Charts & Graphs

Suburban Warfare

An index of suburban danger.

Average number of people injured per year from 1994 to 2004 using lawn mowers: 75,500
Percent of households that fail to read the instructions before using lawn-care pesticides: 50
Number of birds that die each year due to lawn-care pesticides: 7 million
Gallons of gasoline spilled every summer by Americans refueling lawn-care equipment: 17 million
Gallons of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez: 11 million
Gallons of water used every day by a golf course in Tampa, Florida: 178,800
Number of Americans whose daily needs that amount would fulfill: 2,200
Percent of California landscapers using leaf blowers who wear hearing protection: 10
Number of years Diazinon, a pesticide similar in composition to nerve gas, continued to be sold after the EPA banned it: 2