A
Avoid Fast Food.
By avoiding fast food whenever possible, you'll help reduce this needless waste.
B
Buy Products Made Of Recycled Paper.
How can you tell if a package is recycled? Look right on the package. Many have specific claims, such as "made of 100 percent recycled material."
C
Clean Up A Stream Or Park.
Get a group of people together and find a stream or park that needs some tender loving care.
D
Don't Buy Aerosols.
There are environmentally better packages for most products.
E
Eat Organic Produce.
Organic produce contains far fewer chemicals than other produce.
F
Find Out How To Dispose of Hazardous Waste.
Try organizing a hazardous-waste-collection day in your neighborhood or at your school, encouraging others to dispose of materials properly.
G
Grow A Garden.
A garden provides flowers, vegetables, and environmental benefits.
H
Have A "Green" Picnic.
Plan an outing that doesn't create a lot of waste or pollution.
I
Insulate Your Home.
You may find a lot of energy being wasted right in your own home.
J
Join An Environmental Group.
There are hundreds of good organizations around the country.
K
Keep The Car At Home.
You've learned by now that automobiles are one of the single biggest sources of pollution.
L
Look At Labels.
Reading labels can tell you a lot of things.
M
Make Scratch Pads.
When you use a piece of paper on only one side, don't throw it away when you are done with it.
N
Notify The Authorities.
Don't think twice about reporting polluters to the local, state, or federal government.
O
Observe The Three Rs.
Refuse, Reuse, and Recycle.
P
Plant A Tree.
There are organizations in most communities that have set up tree-planting campaigns.
Q
Quit Throwing Away Batteries.
Send the batteries back to the manufacturers, signifying that you consider used batteries a potential danger.
R
Reuse A Bag.
Try to use the bag over and over--as many times as you can.
S
Support Green Companies.
Whenever you have a choice between supporting one of these green companies or a company that is less green, you should definitely support the greener one.
T
Turn Off The Lights.
This is such a simple thing to do, but sometimes it's so hard to remember!
U
Use Recycled Paper.
There's just no reason why you shouldn't buy recycled paper whenever it is available.
V
Visit A Recycling Center.
If there's a center nearby, stop and take a look around.
W
Work For The Environment.
If you decide to get a summer job, see if there's a job available in which you can help the environment.
X
Exercise Your Rights.
As a human being living on planet Earth, you have the right to clean air and water, a safe environment, and the unspoiled beauties this world has to offer.
Y
Yell At A Litterer.
Well, maybe you don't have to yell, but if you do see someone littering, you definitely should say something.
Z
Zero In On Specifics.
Don't try to do everything at once.
Being Green from A to Z
Al Gore's Truth or Consequences
It's easy to feel powerless when it comes to global warming. But here are some of the best ways we can all make a difference.
Fact: The average auto spews almost half a kilogram of carbon dioxide every 1.5 kilometers.
Fix: Hitch a ride a couple of days. Cutting down on driving just 30 kilometers a week would save about 450 kilograms of the greenhouse gas.
Fact: Homeowners spend as much as $450 a year more than they have to because of inefficient energy use.
Fix: Get home audit to identify where your home is poorly insulated or inefficient.
Fact: Every year, 12 million barrels of oil are used to produce the 100 billion plastic shopping bags we use once and toss in the landfill, taking centuries to decompose.
Fix: Keep reusable tote bags in the car for all grocery stops.
Fact: The average meal travels many kilometers by truck, ship or plane, producing thousands of kilograms of carbon emissions, before it reaches your table.
Fix: Shop at farmers' markets and food co-ops.
Go to climatebiz.com for other ways to fight global warming with your knife and fork.
(Adapted from the book "An Innocent Truth")
How Countries Rate
The greenest, most livable countries based on social and environmental factors.
1 Finland
2 Iceland
3 Norway
4 Sweden
5 Austria
54 Malaysia
61 Thailand
66 Sri Lanka
84 China
87 Philippines
104 India
111 Bangladesh
115 Pakistan
(Reader's Digest Poll)
Getting Rid of the Dirt
Most people would not enjoy living in a garbage dump. Yet when you hear about smog alerts, oil spills, dead lakes, and fallout from nuclear accidents, you may wonder if our beauteous earth is not being turned into just that - a global garbage dump.
Pollution is viewed as an unwanted but inevitable side effect of civilization. We've learned that the industrialized country is greatly affected by pollution.
However, it is not industry itself that is to be blamed but rather the wrong attitudes displayed by men who control it. Have you ever seen a stadium or a park after a game? Have you encountered debris along the streets, highways, and other public places?
So, pollution is a problem of the individual - a problem of his heart and his mind. It is the outcome of mind polluted with false values and possible ignorance, and heart polluted with selfishness, thoughtlessness, and general unconcern about the welfare of others.
Can we do anything about pollution? A big "YES." Everyone can discipline himself to put trash where it belongs.
If not necessary, driving less and cutting the hobbies of car racing will be a great help to cut air pollution. Even cigarettes left unsmoked help keep the air clean and unpolluted. It's true, our contribution may be small but doing our share will help a lot.
Just think how pleasant life on an unpolluted earth could be!
Sources of Pollution
There are two main factors in the spread of pollution. These are rapid industrialization and population growth.
Sixty percent of our pollution problem is caused by people while 22-40 percent is cause by industry.
Among the major air pollutants are vehicles, cement, decaying plants, quarries, or open excavations, aggregate processors of cigar and cigarette factories, sawmills, power plant chemicals and fertilizer plants.
Motor vehicles pollute the air when their carbon fuels do not burn completely and so produce a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas called carbon monoxide. Every day we breathe 416 tons of this deadly gas, including 26-32 tons of unburned hydro-carbon and 6.5-18.5 tons of nitrogen oxides.
Electric utilities and industrial plants also produce large amounts of sulfur oxides and smog oxidants; for instance, cement manufacturing plants emit dangerous tin dust and chemicals. These increase diseases and mortality rates especially among the older and less healthy sectors of the population.
In a similar manner, water is directly polluted by domestic sewage, indiscriminate disposal of refuse, and untreated wastes coming from industrial plants which have no anti-pollution devices.
Most of the bacteria generated in septic tanks eventually find their way into the river. Waste matter is continually coming from industrial plants, processing plants, slaughter houses, and markets located near river banks. These do not only destroy fish life in the vicinity, they clog rivers and spread pollution.
The Garbage Problem
The problem, of course, is not only for local officials. City residents can be held equally responsible for this community blight. Garbage is something you cannot stop, you can only get rid of it - which means disposing of it in the proper places and collecting it regularly, at least twice a week.
When it does make the news, the garbage problem is likely to draw excuses from both local officials and residents. The garbage trucks are out on repair, funds for garbage collection have been stuck up, the garbage man is away on a sick leave, and there are simply too many people throwing away too much garbage.
Of course, the garbage keeps piling up in the meantime and people may manage to forget all about it - until the stench and the flies start coming.