 Operation Education
5 Easy Ways to Change the World
On Tuesday, April 22 people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities will gather to celebrate Earth Day. But while it’s wonderful to set aside one day each year, in order to have a positive effect on the environment, here at DitchCarbon.com , our mission is to incorporate Earth Day principles into our everyday lives. Here are five easy steps that anyone can take to help protect our world.
1. PROTECT BIODIVERSITY
According to the journal Science, evidence suggests that the world is currently experiencing the “sixth major extinction event in history.” The last such event—65 million years ago—killed 16 percent of marine families and 18 percent of the land vertebrate families, including the dinosaurs. What can you do? Support missions like the Great Apes Survival Project (www.unep.org/GRASP/), an initiative to help save the endangered apes of Africa and Asia.
2. USE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS
Fist and foremost, recycle. It’s amazing how much of your waste you can recycle these days: paper, plastics, aluminum, steel— even electronics, from batteries to computers to cell phones. You can compost food scraps, veggie peelings and flowers. And you can reuse paper and plastic bags at the grocery store, or try fabric sacks, which can be purchased through DitchCarbon.com and used for many years. Keep a few in your car so that you’ll have them handy whenever you feel like shopping.
3. DRIVE RESPONSIBLY
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the most important environmental choice you make as a consumer is the vehicle you drive and how you drive it. In California alone, automobiles account for a staggering 41 percent of the state’s global warming emissions, as every gallon of gasoline consumed puts 20 pounds of pollutants into the atmosphere. So what can you do? Aside from taking public transportation, the best option is to drive the most fuel-efficient car you can.
4. WATCH WHAT YOU EAT
If you want to be a friend to the Earth, an organic diet is the way to go. Organic produce is grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers, so the process doesn’t cause the amount of contamination that conventional farming does. Instead, organic farming reduces greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion, and promotes cleaner groundwater. But the process doesn’t benefit just the environment. It can also directly benefit your health. Between 1994 and 1999, the USDA Pesticide Data Program noted over 80 percent of conventional fresh fruits and 75 percent of conventional fresh vegetables contained residues from pesticides. Since organics are grown without using these potentially harmful chemicals, you can reduce your family’s exposure by switching to organics.
5. VOTE
Investigating the environmental stance of politicians vying for office is a simple step, but voting with your conscience is more difficult. According to a survey conducted by the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, 79 percent of those polled favor “stronger national standards to protect our land, air and water,” but only 22 percent voiced their concern at the ballot box. To save the planet, you must empower politicians who share your beliefs.
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Operation Education
