Gazette Numerical Wizard B. Sharper fills in the the numerical blanks that Harper’s misses.

 

According to a company press release, the number of cans of drinking water that have been provided by Anheuser-Busch in support of disaster relief efforts – 73,000,000.

 

Year by which Coca Cola aspires to be “water neutral,” replenishing as much water as it uses in its beverages – 2020.

 

According to 2005 research, the number trees on earth for each human – 61

 

Number of trees we lose annually to toilet paper, timber, farmland expansion, and other human needs – 15 billion.

 

Gallons of bottled water sold in 2012—9.7 million.

 

Gross profit from these sales – $11.8 billion.
Average cost per gallon – $1.22.

 

 

Annual cost of bottled water for a family that consumes 3 gallons of bottled water per day –$1,335.

 

Annual cost for the same family if they drank tap water prepared by a $200 water filter – >$220.

 

Percentage of plastic water bottles that end up in landfills – 70%.

 

Approximate number of years it takes a plastic water bottle to degrade – 1,000,

 

Number of potentially harmful chemicals found by a German scientific study in a single plastic bottle of water – 24,000.

 

Number of pinheads that would fit onto a plastic microbead used in soaps and cosmetics – 3.

 

Number of microbeads that go into our water supply daily – 8 trillion.

 

Number of tennis courts that a day’s supply of microbeads would cover – 300.

 

Year in which Illinois became the first state to ban microbeads – 2014.

 

Estimated number of marijuana plantations now operating in Calfiornia – 50,000.

 

Percentage of US marijuana that is grown in California – 70%.

 

Factor by which the quantity of water in China’s underground Tarim basin exceeds the water contained in all the US Great Lakes combined – 10.

 

Average annual shrimp consumption by US citizens in 2008 – 4.1 lbs.

 

Percentage of Ecuador’s total shrimp production that is exported to the US – 93%.

 

Estimated number of major city water pipe breaks that occur in the US daily – 700.

 

Cost of replacing a single mile of water main piping — $500,000 to $1,000,000.