Water:

And We send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance), though ye are not the guardians of its stores. And verily, it is We Who give life, and Who give death: it is We Who remain inheritors (after all else passes away). (Qu’rán, 15:22-23).

Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (Qu’rán, 21:30).

Consider the water you drink. Was it you who brought it down the rain cloud or We? If We had pleased, We could make it bitter: why then do you not give thanks? (Qu’rán, 56: 68-70)

Waste:

It is He Who has brought into being gardens the trellised and untrellised – and the palm trees, and crops, all varying in taste, and the olive and pomegranates, all resembling one another and yet so different. Eat of their fruits when they come to fruition and pay His due on the day of harvesting. And do not waste (God’s bounties): verily, He does not love the wasteful. (Qu’rán, 6:141)

O Children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters. (Qu’rán, 7:31).

And He gives you of all that you ask for. But if you count the favours of Allah, never will you be able to number them. (Qu’rán, 14:34).

And render to the kindred their due rights, as (also) to those in want, and to the wayfarer: But squander not (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the Evil Ones; and the Evil One is to his Lord (himself) ungrateful. (Qu’rán, 17:26-27).

Nature:

“There is none amongst the Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is regarded as a charitable gift for him.” (Bukhari, Vol3, B:39-513).

There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end. (Qu’rán, 6:38).

Seest thou not that to Allah bow down in worship all things that are in the heavens and on earth,- the sun, the moon, the stars; the hills, the trees, the animals; and a great number among mankind? But a great number are (also) such as are fit for Punishment: and such as Allah shall disgrace,- None can raise to honour: for Allah carries out all that He wills. (Qu’rán, 22:18).

Or, Who has created the heavens and the earth, and Who sends you down rain from the sky? Yea, with it We cause to grow well-planted orchards full of beauty of delight: it is not in your power to cause the growth of the trees in them. (Can there be another) god besides Allah. Nay, they are a people who swerve from justice. (Qu’rán, 27:60).

And among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who are wise. (Qu’rán, 30:24).

Corruption has appeared on the land and in the sea because of what the hands of humans have wrought. This in order that we give them a taste of the consequences of their misdeeds that perhaps they will turn to the path of right guidance (Qu’rán, 30:41).

Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its lifelessness. We have made clear to you the signs; perhaps you will understand. (Qu’rán, 57:17).

Stewards:

"It is He who made you successors (Khalifa) on the earth and raises some of you above others in rank, to test you through what He gives you" (Qur'an, 6:165).

Do they not look at the earth,- how many noble things of all kinds We have produced therein? Verily, in this is a Sign: but most of them do not believe. (Qu’rán, 26:7-8).

Fast Facts:

Canadian:

• During the first 15 years of burial in a landfill, only 25 per cent of organic material such as food and yard wastedecomposes. Other trash can keep its original weight, volume, and form for at least 40 years. (Source: Waste Not, March 2004)
• An average family of four can compost over 500 kilograms of food and yard waste in a year. (Source: Waste Not, March 2004)
• Studies show that 25 per cent of municipal waste can be diverted away from landfills through changes in consumer behaviour. (Source: Waste Not, March 2004)
• Approx. 324 L. of water is used to produce 1 KG of paper. (Source: Environment Canada)
• 115 billion sheets of paper are used annually for personal computers. (Source: Worldwatch Institute)
• Canada uses 6 million tonnes of paper and paperboard annually. Only 1/4 of Canada’s waste paper and paperboard is recycled. (Source: Environment Canada)
• 30-40% of trash is discarded packaging. (Source: What About Waste, Cornell Waste Management Institute, 1990)
• Recycling one tonne of newspaper saves 19 trees, 3 cubic metres of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatt hours of energy, 29,000 litres of water and 30 kgs of air pollution. (Source: Recycling Council of Ontario)
• Across Canada it costs more than $1.5 billion per year to dispose of garbage. (Source: Destination Conservation)
• By the age of 6 months, the average Canadian has consumed the same amount of resources as the average person in the developing world consumes in a lifetime. (Source: Recycling Council of Ontario)
•  Almost 9%, or 891 163 square kilometers, of Canada’s total area is covered by fresh water. (Source: Nature Canada)
•  A 5-minute shower with a standard shower head uses 100 litres of water. (Source: Nature Canada)
•  A single lawn sprinkler spraying 19 litres per minute uses more water in just one hour than a combination of ten toilet flushes, two 5-minute showers, two dishwasher loads, and a full load of clothes. (Source: Nature Canada)
•  Canadians are the second highest consumers of water, second only to Americans (Source: Environment Canada)
•  21 Canadian cities dump more than one trillion litres of untreated sewage are dumped into our waters every year. (Source: Sierra Legal Defence Fund)

