Mates, Dates and Saving the Planet
Page 8
something to save the planet.
And this is my pledge . . .’
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As people are leaving, hand them a ‘thank you for coming’ card (recycled paper, again) with a list of suggestions printed on it for other easy things they can do to go green. That should get the ball rolling!
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Collect text or email details of everyone who came, particularly the cute boys. It’s a great excuse to get in touch with them again.
Have a look at our goals and then write your own!
Green things I am going to do TODAY:
Nesta:
Check out if there are any Tree Parties near where I live.
TJ:
Find out if my school has an eco-club or a green strategy.
Lucy:
Put a ‘No junk mail’ notice on our front door (better check with my mum first).
Izzie:
Offer to defrost the freezer.
Green things I am going to start doing THIS WEEK:
Lucy:
Researching greener gas and electricity for our house.
Izzie:
Persuade my mum to get organic fruit and veg delivered.
Nesta:
Find out about recycling at school.
TJ:
Join the local conservation group.
Now it’s your turn!
Three green things I am going to do TODAY:
Five green things I am going to start doing THIS WEEK:
When you’ve managed all these, you’ll have truly earned the title of Goddess of Green. TJ, Lucy, Izzie and I salute you. All hail!
A Note from Us
When we hear about what Planet Earth might be like in the future, it can feel very scary.
Extreme weather such as tornadoes, rainstorms and heatwaves . . . rubbish heaps and landfill sites taking up more and more space . . . thousands of species of wildlife becoming extinct as their habitats disappear . . . droughts in some parts of the world and floods in others . . . people struggling for survival . . .
Horrible. But it doesn’t have to be like that.
The good news – no, the great news – is that scientists say that it’s not too late. It’s in our power to stop all this from occurring. If we act NOW. We think it’s possible. (Even me now – Nesta.) We do believe that we can save the planet – if we each do what we can – and straight away.
Unfortunately, our parents’ generation isn’t doing enough to give everyone a good future on our planet. So we have to shoulder some of the responsibility and take matters in hand – and we’ve got to start NOW. Do what we can in our own lives, and keep talking to our mates, families, teachers and anyone else we know, so that they make changes in their lives. And if everyone keeps talking about the future of the planet and demanding bigger changes, the politicians will have to act. It’s up to all of us.
Here’s one of Lucy’s mum’s fave bits of wisdom, which is now one of ours too:
There were four people named Everybody,
Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and
Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that, because it was
Everybody’s job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it but
Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody
when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
We’ll leave the last word up to Izzie, because the songs she writes always say things best. Thanks for reading, for sharing our ideas and for joining up with us on our mission.
Wishing you all health, harmony and good fortune.
Lots of luv
Bye for now
Lucy, Izzie, Nesta and TJ
XXXX
by Izzie Foster
Imagine a world with clean green seas,
with clean green fields and clean green trees,
with clean green energy and clean green waste,
with clean green food with a clean green taste,
with clean green peace under clean green skies
’cause we’re clean green girls and clean green guys.
Imagine this world for me and for you,
for all of our kids, grandkids – great-grandkids too!
Imagine this world – all clean green and new.
Now let’s get together and make it come true.
www.aboutorganics.co.uk
A guide to everything organic – including skin care, clothing, gardening and food.
www.bigbarn.co.uk
This website tells you where you can get food from local producers, such as farmers’ markets.
www.bafts.org.uk
This is the website of the British Association for Fair Trade Shops. It gives you lots of information about fair trade products and where you can buy them.
www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces
Help turn waste ground into a healthy green space.
www.bbc.co.uk/food/in_season
Tells you which foods are in season each month.
www.the-body-shop.co.uk
The website of the Body Shop, environmentally-minded retailer of beauty products.
www.carbonfootprint.com
This website helps you calculate, reduce and offset your carbon footprint.
www.cleanslateclothing.co.uk
Get your fair trade and organic school uniform here.
www.bbc.co.uk/climate
Find out more about climate change.
www.communitycompost.org
Great advice about how to make compost at home.
www.dft.gov.uk/ActOnCO2
Information on which cars have the lowest carbon emissions, and advice on how to minimise your car’s damage to the environment.
www.eatlessmeat.org
Info on why we should all eat less meat and advice on how to do it, including lots of lovely vegetarian recipes.
www.theecologist.org
A great website which covers all the issues.
