Grades 4-5 Article

How you can help stop climate change

Climate change is a big problem our planet is facing. This article is meant to inform you on how to help the Earth. Climate change may seem scary at first but we can have a better future for all if we do our share.

If climate change isn’t stopped it will result in higher global temperatures, more intense wildfires, droughts and heat waves which are all a bad thing for the Earth. Luckily, we can change the course of climate and make our planet and home a better place to live for ourselves and future generations by participating in some easy steps.

A simple way to help the planet is by reducing carbon emissions. Those happen when we cut down trees or ride in cars and they trap heat and make the globe hotter. A good way that you can stop these is riding on a scooter or walking instead of riding in a car.

Our carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the air by our own personal needs. We want to minimize this as much as possible, here are some ways how:

• Turn off lights, computers, TVs, etc. when you are not using them.

• Unplug any device that you can turn on and off,(ps4, Nintendo, Xbox) they still use power when turned “off”.

• Don’t go through the drive through, instead walk into the restaurant and pick-up the order instead of waiting in a line with the motor on the car running and polluting the air.

Good ways to reduce the amount of trash you leave behind can be as simple as asking your parents to use a reusable grocery bag when they are shopping. You should also recycle whatever you can, examples of recyclable items are paper, aluminum cans, cardboard, plastic and magazines.

The last way to help save the planet in this article is to reduce the amount of water you use. People in many parts of the world do not have access to clean drinking water, we should be grateful for what we have and be wise about where we spend it. Don’t leave the tap running while brushing your teeth. Don’t take long showers. Be thankful for the water that you have and use it with the people who don’t have clean water in mind.

If you could use just a few things from this article to live a more green life with the planet’s needs in mind then I’m sure the Earth would thank you for looking out for the future.

-Calvin Martinez

Middle School Article

Who Is the Sunrise Movement PDX?

Climate change is a big issue in this current day, luckily there are people fearlessly fighting this disaster. One of these groups is Sunrise Movement PDX, based in Portland they are fighting to pass the Green New Deal which would propose a plan to help tackle climate change. They have arranged many protests to raise awareness for the Green New Deal and have even arranged a sit-in outside the office of House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Their goal with passing the Green New Deal is to create millions of new, green jobs and will make a better future for the generations to come. They are making big leaps in the effort of stopping climate change but if going to a protest or anything of that manner seems like a lot you could always try some simple solutions to reduce your carbon footprint.

How You can Reduce your Carbon Footprint

Reducing your water waste is a good place to start. Make sure you don’t waste a lot of water while in the shower by trying to shower in 7 minutes or less and turn the water off while you’re brushing your teeth. Those are 2 very simple and easy ways to save water.

Another way to help the environment is to avoid using plastic as much as you can, for instance using a reusable water bottle or bag instead of plastic ones. You should also try to cut down on plastic utensils and straws as well. Plastic is very bad for the environment because it can pollute ecosystems and can take 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill.

You should also be mindful of your recycling, know where an aluminum beverage goes and where paper and cardboard go in the recycling. Even if you do recycle you should avoid buying plastic bottles of water because if they eventually do make it to a place to be recycled it takes time and recourses to make the bottle and turn it into something new.

A very simple way to help out the Earth is to eat everything on your plate. According to the Americans waste 30-40% of food. Feeding America says that Americans are wasting 72 billion pounds of food every year.

The final relatively easy way that you can help to slow climate change is biking or walking as much as you can. Obviously you can’t always choose to walk or bike somewhere but you should be making an effort to avoid taking the car everywhere. If you are in the car and at a fast food restaurant try and walk into the store to pick up your food instead of waiting in the drive-through with the engine of the car polluting.

I think that you, the reader should try some of these solutions because you probably want the Earth to still be around when you grow up and for the future generations to inhabit these Earth. Who knows, maybe you choosing to save water today could inspire another person to do the same. Maybe you choosing to walk to the supermarket and use a reusable bag could be the difference for our species to start to overcome climate change.

-Calvin Martinez