 

International:

• Recycling one aluminum beverage can saves enough energy to power a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours or a TV for 2 hours.
• Preventing 1 ton of paper waste saves between 15 and 17 mature trees.
• In 1995, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached the highest level ever recorded: 29,000 square kilometers, an area equivalent to New Jersey and Connecticut, in a single burning season.
• Americans throw away about 10% of the food they buy at the supermarket. This results in dumping the equivalent of more than 21 million shopping bags full of food into landfills every year.
• In the past 200 years, the United States has lost 50 percent of its wetlands, 90 percent of its northwestern old-growth forests, 99 percent of its tall grass prairie, and up to 490 species of native plants and animals.
• Odors from factory farm feedlots may contain up to 170 separate chemical substances. Manure lagoons emit toxic airborne chemicals that can result in human health problems. Air pollutants like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia can cause both immediate and long-term respiratory problems.
• About 13% of the domestic drinking water wells in the Midwest contain unsafe levels of nitrates. The source of this nitrate pollution? Manure lagoons that seep into community drinking water sources.
• Americans use enough styrofoam cups each year to encircle the earth 436 times.
  
• The diesel exhaust generated by idling engines contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants, including such carcinogens as benzene, arsenic, formaldehyde and dioxins.
• Americans generate 5 million extra tons of trash each year between Thanksgiving and New Years Day.
• 246 lbs of plastic are used to keep one baby in disposable diapers for one year.
• Disposable diapers add 2.8 billion tons of untreated urine and feces, plastic, and paper to landfills annually.
• About 6 million tons of petroleum products end up in the ocean each year.
• During the last decade, more than one billion gallons of oil spilled worldwide.
• Livestock account for 15% to 20% of global methane emissions.
  
• 55 square feet of tropical rainforest is destroyed for the production of each fast-food hamburger made from rainforest beef.
• More species of birds exist in one square mile of Amazon rainforest than exist in all of North America.
• Over 80% of U.S. streams and rivers are contaminated with a broad array of medical drugs, including hormones, antibiotics, antidepressants, and heart medications.
• An F16 uses more fuel in one hour than average car owner uses in 2 years.
• The most popular car driven by California legislators is the Ford Expedition, which gets 12-18 mpg.
• The U.S. represents 5% of the world’s population but uses 25% of its natural resources.
• In 2000, the metal mining industry released 3.3 billion pounds of toxic waste into the environment.
• In the last 25 years there has been a 40% loss of ice thickness in the arctic. If present trends continue, you may be able to swim from Prudhoe Bay to the Baffin Sea before the end of this century.
• The refuse accumulation in the ancient city of Troy raised the elevation of the city 4.7 feet per century.
• The $22-billion-a-year bottled water industry uses 1.5 million tons of plastic annually to package water.
• Improving the timing of U.S. traffic lights could cut gas consumption by 10 percent, according to USA Today.
• Americans discard 133,000 obsolete personal computers each day, according to U.S. News & World Report.
• The principal source of lead dust exposure to U.S. children is the renovation and repair of older residences.
• Coal-burning power plants produce more than half the electricity generated in the U.S.
• An estimated 375,000,000 printer ink cartridges are thrown away every year. It takes about 1000 years for every one of those millions of cartridges to decompose in our landfills.
• An average of three quarts of oil are burned to make one new printer ink cartridge.
• The U.S. uses 18 billion disposable diapers used each year.