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Roots & Shoots
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Letters to Dr. GreenSecondary Brains Lack Secondary Materials Dear Dr. Green, I don’t know much about the environment. However, my best friend is absolutely anal about making sure I always recycle my plastic Crystal Geyser bottle that I bring to school everyday and the aluminum Coke can that I buy at lunch. What is the big deal? Why is she such a pain in the neck? I don’t know how the process of recycling eventually leads to reusable material. Enlighten me, before I go AWOL on recycling all together because of my sincere frustration with my eco-possessed friend. Environmentally Opposed, Stumped Sarah Margaret Dear Stumped Sarah Margaret, Waoh…. Go AWOL on recycling? What a sacrilegious idea! Your words are far too fool-headed for my green-loving ears to handle. Although I may not be able to explain why your friend is such a “pain in the neck,” perhaps I can explain to you why her concerns are by all means accurate: Most astonishingly, on average, manufacturing recycled products requires 17 times less energy than it does to manufacture using new resources! Among many examples, recycled paper results in 95% less air pollution than paper thrown in the trash (each ton of paper saves 60 pounds of air pollution). By recycling only one ton of paper, 17 trees and 7000 tons of water are preserved. Assuming that one tree provides oxygen for a family of four, 17 more families will have fresh air. This occurs simply by putting your paper in the correct bin. Talk about an easy way to contribute to environmental causes! To further put this in perspective, every year enough paper is thrown away to create a 12’ wall from New York to California. These are just a few facts about paper recycling, the most common form. To find out more mind-boggling facts about different types of recycling visit http://www.umass.edu/recycle/environmental_benefits.html. As for the process of recycling, it really depends on what you want to recycle. However, there is a general concept shared among all types of recycling that can be divided into three general steps. The first step involves collection and processing. Once the recyclables have been collected, they move on to the second step in our equation, manufacturing. In the manufacturing process, recyclables are sent to a materials recovery facility to be prepared and sold as marketable products. Finally, recyclable goods such as plastic laundry detergent bottles are sold on the market and bought AGAIN by the consumer, closing the recycling “loop”. Although my short recycling spiel only represents a mere fraction of how crucial recycling is, I hope that you have learned something. Please, next time you are about to toss your bottle of empty Fuji, hold back from the temptation of sheer convenience and wait until you reach a proper place to recycle. The Raging Recycler, Dr. Green http://www.recoverusa.com/mat_recyc_proc.htm http://www.umass.edu/recycle/environmental_benefits.html The Buzz on Anti-Bush Dr. Green, Although a huge fan of a former opponent of George W., Al Gore, I don’t know much about the environment. Thus, I wonder, what is all of this hype about Gore’s environmental documentary? Is he actually making one? What is he addressing? Yours Truly, Short n’ Sweet Dear Short n’ Sweet, Ahh, a very interesting question indeed! He is not actually making a film, he has already made it! Al Gore’s new film, An Inconvenient Truth (now playing in select theaters), is a documentary film that addresses Global Warming. In the film, Al Gore goes on a mission attempting to educate society on this global phenomenon by exposing its myths and fallacies. Upon losing the election, Gore decided to go all out for Dr. Green’s favorite cause—Global Warming. In my opinion, this was a necessary move to make because of the prevalent combination of a slow environmental society and the expeditious onset of global cataclysm. ( Editors’ note: In other words, global warming happens really fast – and we humans are super slow to react). At the premiere of this film that is showing in virtually every major city of the US, David Duchovny, Gary Shandling, and Sharon Stone entered on a green carpet opposed to a red one. Why wasn’t I there? As for reviews, they are pretty calculable: those who are in denial of Global Warming utterly despise the doc, but those who acknowledge the issue generally find it to be brilliant. To locate the documentary at your local theater, go to www.climatecrisis.net. Perhaps you will see me there! With organic popcorn, Dr. Green |
Global Warming: What YOU Can Do To Help
By now, most of us have probably heard enough about global warming to make us sick, or at least a little concerned about the future of the planet. We know that our CO2 emissions are contributing to an almost exponential increase in temperatures around the globe. We know that this temperature increase is resulting in the melting of Earth’s glaciers and polar ice caps, which in turn is already causing sea levels all over the world to rise at alarming rates, not to mention severe ecological consequences for hundreds of species. We have been constantly bombarded with nauseating statistics: we know, for example, that scientists expect to see a surge in global temperatures of up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit within 90 years. We know that as a result of rising sea levels, over 150 million people will be forced from their flooded homes as “environmental refugees” by 2050. We already know a lot about this frighteningly real issue. But do we know what to do about it? This summer, instead of giving in to the inescapable inertia that inevitably accompanies a long vacation, why not try to save the planet from impending doom? Here are five ways to get involved in the effort to curb the effects of global warming, along with links to several organizations to get you started. 2. Get involved in the fight for the Kyoto Protocol. In 2004, the U.S. produced 7.1 billion tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. That’s almost 25% of the world’s total emissions. Sounds like a lot, right? And yet, the U.S. government isn’t doing as much as other countries, many of whom have much lower emissions, to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases pouring into the atmosphere every day. For example, the U.S. hasn’t yet ratified the Kyoto protocol, which would legally force the government to place strict regulations on companies’ annual emissions. President Bush has said that ratifying the treaty would prove disastrous for the country’s economy. Even if we can’t, as a community, force the president to take responsibility and submit the treaty to the senate for ratification, we can write to our senators, asking them to round out support for the treaty, in preparation for the event when the senate has the opportunity to ratify it. To contact Senator Feinstein, visit [http://feinstein.senate.gov/contact.html]; for Senator Boxer, see [http://boxer.senate.gov/contact]. Also, there are numerous organizations of people in support of the protocol, including some set up exclusively for students, like Kyoto Now!. These groups work hard to put pressure on the government to ratify the Protocol and get started on the long and bumpy road to lower emissions. For more information, visit Kyoto Now! at [www.rso.cornell.edu/kyotonow/]. And for a more in-depth explanation of the Kyoto Protocol, visit http://www.ghgonline.org/kyoto.htm and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol]. Sources: |
GreenTeam Feature
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Paper Ball of Doom
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Photos taken during a hike at Pt Reyes on Memorial Day weekend
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EARTHS
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