Sustainability gains momentum: the power of 50,000 to create change

A five minute power shower uses about 60 litres of water, so 50,000 people use 3m litres of water to shower. If 50,000 individuals paired up, they could take their water shower consumption down to 1.5m litres. Photograph: Do The Green Thing

The average Londoner takes 2.5 flights per year. If 50,000 people swapped a return flight from London to Paris, for example, which generates 0.11 tonnes of CO2, for the train which generates 0.011 tonnes CO2 - they could save 4,950 tonnes CO2 (sources: climatecare.org and independent research commissioned by Eurostar). Photograph: Do The Green Thing

According to the UN, the average American eats over 322g per day (the equivalent of three hamburgers). Europeans sit below, devouring some 200g per day but it is India, consuming just 12g per day, that sees the least appetite for all things animal. If every American became a vegetarian, it would reduce carbon emissions in the US by 4.5% annually. So what impact could 50,000 people have? In its report, Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health, the Environmental Working Group, finds that if we all ate one less burger per week, it would save 16m miles in car journeys. Photograph: Do The Green Thing

Office lights left on overnight use enough energy in a year to heat a home for almost five months, based on an office with a floor area of 100m squared. If 50,000 offices turned off their lights overnight, it would save enough energy to heat more than 20,800 homes a year (source: Carbon Trust) Photograph: Do The Green Thing

Each of us throws away on average 120kg of food a year. If 50,000 people stopped throwing out food, that would be 6,000 tonnes less of food waste. Photograph: Do The Green Thing