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
Information on how you can save energy at home.
www.fairtrade.org.uk
Explains how fair trade works, and how to find fair trade products.
www.fishonline.org/advice/eat
Lists which fish are OK to eat, and which are endangered and should be avoided.
www.foe.co.uk
The website of Friends of the Earth, an organisation which campaigns for solutions to environmental problems.
www.freecycle.co.uk
This is an online community you can join for free to advertise items you no longer need to other people in your local area, and find things you need that other local people may have and no longer want!
www.fsc.org
The Forest Stewardship Council, which has advice on buying furniture and other wooden products from sustainable sources.
www.greenchoices.org
Info on how to be greener in loads of areas of your life, including energy, recycling, clothes and pets.
www.greenguideonline.com
Thousands of listings for sustainable and green goods, services and organisations.
www.greenpeace.org
Greenpeace is an organisation that campaigns on the whole range of environmental issues.
www.mpsonline.org.uk
Register with the Mail Preference Service to avoid receiving junk mail and thereby reduce paper waste.
www.oxfam.org.uk/shop
The online shop of charity Oxfam has a huge variety of green and fair trade gifts.
www.polarbearsinternational.org
This website will give you information on polar bears and how to get involved with helping them.
www.recycle-more.co.uk
Find your nearest recycling centre and get info on what materials you can recycle there.
The Recycling Appeal collects mobile phones and printer cartridges for reuse and recycling.
http://www.responsibletravel.com
Promotes ethical tourism.
www.savetheorangutan.org.uk
The website of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK, which works to save orangutans from extinction and prevent the forests they live in from being destroyed.
www.sustrans.org.uk
The site of the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity, which will tell you about the benefits of cycling and show you where your nearest cycle routes are.
www.think-energy.co.uk
A website which encourages young people to be more energy efficient.
www.wasteonline.org.uk
Info and facts about waste disposal in the UK, including details for companies that recycle computers and electrical equipment.
www.waterwise.org.uk
Info on how to reduce water usage at home.
www.whyorganic.org
Tips on growing your own organic fruit and veg and details of organic companies.
www.woodland-trust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust is a charity dedicated to preserving Britain’s trees and forests. This website gives details of how you can get involved, including info on tree planting events and how you can organise your own.
www.yptenc.org.uk
The website of the Young People’s Trust for the Environment, which gives info about all sorts of environmental issues and how you can help.
Acid Rain
When chemical compounds containing nitrogen and sulphur are released into the atmosphere (such as during some manufacturing processes) they dissolve in the water in the atmosphere to form nitric and sulphuric acid. This falls as acid rain, which eats into trees and buildings and damages them. It also changes the nature of the soil, making it harder for plants to grow.
Biodegradable
Something that is biodegradable breaks down physically and/or chemically over time.
Biological pest control
In agriculture or gardening, this is controlling pests by introducing other creatures which prey on them, instead of using chemical pesticides.
Carbon dioxide
CO2 is a colourless, odourless gas that occurs naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere. It is the main greenhouse gas, which contributes to global warming.
Carbon footprint
Carbon footprints measure how much carbon dioxide we produce just by going about our daily lives (doing things like driving in a car and heating our homes).
Carbon neutral
If you are carbon neutral, you balance the emissions of carbon dioxide you cause just by going about your daily life (travelling by car, having the central heating on etc.) by removing the same amount of carbon from the atmosphere. For instance, you could plant trees, which absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and give out oxygen.
Climate change
Global warming is causing the Earth’s climate to change, having widespread impacts all over the world, causing more droughts, tornadoes, storms, floods and other weather extremes. This has disastrous implications for all living things on the planet.
