Word: amounts
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...think that the toxic-waste mess is all the work of big bad industry. The average homeowner uses more pesticide and chemical fertilizer per acre of lawn than farmers do on the same amount of land. Cut back on these potent pollutants as well as nonbiodegradable detergents, cleansers and solvents. An attractive alternative to buying chemical fertilizer is to compost fallen leaves and lawn clippings, which now constitute 18% of all municipal solid waste...
...long, many U.S. companies have looked upon the ecology movement as bad for business. Putting scrubbers on smokestacks is expensive, they lament, and drafting all those environmental-impact statements can consume an enormous amount of time and resources. But while cleanup efforts cost money in the short run, they can eventually pay hefty dividends. As more and more firms are discovering, many environmentally sound practices can build up goodwill, win customers and produce a healthier bottom line...
Along with curbing energy use, companies can take a hard look at the amount of waste they generate. Increasingly stringent environmental regulations have made it ever more expensive to clean up smokestacks and reduce releases of toxic chemicals. Thus, limiting factory waste can save money while it helps preserve the surrounding environment. Since 1975, the 3M company has cut its waste discharges in half by redesigning equipment, streamlining manufacturing processes and selling or reusing materials that used to be discarded. By not having to deal with that waste, 3M has so far saved $300 million...
Another simple but vitally important move would be to reinvigorate the U.S. commitment to family planning at home and abroad. Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, points out that humanity consumes or wastes 40% of the total amount of energy stored by photosynthesis in terrestrial vegetation. No one knows how much more people can devour before they begin to exhaust resources and crowd out vital ecosystems. Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute argues that global annual food production already falls short of human consumption and that environmental degradation reduces yields 1% annually at a time when world population...
...these and other areas, America must play a leading role. Not only is the U.S., as a wealthy, technologically advanced nation, in a position to help others achieve sustainable development; the country also has a moral responsibility to do so. After all, the U.S. consumes a disproportionate amount of the world's resources and has inflicted more than its share of environmental damage. But perhaps the strongest argument for American leadership on the environment is an idealistic one. Ronald Reagan loved to sing paeans to America's unique role as "a city on a hill" -- an inspiring model of democracy...