Estimated number of gallons of water the average person would save with each shower by pledging to take the Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge, according to the Michigan State Government Water Conservation website: 50

Roughly, number of gallons of water per minute that a typical showerhead uses: 7

Percentage of consumers who believe that they could get clean in a three-minute shower: 53

Source: The Body Shop International.

Estimated number of cigarettes that are smoked in the United States on an annual basis, according to Legacy, the national public health foundation: 360 billion

According to environmental cleanup reports, number of cigarettes or cigarette filters/butts that were picked up last year in the United States alone: 1 million

Rank of cigarette butts on the list of most littered items in the U.S.: 1

Source: Legacy.

Year Anna Jarvis, the driving force behind Mother's Day, organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia, according to the Census Bureau: 1908

Number of stay-at-home moms in the U.S. in 2009, down from 5.3 million in 2008: 5.1 million

Percentage of married-couple family groups with children under 15 that had a stay-at-home mother in 2009, down from 23.7 percent in 2008: 22.6

Rank of Mother's Day on the list of the largest card-sending holidays in the United States, with 141 million cards exchanged annually, according to Hallmark: 3

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of employees who admitted to coming to work somewhat frequently when feeling under the weather, according to an Accountemps survey: 76

Percentage of workers who said that when a colleague comes in sick, they worry most about being exposed to his or her illness: 34

Percentage who are impressed by their coworker's dedication: 8

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of global citizens who definitely believe in a "divine entity," according to a poll conducted by Ipsos for Reuters News: 51

Percentage who believe they will just "cease to exist": 23

Percentage who simply "don't know" about a hereafter: 26

Source: Institute Ipsos MORI.

Percentage of Americans who want to read books selected by popular daytime talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, according to a survey by Sony: 25

Ranks of Bill Gates (18 percent), Warren Buffett (13 percent), Michelle Obama (12 percent), star athlete Tom Brady (8 percent), Matt Lauer (6 percent) and Oprah Winfrey (1 percent) on the list of other in-demand sources for book recommendations: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Source: Sony Pictures Television International.

Percentage growth in the U.S. organic food industry in 2010, while total U.S. food sales grew by less than 1 percent, according to findings from the 2011 Organic Industry Survey: 7.7

Value of the organic industry in 2010: $28.6 billion

Percentage of organic companies that reported positive full-time employment growth: 40

Source: Organic Trade Association.

Percentage of Americans who will find out from mom what she wants before shopping for a Mother's Day gift, according to a survey conducted by Toluna and released by Buy.com: 35

Ranks of a day at the spa (23 percent), gift cards (20 percent) and "something homemade" (17 percent) on the list of moms' top gifts: 1, 2, 3

For moms over age 55, ranks of gift cards (38 percent) and a new computer (25 percent) on the list of the most desired presents: 1, 2

Source: Buy.com.

Approximate number of tires that are consumed as fuel every year, according to Liberty Tire Recycling: 10 million

Percentage more energy than coal (while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 19.5 percent) that is provided by tire-derived fuel: 25

Potentially, the number of barrels of crude oil that would equal the energy produced by all of the scrap tires produced in the U.S.: 13 million

Source: Liberty Tire Recycling.

Percentage decrease in directory paper demand over 2009, due in part to things like upgraded consumer websites, residential white pages, consumer choice programs, smaller book sizes and more efficient pagination systems, according to the Local Search Association: 8.1

Total percentage decrease in paper demand since 2007: 35

Percentage of the solid waste stream represented by telephone directories, significantly less than office paper (2.2 percent): 0.3

Source: Local Search Association.

Idle Thought

"There are many people who reach their conclusions about life like schoolboys; they cheat their master by copying the answer out of a book without having worked out the sum for themselves." -- Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of hiring managers who say a lack of a cover letter will likely result in them not considering a candidate for their open position, according to data released by CareerBuilder: 33

Once they have read a candidate's cover letter, percentage of hiring managers who say they prefer to see a career summary at the top of a resume instead of an objective: 70

Percentage who think a resume should be two pages long: 57

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of U.S. singles who say they plan to watch the royal wedding on TV, according to the Zoosk Royal Wedding survey: 40

Percentage of British singles who plan to watch: 31

Percentage of U.S. singles who would rather have a root canal than watch the royal wedding: 39

Percentage who say family gatherings with the royal in-laws would be a snooze-fest: 66

Source: Zoosk.

