Does Readcycling Make The World Go Round?

A Does readcycling make the world go round? An analysis of global literacy (1), environmental practice (2) and happiness ratings (3) reveals a stark correlation. Comparing deviations from world averages as calculated by CIA World Factbook, Environmental Performance Index and the World Happiness Report. T 1.Global literacy values The figures represent a mixture of data collected by the CIA World Factbook and national self-reported data. Almost 75% of the world's 775 million illiterate adults are concentrated in ten countries (in descending order: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Women represent two-thirds of all illiterate adults globally. Extremely low literacy rates are focused in three regions: South Asia, West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The global literacy rate for all people aged 15 and over is 84.1%. The global literacy rate for all males is 88.6% and the rate for all females is 79.7%. Rwanda 90 Brazil 71 USA 99 Burundi Australia 100 Norway 67 Central African Republic 09 Netherlands 96 28 Afghanistan 99 UK 57 99 Switzerland 61 Togo 99 Denmark 42 Benin Sweden 99 2.Environmental practice Afghanistan 21.57 Australia 82.40 The Environmental Performance Index ranks how Benin 32.42 countries perform on environmental issues. The EPI is a joint project between the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network Brazil 52.97 Burundi 25.78 Central African Republic 42.94 at Columbia University, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. Denmark 76.92 Netherlands The EPI transforms raw data into comparable performance indicators according to population, gross domestic product and other denominators. EPI indicators assesses how close a particular country is to certain policy targets. 77.75 Norway 78.04 Rwanda 32.27 Sweden 78.09 Switzerland These targets are defined by international or national goals or established scientific thresholds, eg. the Convention on Biological Diversity. 87.67 Togo 27.92 UK 77.35 USA 67.52 O 3.Happiness rating Afghanistan OOO 4.040 Ranking a careful amalgamation of statistical data on subjective well-being from of countries around the globe, the World Happiness Report is published annually by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a United Nations initiative. Australia O6 7.350 Benin OOON 3.528 Brazil O 4.813 Burundi O 3.706 Central African Republic OON 3.623 The report is compiled by a coalition of researchers including John F. Helliwell of the University of British Columbia and Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Richard Layard from the London School of Economics and Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute. Denmark 7.693 Netherlands 7.512 Norway A 7.655 Rwanda G 3.715 Sweden OOO E 7.480 The team draw on Gallup World Poll data on aspects such as healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices and social Switzerland 7.650 support. Togo OO 2.936 UK 6.883 USA 7.082 A| Verdict: Yes it does It's clear that nations with the highest commitment to literacy to sustainability are the happiest on the planet. Those nations least able to manage their environment and educate their populations top the unhappiness stakes. The verdict? Readcycle your unwanted books (4) to save money and resources, and lend your support to our least fortunate neighbours. 60.00 IHappiness I Literacy EPI 40.00 Central African Republic Benin 20.00 0.00 Afghanistan Burundi Togo -20.00 Norway United States United Kingdom -40.00 -60.00 -80.00 References: (1) Wikipedia list of countries by literacy rate: http://goo.gl/zLYdal (2) Environmental Performance Index: http://epi.yale.edu/about (3) World Happiness Report: http://goo.gl/es9Ejl (4) http://fatbrain.co.uk/sell-books FATBRAIN Selling your textbooks just got smarter with fatbrain.co.uk Denmark Switzerland Netherlands Sweden Australia Brazil Rwanda