Save or Destroy - Make the Right Choice!

Today in school, our class read "A Message from Jane Goodall" from National Geographic Magazine. Jane Goodall wrote about when a brave man risked his own life to save a chimp in danger. Goodall then talked about how scared the chimp was, and connected that to how people don't have the resources and help they need in the world today. She believes that, if we all contribute in some way, and work together, we can make a difference.

Some ways in which we can make a difference include doing little things to help the environment, such as: take 10 minutes to pick up trash in the park; follow the old rule: reduce, reuse, recycle; take your own bag to the supermarket instead of using the store bags; buying smaller portions of food - every time you buy more food than you can eat, you're wasting precious resources. That is food that could have gone to someone who really needed it.

These are just some simple, but very effective ways to change the way we treat our environment.

Ways We Waste and What We Can Do About It

Energy is wasted in several ways. Food, water and electricity are all different ways that we waste energy. The way we waste food in homes is by kids and adults not finishing their food and throwing it in the trash, instead of giving it to someone who needs it or saving it for later. The ways restaurants waste food are by serving larger portions than necessary and by throwing out perfectly good food instead of donating the food to people who need it.

Water is wasted when you leave the water on when brushing your teeth or shaving. Also, when tubs are overfilled and showers are left running unnecessarily. Restaurants have similar issues. For instance, most restaurants give us water that we haven’t asked for and refill the cups before you’re even finished a glass.


Electricity is misused everywhere. One way we waste electricity is by buying standard light bulbs instead of energy efficient light bulbs. Some energy efficient light bulbs use about 75% less energy than standard light bulbs and last up to ten times longer. Energy efficient bulbs give off less heat, helps you reduce costs in keeping your home cool. You can save a significant amount of money on your energy bill simply by changing the light bulbs in your house to energy efficient light bulbs.

In New York City in an effort to go green, many tall buildings (such as the Empire State building) have put in motion detectors that sense when the building is being used or not. If other companies did this we would use less energy.

Are You Aware? Or Think Before You Act

We learned from the Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff that at the rate we are consuming and using energy our planet’s resources might be completely gone in 100 years. And, think of this, in the Amazon alone 2000 trees are being destroyed every minute! We also learned that only 4% of our original forests are left and 40 % of our waterways are now undrinkable. The United States is 5% of the population of the world but uses 30 % of the resources. We hope that, from our post, you have become more aware of what is happening to our planet, our earth, our world. We hope you will go to websites such as The Story of Stuff (just click on the title) and to other environmental websites that we have links to in the sidebar of our blog.
Let us remember what Jane Goodall said:

Children are quick to see the value of individual action. All around the world,
when I talk to them, I find them aware that they are part of the problem,
convinced they can make a difference, and eager to help, just as Rick Swope did
for Joe-Joe. Therein lies our hope – more and more people are opening their
hearts to the desperation they see around them and springing to action. For this
is how we can attain our human potential for compassion. And for love.