Today's children have more power than ever to help save the Earth from human waste and pollution. Thanks to the Internet, you have more resources at your fingertips than your parents could find in an entire bookstore when they were young. Read these instructions to learn just some of the fun and useful things you can do to make the Earth a little greener for all of us.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: At home
Step 1. Help with recycling
Recycling programs are available virtually everywhere. They clean and process certain types of waste so that the materials can be reused, which reduces the need for producers to extract more resources from the planet. Help the adults in your home by organizing their recycling and regularly throwing it in the curbside dumpsters, where the recycling truck collects them.
- Read the writing on the bins to see what you can recycle and what you can't. Usually, at least paper, thin plastic (like water and milk bottles), thin metal (like cans) and glass can be recycled. Depending on where you live, it may also be possible to recycle thicker plastics, polystyrene and other materials.
- Organize recycling. Check bottles, jars and cans to make sure they are properly clean. They don't have to be perfectly clean, but they don't have to be half full either. Once everything is ready, sort the recycling by type of waste. If you use different containers for each category, it will be easier to fill the right bins. Even if you don't, it's a great way to get an idea of the amount of each type of material your family uses every day.
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Repeat this regularly. Depending on how big and how busy your family is, this may be done once a week, or you may need to set aside some time each day for this activity. The great thing is, after the first time you do this, it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes at a time.
Whenever the recycling truck is about to arrive, be sure to throw everything in the dumpster next to the curb for easy collection
Step 2. Think about the things you personally use and consume
Try to keep or use the things you have for as long as possible. It would be a bit of a waste of the world's precious resources if you bought a new backpack just because you don't like the old one anymore and the same goes for all the things you use and consume. Try to care and appreciate the things you have.
Step 3. Reduce your energy consumption
The energy your home uses for things like hot water, air conditioning, and electricity is produced by different types of power plants, and each of them uses a particular type of fuel to turn it into energy. Some fuels are cleaner than others: hydroelectricity (produced from running water) is cleaner than the energy produced by burning coal, for example. But regardless of the method, extracting energy from the environment puts a strain on it. Do your part, using as little energy as possible.
- Turn off lights and appliances (such as televisions and video games) when you're done using them. However, ask your parents before turning off your home computer - sometimes computers need to stay on for various reasons. During the day, open curtains and blinds and use natural light instead of electric light.
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Keep the temperature at a moderate level. If you live in a home with air conditioning, ask your parents to set it no lower than 22 ° C during the summer months. In winter, do not turn the thermostat on above 20 ° C (use blankets and clothes to stay warm in cold weather in the house). At night, set the thermostat to as low as 13 ° C in rooms where no one sleeps.
Do not set the thermostats to temperatures below 12 ° C in winter if you live in a cold place. At any lower temperature, the pipes may freeze overnight
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Use less water. Take a short shower instead of a bath and turn off the tap when you're not using it. This includes while you are brushing your teeth, but before you spit. Every little gesture helps!
If you are a kid, don't have a shy bladder in your school bathroom. If you need to pee, use the urinal. It's okay to be next to other guys and chat with friends if the bathroom is crowded. Peeing is a natural thing and urinals are an effective resource
- Use the bicycle. The bicycle may just be the most environmentally friendly form of transport that has ever been invented after just walking. Using it to go to school or just walking around from one place to another allows you to significantly reduce your energy consumption and do a great service to your planet.
Step 4. Begin reusing objects
Ask your parents to invest in 3 or 4 reusable shopping bags. They usually cost a euro or less and will drastically reduce the amount of paper or plastic bags coming home from the grocery store. As for your personal stuff, start using a reusable container to take your snack to school if you don't already. They look better than paper bags, however, and you can also prepare your own paper towels and plastic bags for recycling at home. Also ask for a reusable water bottle for drinks. It fits both metal and sturdy plastic.
- Make sure you wash and clean your reusable grocery bags about once a week to prevent them from getting messy. Rub them vigorously in the kitchen sink with a dish towel or sponge and let them dry on the drainer for a couple of hours.
- Use leftover plastic grocery bags as trash bags in the bathroom or bedroom. They fit neatly into small baskets and reduce the consumption of bags made specifically for waste.
- When choosing a water bottle, make sure it is made without "BPA" plastic. This makes it safe to hold drinks even when it gets old. BPA-containing plastics are not safe to use as bottles for a long time.
Part 2 of 3: In the garden
Step 1. Plant some trees
Talk to your parents about the benefits of planting trees. Deciduous (seasonal) plants planted near windows provide coolness in the summer, when the leaves are green, and then shed their leaves in the winter by letting in more sunlight. They can be cut in any way, which helps reduce energy costs. And any kind of tree works like a big sponge for pollution, soaking carbon dioxide and turning it into fresh oxygen for you to breathe.
- Search a tree manual with your parents to find those that will grow to a suitable height in your climate zone, without causing problems elsewhere in the yard. There is a tree for almost every height and climate.
- Make sure you get your tree's care instructions and water it regularly after planting it. Take care of your sapling and when you grow up you will have a strong and beautiful tree that has grown right next to you.
