Global Youth Network presents
Earth Guide
Green light, yellow light, red
light...
Now is the time for paying attention to what we're doing to the environment. Things that we should appreciate get the green light. They're good, so we don't want to lose them.
Some things, like plastic, which can be both good and bad, get the yellow light for caution. Plastic has improved our lives in many ways, but too much of it - especially when it becomes garbage - is cause for concern. We have to draw a line between when plastic is necessary, like in some medical devices, and when it is unnecessary, like in excess packaging. Plus, we need to find more responsible ways to manufacture, dispose of, and recycle it.
The red light means STOP the bad things that are destroying our planet.
Conservation | Windpower | Precycling |
Rechargeable batteries | Fluorescent light bulbs | Borrowing, instead of buying |
Hand-operated tools | Organic gardening | Products made from recycled materials |
Energy-efficient buildings and appliances | Things made from renewable resources | Fresh air |
Nature parks | Wildlife | Clean water |
Plenty of trees | Worms and bugs | Recycling |
Solar energy | Rainforests | Bikes |
Carpools | Compost |
Polystyrene foam | Plastic | Aerosol sprays | Polystyrene foam |
Too many cars | Junk mail | Disposable diapers | Landfills |
CFCs | Smog | Poachers | Littering |
Oil spills | Acid rain | Excess packaging | Toxic household cleaners |
Destroying the rainforests | Toxic farm and yard sprays | Burning fossil fuels | Garbage in our oceans, lakes, and streams |
Disposable lighters, razors, flashlights | The hole in the ozone layer | People who don't know | People who don't care about the Earth |
Cars and trucks are responsible for 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions, a major cause of air pollution and acid rain. CFCs, used in refrigerators, air conditioners, foam packaging, and aerosol sprays, are destroying the ozone layer that protects us from the harmful effects of too much sun.
FACT: Trains and buses don't pollute
the air as much as cars
do. They use less fuel to carry more passengers. We have to get more
people to leave their cars at home.
TIP: Buy eggs in cardboard cartons
instead of polystyrene foam.
You'll cut down on harmful CFCs and they're recyclable.
TIP: Buy reusable picnic items intead of
paper, foam, or
plastic plates and cups.
FACT: Burning a litre of gasoline
produces about 9 kilos of
carbon dioxide.
TIP: Get one more person to be in your
carpool. If we all did
this, we could save as much as 100 million litres of gasoline and keep
about 3 million kilos greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere every
day.
FACT: In Japan, so many people ride
bikes that there are
special parking garages for two-wheelers.
Chances are, more than half the trash you throw out every year is organic... made up of things like yard waste and foods that were once alive. You can reuse it, by composting. That's turning it into rich soil for your garden. For more info, go to The Compost Resource Page at http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost.
Most of the water on our planet (about 97%) is unusable, because it's salty ocean water. Another 2% is frozen. This means that all our drinking comes from the remaining 1%... which is mostly groundwater from beneath the Earth's surface. It's very important to conserve water and prevent toxic wastes from contaminating our groundwater, keeping it safe to drink.
© 1999
bombini@geocities.com