Happy Earth Week!

We are in the middle of Earth Week, which ends with the observance of Earth Day on Saturday, April 22. This year marks the 47th anniversary of Earth Day, which was first celebrated in California, in 1970. The special designation was created to inspire awareness and appreciation for Earth’s natural environment. Although Earth Day was started by a group of environmentally conscious people in the United States, the holiday is now observed all over the world. You will often see community, park and waterway cleanups scheduled during Earth Week, along with activities that encourage recycling, energy conservation and more.

Here are some fun Earth Day facts taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, that reflect 2015 statistics.

• An estimated 2.4 million occupied housing units in the U.S. are primarily heated by wood, which equals only about 2.0% of all homes
• There were 106,736 occupied housing units using solar energy as their primary heat source (0.1%), as opposed to 57 million homes heated by utility gas during the same time (48.2%)

• Over 4.1 million people reported regularly walking to work, or 2.8% of the American workforce
• Biking to work as primary transportation was reported by 885,188 workers, or 0.6% of American workers
• The average commute time for working adults in the U.S. increased to 26.4 minutes

For more facts about Earth Day, along with photos, visit the link at cnn.com.

Sources:  United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey and cnn.com.