Year that a landmark in the development of the way we use language (Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the English Language") was published with the goal of simplifying spelling from British practice and including everyday words used by Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1828

Of the 70,000 words contained in Webster's first dictionary, number that had never been included in previous dictionaries, including words such as "skunk" and "squash": 12,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Equivalent number of miles per gallon that the Nissan Leaf, the first all-electric car for the masses, will deliver, according to the Environmental Protection Agency: 99

Number of miles delivered per charge: 73

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Cost to consumers who financed a car through a dealership in 2009 in extra interest over the lives of their loans because of dealer interest rate markups, according to the report by the Center for Responsible Lending: $25.8 billion

Percentage increase in the odds that a subprime borrower will default: 12

Percentage increase in the odds that a borrower will end up having the car repossessed: 33

Source: Center for Responsible Learning.

Despite concerns about the impact of rising health care costs on their businesses and employees, percentage of employers who say they favor a federally tax-funded universal health care system, according to the 2011 United Benefit Advisors survey: 16.3

Percentage of top corporate decision makers who are concerned with the impact that health care costs are having or are going to have on their overall corporate costs: 99.4

Percentage of employers who still believe a good benefits program helps attract good employees: 96.9

Source: United Benefit Advisors.

Percentage of American adults who believe in redistributing wealth by heavy taxes on the rich, according to a Gallup Poll: 47

Percentage who disagree: 49

Source: Gallup.

Estimated number of Americans who live in food insecure households, including 17 million children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture: 50 million, or 1 in 6

Estimated number of eggs that America's egg farmers donated this Easter season to food banks across the country: 11 million

Source: United Egg Producers.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who are receiving a tax refund who say they will use at least part of that money for leisure travel this year, according to Travel Leaders' nationwide consumer survey: 57.4

Ranks of Australia, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand and a Mediterranean cruise on the list Americans' "ultimate dream international destination": 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Travel Leaders.

Percentage of brides who turn to their families for advice to get started in planning their wedding, according to Get Married: 64

Percentage of brides who said that having all your friends and family in attendance trumps everything when it comes to planning the perfect day: 86

Source: Getmarried.com.

Idle Thought

"Being truthful, as I discovered long ago as a journalist, is much more difficult than being accurate." -- Sandra Gwyn, journalist and author

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of Americans who hold a favorable opinion about businessman, television personality and potential presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to a Gallup Poll: 43

Percentage who have an unfavorable opinion about him: 47

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of American adults who say they believe in love at first sight, according to Adam and Eve's Great American Sex Survey: 55

Of those respondents, percentage who admitted they've experienced it themselves: 71

Source: Adam and Eve.

Percentage of U.S. working adults who believe they are paid fairly, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs survey conducted on behalf of Kenexa: 60

Percentage who feel they are underpaid: 37

Percentage who report that they are overpaid: 2

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Estimated percentage of U.S. households that take part in lawn and garden activities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 75

Percentage who grow flowers: 33

Percentage who have vegetable gardens: 25

Percentage who enjoy a garden pond: 10

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of federal managers who say they were unaware of their agency's plans for implementing a shutdown of operations if funding for federal agencies were to run out, according to the Government Business Council: 56

Percentage of respondents who said they did not know if they would have to report to work during a shutdown: 51

Percentage of respondents who rate morale in their agency as "low" or "very low": 48

Source: Government Business Council.

Percentage of Americans 21 years of age and older who say they drink alcohol at least once a week, including 5 percent who drink daily and 10 percent who drink several times a week, according to the results of a Harris Poll: 29

Percentage who say they drink alcohol at least once a month: 20

Percentage who say they never drink alcohol: 22

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of IT security professionals who reported that security breaches, such as those from WikiLeaks, made them reconsider their company's data security policies, according to a survey by Imperva: 82

Percentage of respondents who said that they knew the exact number of sensitive files they had: 18

Source: Imperva.

Percentage of respondents who have purchased soap who say their decision is based mainly on scent, according to a Mintel poll: 38

Percentage who say they prefer shower products with extra moisturizers: 35

Percentage who claim that finding soap or body wash products on sale or the cheapest is important/very important to them: 60

Source: Mintel.

Percentage of U.S. households that crafted at least once during 2010, according to a Craft and Hobby Association study: 56

Value of the U.S. craft and hobby industry: $29.2 billion

Source: Craft and Hobby Association.

Percentage of car owners who use online repair cost estimates who report saving money on repair bills, according to AutoMD.com: 73

Percentage of car owners who usually go to the repair shop who are now more likely to perform their own repairs: 31.3

Source: AutoMD.com.

Idle Thought

"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" -- George Eliot

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)