Deforestation
Destruction of wooded areas by the cutting down or burning of trees.
Fair trade
This is a movement that ensures that people in the developing world are getting a fair deal for their products and that these are being produced in an environmentally-friendly way.
Food chain
This is a description of how animals and plants are linked by their food relationships, e.g. humans eat chickens, which eat insects and seeds. If seeds are treated with pesticides and fertilisers, humans may effectively be eating those too when they eat chickens.
Food miles
This means the number of miles food travels from where it is made to where it is eaten. Food that is transported a long way involves huge fuel emissions, which increase greenhouse gases, which increase global warming, which increases climate change. Food that travels a long distance also needs more protective packaging to keep it in a decent state, so it’s a double whammy for the environment.
Fossil fuels
The three fossil fuels are coal, oil and natural gas. We burn these to produce energy. When they are burned, these components mix with oxygen in the atmosphere. The result is carbon dioxide.
Genetically modified
Genetically modified plants have been scientifically altered to increase their yield or quality. Many people are worried about the long-term effects this will have on animals and humans, as these are not yet known.
Global warming
The Earth’s climate naturally changes over long time periods, swinging from long Ice Ages to shorter, warmer periods. However, recently, scientific data suggests that the Earth is warming quickly because of human activity, rather than naturally and slowly. This is global warming. This means that species have not had time to adapt and nature can no longer cope. Global warming leads to long-term climate change.
Greenhouse gases
Greenhouse gases are chemicals that occur naturally and form a blanket around the Earth, trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space. The heat rebounds onto the Earth’s surface, and the planet’s temperature rises – creating what is commonly called the greenhouse effect. Industrial processes have released more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which has increased the Earth’s temperature – this is global warming, which causes climate change.
Grey water
Water which has been used for washing (e.g. water from laundry, baths, showers etc.) and can be reused e.g. to water gardens rather than sent straight down the drain.
Hybrid car
Hybrid cars use a combination of electric and petrol/gas power. They are better for the environment than cars which run entirely on petrol; however the electricity they use has to come from the owner’s usual electricity source, which will usually be a power plant that burns fossil fuels.
Landfill
A landfill site is a large, outdoor burial pit for rubbish.
Methane
Methane is the main component of natural gas. It is also formed by the digestive processes of livestock (i.e. it is emitted by cows and sheep farting!). It has twenty-three times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.
Organic food
Food that is grown or raised without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, or drugs.
Ozone
A form of oxygen found high up in the Earth’s atmosphere, which is responsible for filtering out much of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Chemicals produced by human activity have thinned the ozone layer over the Earth, exposing parts to this harmful radiation.
Pesticide
Any chemical that is used to protect crops by killing the living creatures which eat them. (Herbicides are chemicals that destroy weeds. Fungicides are chemicals which destroy fungal infections on crops.)
Pollution
Any release into the environment of toxic substances harmful to human health and ecosystems. Transport is responsible for much of the Western world’s pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Recycle
Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into useful new products. Making new items from recycled ones takes less energy and other resources than making products from brand new materials. Find out what recycling facilities there are where you live by looking up your local council’s website.
Reduce
This means creating less waste – by buying and using fewer things, and making sure that anything you do buy is well made (so it will last longer) and not over-packaged. This is the best way (even better than reuse and recycling) to cut down on rubbish, because if you reduce the amount you use in the first place, you’ll have less to throw away. Reduce also means saving resources such as electricity and water.
Reuse
Reuse involves giving items
a longer life by repairing them, finding new uses for them (e.g. using glass jars and other containers for storage), donating them to charity, or giving or selling them to anyone who needs them. Reuse is even better than recycling, because the item does not need to be reprocessed before it can be used again.
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breathing places ref 1
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Also available by Cathy Hopkins
The MATES, DATES series
1. Mates, Dates and Inflatable Bras
2. Mates, Dates and Cosmic Kisses