Step 2. Mow less
Some adults are very image-conscious and won't allow you to do this in the front yard, but most of them should at least agree with the back yard. Find out how often the lawn is mowed in winter and summer, and then space each cut from the other by an extra week or so. Lawn mowers produce a great deal of pollution, so the less often you mow the lawn, the less smog you emit into the air. Reducing the number of mowings allows, among other things, to save on petrol costs.
- Offer to mow the lawn yourself, in exchange for letting the grass grow a little taller. It's also a good skill to possess - when you're a little older, you can make good money mowing lawns for other people.
- If your family owns a push mower, there is no need to worry about reducing mowing, because push mowers do not produce any pollution. Of course they are also much more difficult to use than petrol lawn mowers!
Step 3. Water your lawn less
Especially in the summer, this can make a big difference in the overall pressure your city or town puts on its surroundings. In fact, there are many cities that require homeowners to avoid watering their lawns during the summer months for this very reason. Of course, the downside is that the lawn turns brown and dry in late summer. On the other hand, you have an important justification for it.
In winter, most lawns don't really need to be watered. If your family is watering their lawn all year round, ask them to stop at least during the winter
Step 4. Use environmentally friendly chemicals
There are many fertilizers, herbicides (herbicides) and pesticides (pesticides) on the market to help maintain the beauty of your garden, but some of them are dangerous to the environment if used regularly over time. Try to find out what chemicals your family uses and then search online for "green" alternatives that aren't so bad for the environment. Show them to your parents and ask them to use these.
Step 5. Let the lawn grow a little
Herbicides are most commonly used on your lawn to kill unsightly weeds. What would you rather have: a lawn where some dandelions grow, or one covered in chemicals that kill plants? Point this out to your parents and ask them to choose weeding instead, even if the lawn will be a little less perfect.
Step 6. Weed out instead of spraying
In gardens or flower beds, some people use herbicides to get rid of weeds. Since the soil is softer in these areas, there is no need to spray. Equipped with a pair of gardening gloves, a hoe, and a trowel, you spend a few hours every weekend pulling weeds by hand. It is a good opportunity to spend time outdoors with your family and is much cleaner than herbicides.
Step 7. Introduce beneficial insects
Just as there are insects that ruin your family's vegetable garden (such as aphids), there are other insects that feed on these as a tasty snack. Many garden stores offer supplies of these insects, such as chrysopa (which loves to eat aphids and is also quite beautiful to look at), to be ordered by email. Count on nature's own defenses and you'll be able to spray much less pesticides.
Also, leave the beneficial insects where you find them. Your garden probably already has some good insects. Garden spiders, for example, eat all kinds of other pests and are totally harmless to plants. When you find these bugs, leave them alone and let them help out
Part 3 of 3: Family, friends, and school projects
Step 1. Clean up a park
Involve a group of friends or find a day when your whole family can go out for a morning at a nearby park. Bring a couple of large garbage bags and a pair of gardening gloves with you. Start from the parking lot and follow each path in the park, collecting any litter you find. In a matter of hours, your park will be spotless!
- If you see rejection off the path, don't hesitate - go get it. If it is difficult to reach, find a stick and try to drag it close.
- This doesn't sound like a very fun activity when you read it, but it's actually a great experience to do. In fact, you might like it so much that you want to schedule a fixed appointment, once or twice a year, to come back and clean it.
Step 2. Participate in a major cleanup operation
If you ask the teachers and read the local papers, you will likely find that there are other groups of people doing similar cleanup operations to the park project. In almost all cases, these people are happy to have children and families participating. You could go and clean up a beach, a campsite, or a nice mountain trail, going with a larger group. You will also have the thrill of being part of a larger movement.
Step 3. Join other volunteer groups
If you enjoy planting trees, cleaning trails, or even just spreading information about environmental changes in your city, there is probably a local group of people interested in doing the same. Get in touch with them and ask how you can help. If there is no such group, why not propose to your parents or your school to make one yourself? You're never too young to make a difference after all. This is just as true in public as in your own home.
- If you know friends who are just as interested as you, have them sign a paper saying they are and then contact the principal. Knowing that a lot of people want to help will make them more likely to consider your request.
- One activity that many schools can do, but which few use, is a composting program. Composting reduces waste by separating food scraps and yard debris and allowing them to decompose and turn into soil. With enough community involvement, a composting program at your school could be a big success, so you can start spreading the news and stimulate support from fellow students and their parents.
- Although balloons are made from biodegradable materials, you should always blow them up with your breath instead of filling them with helium. Not only is blowing balloons with your breath a lot of fun, but it's also a much greener solution than using helium.
Advice
- Don't forget to reward yourself for your hard work. Enjoy what you have helped to protect: go out and play or explore nature whenever you can. As long as you respect and care for the natural world, you will be able to enjoy it.
- This guide is just a starting point. Ask around and search the internet to find out more things you can do to help keep the world a safe and healthy place for all of us to live.
