Did you know that between 30% and 40% of food is wasted in the U.S.? Or that nearly 37 million American homes suffer from energy poverty, the inability to meet a household's energy needs? Did you know that switching from incandescent to LED light bulbs saves an average household more than $200 a year?

Facts matter, which is why the Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS) at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) has developed an extensive collection of factsheets covering a breadth of sustainability topics such as energy, water, waste, materials, transportation, environmental justice, and many more. The updated and expanded 2023 edition is now available, with two new factsheets on electric vehicles and hydrogen energy. The 2023 collection includes 32 factsheets made up of over 2,300 facts and 138 graphics compiled from over 1,000 sources. 

Each peer-reviewed factsheet presents data on patterns of use, life cycle impacts, and sustainable solutions. Updated annually by a current SEAS graduate student, the collection is a free resource to inform journalists, policymakers, business professionals, students, teachers and the public. 

The collection began in 2001 with just three factsheets and has been expanding in scope and reach ever since. In 2022, more than half a million people viewed the factsheets. According to Shoshannah Lenski (MS '11), associate director of the Center for Sustainable Systems, “The factsheets are a great recruiting and awareness tool for the CSS and SEAS communities as they provide up-to-date and trustworthy information regarding sustainability challenges and solutions, accessible to audiences worldwide.” 

In addition, CSS has curated a collection of resources for K-12 teachers, with videos, podcasts, games and activities to explore sustainability issues in classrooms and other learning environments. According to research by the Smithsonian Science Education Center, three-quarters of U.S. teachers say they lack instructional materials to help them teach about sustainability. CSS is pleased to provide these resources to help fill that gap, Lenski said.

Please consider donating to the Fund the Facts campaign! Donations will help expand the CSS Sustainability Factsheets by supporting graduate student interns who update the current collection and produce new factsheets annually.

View the complete 2023 factsheet collection here.