Earth Day Facts - MetroFamily Magazine
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Earth Day Facts

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Today marks the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, a day to inspire awareness about our natural environment. To celebrate the occasion, the U.S. Census Bureau has put together some facts and figures about our amazing planet. We've listed some insightful household figures below so you can see how you compare to the rest of the nation is terms of sustainability. 

To practice more sustainability at home, here are 15 green living tips from an expert. Also, check out what our readers say they're doing to go green at home.

2.4 million 

Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country heated by wood in 2013, which is 2.1 percent of all homes.

50,235

Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country totally heated by solar energy in 2013.

56.8 million

Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country heated by utility gas in 2013, which is 49.1 percent of all homes.

91%

Estimated percent of newly built single-family homes across the country with air-conditioning in 2013.

25.8 minutes

Estimated average time for workers age 16 and older across the country spent getting to work in 2013, up from 25.7 minutes in 2012 and 25.5 minutes in 2011.

32.5 and 32.1 minutes

Estimated average time for workers age 16 and older in Maryland and New York spent getting to work in 2013, the longest commute time in the nation. (The two times are not statistically different.) Maryland’s time is up from 31.8 minutes in 2012.

17.9

Estimated average time workers age 16 and older in North Dakota and Wyoming spent getting to work in 2013, the shortest one-way commute times in the nation.

882,198

Estimated number of people who rode a bicycle to work in 2013. This comes out to about 0.6 percent of the American workforce.

4,000,459

Estimated number of people who walked to work in 2013. This comes out to about 2.8 percent of the American workforce.

2,598 square feet

The average size of a single-family home completed in 2013; 59,000 had two or fewer bedrooms and 251,000 had four bedrooms or more.

$324,500

The average sales price of a new single-family home sold in 2013. In 2012, the average sales price of a single-family home sold was $292,200.

10,000

The number of multifamily buildings built across the U.S. in 2013. Of these, 6,000 used electricity as the primary heating fuel.

 

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