1. Go Green!
By: Stephanie Earls
Mr. Olsen 4th
period
Earth/Environmental Science class
Date(s): January 8th
, 2009- January 16, 2009
2. Our EnvironmentLook around outside. What do you see? Do you see water? Or maybe desert,
grass and trees, or even ice or snow? Or sand? Wherever you are, what you’re
looking at is your environment. Environment is the constructed surroundings that
provide the setting for human activity, ranging from the large-scale civic
surroundings to the personal places. Many people think that what they do has no
effect on the environment and there is nothing that they can do to help. In
truth, everything you do has an impact on the environment. Whether it is a good
affect or a bad, everything you do leaves a carbon footprint. A carbon footprint
is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment. When you get
ready in the morning, take a 20 minute shower to wake yourself up, get ready
and fix your hair and finish off with some hairspray, and even when you get in
your car and drive to work, these events all make your carbon footprint bigger!
Which is not a good thing! The bigger your carbon footprint, the worse the
environment gets! But it doesn’t have to be all bad! Instead, how about
shortening your shower time? And instead of using just any type of hairspray,
use one that has and environment safe seal? And if you can’t find one, just use
less hairspray than usual, or try a new hairstyle! Also, instead of driving your own
car, try using public transportation, and if there isn’t any in your area, carpool! It
not only helps keep the air from fossil fuels, but it also puts money back in your
pocket, instead of at the pump!
3. Global Warming
•What is ‘Global Warming’?
Global Warming is the increased
temperature on earth.
•What causes Global Warming?
Global Warming is caused by the
increased amount of pollution. Not only trash, litter
thrown out on the streets, but also fossil fuels.
•What are fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels are gases emitted by cars,
or any type of transportation, factories, and also
normal everyday items. Such as household cleaners or
hair products (hairspray).
•What is the ‘Greenhouse Effect’?
The Greenhouse Effect is the change in
the thermal equilibrium temperature of a planet or
moon by the presence of an atmosphere containing
gas that absorbs and emits infrared radiation. This is
caused by ‘Greenhouse gases.
•What are ‘Greenhouse Gases’?
Greenhouse gases, which include water
vapor, carbon dioxide and methane, warm the
atmosphere by efficiently absorbing thermal infrared
radiation emitted by the earth’s surface, by the
atmosphere itself, and by clouds. As a result of it’s
warmth, the atmosphere also radiates thermal
infrared in all directions, including downward to the
earth’s surface. This causes the greenhouse gases to
trap heat in the atmosphere, therefore increasing
surface temperature. Thus, causing Global Warming!
Shows the temperature increase due to Global
Warming from 1840-2000
Shows the average temperature around the world from
1995-2004
The Greenhouse Effect
4. How we affect the environment
http://www.effectofglobalwarming.com/predictions-of-climate-change.html
Some people just assume that everything that is
happening in the world isn’t an outcome of something they
themselves did. Well, news flash, everything you do affects
the environment! Whether you want to deny it or not, your
life has just as much an impact on the earth as your neighbors
or even someone all the way across the world! Every human
being has a great impact on the environment. From the
amount of time you spend in the shower down to where you
throw your trash! Did you know that for every ton of paper
that is recycled, 17 trees can be saved? And did you know that
by recycling one bottle, you can power a computer for 25
minutes!
So you’re probably thinking, so what big deal if
a few trees are lost? There’s plenty more of them! Well yes,
there are, but do you realize what a major importance trees
are to our environment? When humans breathe, we inhale
oxygen, and exhale carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a
harmful greenhouse gas. Did you know that in lakes, rivers or
streams, the rocks help cleanse the water? Well, that is what
trees do for the air. They take the carbon dioxide and use it
for their own need, and they turn it into oxygen to be
released back into the air, for us to breathe! So, in theory, if,
for example, 20 trees are cut down, and no new trees are
planted to take their place, then it is like taking away air for
20 people to breathe! Cutting down trees is inevitable
because of building requirements, or numerous reasons. But
what you can do to help that is if you have room in your yard,
plant some trees! Go online and find out what type of trees
thrive the best in your living environment and go out and
plant some trees! Tell your neighbors and family and friends
about it! If everyone on the planet planted just one tree, we
could have enough oxygen to last for at least 2 centuries!
5. Paper or Plastic?When you are at the super market and you
check out with your groceries, when they ask
you “Paper or Plastic?” what do you say? Well
actually, if you want to be environmentally
friendly, choose neither!
• Why?
Paper takes too much! First, you have to cut
down thousands of trees. Then, you have to
turn it into the pulp for paper and then you
have to form it into paper, then, lastly, you
have to make it into a paper bag! So that kills
a lot of trees and also uses a lot of oils, water,
energy and toxins to make them!
