – hazardous waste treatment and disposal services” in 2012 for estimated sources of revenue for U.S. employer firms. This was down 5.1% from 2011.

$8.2 billion
Estimated revenue for “local, fixed-route passenger transportation, by road and transit rail” in 2012 for estimated sources of revenue for employer firms. This is up 8.7% from 2011.

Source: 2012 Service Annual Survey, Table 4

For additional Earth Day coverage from the TFM archives, visit this link.