But plastic, also takes a lot of toxins and
energy to make, but it isn’t killing any trees,
and they are reusable!
Paper bags, although they take a lot, they
decompose in about a month, meaning that
they don’t take up a lot of time in a landfill.
Plastic bags, however good they are, can take
over a thousand years to completely
decompose! And that is like a thousand years
per bag!
• What to do?
Instead, when you go to the super market,
carry along a fabric or cloth bag! It isn’t
harming the environment and it can be used
for years!
7. Reduce
To reduce means to cut down on the amount of everyday items that are thrown away.
When you reduce, it helps the environment by, obviously, reducing the amount of waste.
Here are some ideas to help reduce waste:
• Before buying a new computer, see if there are any new upgrades for your current
computer. A computer actually should last for about 10-20 years, depending on how taken
care of it is.
• When you go to work, instead of getting a fresh cup of coffee in a Styrofoam cup and then
throwing it away, bring a ceramic mug to work and reuse it. It helps reduce the build up of
Styrofoam cups, which is a big deal! The main ingredient in Styrofoam is styrene. Styrene is
a naturally occurring substance in natural food such as wheat, beef, strawberries, peanuts
and coffee beans. The styrene isn’t hazardous to your health, but the plastic polymers are!
It is also hazardous to the environment. Styrofoam is not biodegradable, and it leaks toxins
into the ground water that is flowing under the landfills. When the ground water
contaminates our drinking water, if for instance you get your water from wells, then it can
have a bad impact on your health!
• When you are at work, if you work in an office, you can reduce your use of paper. Instead of
printing out everything you think needs to be printed, read over it a few times and be sure
that you don’t need to print it. Besides saving paper, it also saves ink and toner!
• When you go to work, instead of driving by yourself, propose the idea of carpooling. Then,
got to your boss and tell him about what your trying to do to help the environment, and ask
to make reserved parking spots towards the front entrance for those who decide to
carpool, that way it seems as a reward!
8. Reuse
To reuse means to take something that has been used, and to use it again! Here are just a
few examples:
• When you are at work or at home, and you are at your computer, and you need to print
something out, reuse paper! If it isn’t anything that is formal and needs to be used for a job
or school presentation, use other things you have printed out and don’t need, use the back
of those papers! In addition to saving trees, you are saving money on buying paper!
• At school, don’t not take notes because you want to help the environment! Instead, take
notes and use them! At the end of the year, instead of throwing out all your written notes,
save them! Yes, you are saving paper, but you are also saving yourself! Why? Because next
year, you might go over the same thing in another class, and instead of rewriting all those
notes, you already will have them! Or, you can hand them down to a younger sibling and they
can get a head start on their education on that topic!
• When you get a bottle of water, instead of getting rid of it after one use, get two or three
uses out of it. You can use it more than that, but be sure to wash it so to get rid of all the
bacteria.
• When you have something that you want to get rid of just because, don’t throw it away.
Instead, have a yard sale or give it to someone who doesn’t have it. Just because you don’t
want it doesn’t mean that nobody else does! You are also saving them money!
9. Recycle
To recycle means to take something that has been used and making it into something that
can be used again. Here are some things you can recycle:
•Aluminum cans
•Glass bottles
•Plastic bottles
•Milk and juice jugs/cartons
•Soup cans
•Dog food/cat food cans
•Glass jars
•Shampoo bottles
•Gel, hairspray, and other empty hair products
•Aluminum foil
•Newspapers
•Notebook/copy paper
•Plastic/paper bags
10. Why it’s such a big deal
Many people think, so what? The environment will be just
fine. But no, not really! The environment is suffering and in
time, it will backfire. Due to global warming, the polar
bears, and many other artic animals are endangered of
becoming extinct! So what, big deal the next generation
won’t get to see a polar bear! Well it is a big deal because
it will start with the polar bears and the artic habitat, and
eventually, it will make it all the way to the most
abundant animals in the world! The environment is where
we live, it is what we know! And to just see it waste away,
because of our selfishness and carelessness is just unethical
and wrong when there is so many effective and simple
things we can do to stop it! The world may not be getting
any different now, but one of these days it will change life
as we know it, and we are just letting it happen! So I think
it’s time we stop unconsciously destroying our means of
survival! If you live up in the north, then I’m sure you are
used to lots and lots of snow and ice. But what would you
do, if in say twenty years, all that snow ceased to exist?
That will happen if we don’t start to change the way we
live! Architects are now “Building Green”, which means
that they are building environmentally friendly buildings!
The environment needs your help and if we don’t start
changing our way of life, we are going to devastate life as
we know it!
