Earth Day

Earth Day, April 22, is set aside for all of us to think about our planet and how to take care of it. It is a time to think about the most efficient ways to use Earth's natural resources.

One such resource is trees. How do we use them?

1. Paper - This is one of the most beneficial products we get from trees. Just think about photographs, scrapbooks, wrapping paper, crossword puzzles, and, oh yes, homework.

2. Furniture - Since it is durable and can be easily shaped, wood is used to make a variety of furniture. What kind do you have at home and in school?

3. Buildings - Wooden beams are usually used to hold houses and other structures together.

4. Paint Products - From tree sap, many paint products are made, including turpentine.

5. Fruit - Besides apples, pears, and others, remember that trees give us a variety of nuts! Do you like fruit pies? Nuts on ice cream?

6. Maple Syrup - Would pancakes and waffles taste the same without it? It's made from the sap of a tree.

7. Animal Homes - Birds, squirrels, and other animals depend upon trees for shelter and food. And what about shade?

Recycling is one way to take care of trees. Do you use items made from recycled paper? Why not try making some recycled paper of your own?!

1. Shred 2 paper towels, 3 sheets of newspaper, and 4 facial tissues into small pieces and put them in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of water and soak the paper for 15 minutes.

2. Beat this mixture until it is the consistency of oatmeal...no large lumps.

3. Add another cup of water and 2 tablespoons liquid laundry starch. Beat until thoroughly mixed.

4. OPTIONAL: Add 1/2 teaspoon food coloring and stir to create a marble effect.

5. Partly straighten 2 large paper clips, creating a large hook and a small hook in each. Hook the smaller hooks through an 8 1/2x11 piece of metal window screening. Place this screen at the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Cover a large cutting board with a dish towel.

6. Pour the pulp mixture over the screen and use the paper-clip handles to life the screen out of the pan. Hold it over the pan a few minutes to catch the excess water.

7. Put the pulp-covered screen on the dish-towel-covered cutting board and cover it with another dish towel. Gently roll a rolling pin back and forth to squeeze out more water from the pulp.

8. After removing the top dish towel, flip the second one with the screen and pulp onto a stack of newspapers. Carefully remove the towel and screen. Let your paper dry in the sun.

Here are a few more tips to conserve our resources:

1. Turn off the lights and fans when you are not in a room. Unplug small appliances that continue using electricity when they are not in use.

2. Turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth. Water lawns at dawn or dusk when the water will not evaporate so quickly.

3. Plan errands by car so that you make a circle back to your house. If your destination is nearby, walk or ride a bike! Will mass transportation or carpooling work for you one day per week?

4. Cut down on visual pollution by not littering. Help your community clean parks or waterways. Have a Clean-Up Day at school!

Please teach your children, when they are young, to help take care of Mother Earth. Hopefully, their good habits will continue into adulthood.

I hope these ideas are useful and have inspired your own creative thinking!

Source:
Macmillan Seasonal Activity Packs, Spring Is Here, Macmillan Educational Company, 1987

Rate Article

Related Videos
Play Video How to Make an Angel Tree Topper	Play Video How To Save Paper in the Office	Play Video Christmas Origami - Folding a Dove	Play Video Cool Holiday Websites	Play Video Working with Wikipedia 101 - #3 - Understanding Article Tabs

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Environment" article category.

People interested in the above article "Earth Day" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

 

What Can We Do to Deal with Climate Change?

One way to keep pace climate change is to reduce emissions from human activity. This can be done for example by using fuel from a source of cleaner energy, such as switching from coal to gas, or using renewable energy sources such as solar energy or biomass.

Recycling Tips for the Office

There are several good reasons why office paper must be recycled. First, papers used in offices are usually high-grade, and it's a shame to see these quality paper reduced to waste. A staggering 77 per cent of these papers are recyclable. Second, an average business office employee can produce a pound and a half of paper waste in working for a business office daily.

Dollars, Cents, and Gigawatts: Online Tools Bind Great Power and Great Responsibility

Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is a new term in the data center lexicon, comparing a data center's total energy requirement to the energy consumed by the IT load. With 42U's PUE Calculator, a data center operator does not need to know the origin or intricacies of PUE. If the data center manager can access his IT load (from the UPS), and his facility load (from the meter), he receives an initial PUE score. For more detailed calculations, 42U's Energy Savings Calculator makes use of the same formulas to project energy and CO2 savings over one, five, and ten years.

Green Projects to Jump Start San Antonio Energy Efficiency

The U.S. Department of Energy is providing Texas with more than $218 million in stimulus funding for state energy programs. To help orient energy efficiency leaders, Green Energy Audit Certification is hosting a class in San Antonio on September 28 to jump start energy audit learning.

Going Green - Green Plumbing Layouts, Tankless Water Heaters and Hot Water Demand Systems

Article discusses green plumbing systems, what makes them green, and how to make them greener. Included in the discussion are hot water demand type delivery systems, hot water plumbing layouts and tankless water heaters.

BioFuel a Greener Energy Future

Biofuels are by definition any fuel that, by being burned, can be converted to energy, and that is produced from a biological source. Since a biological source is also a renewable one, biofuels are reproducible. One type of fuel already being produced from biological sources is biodiesel.

Solar Power - Heat Your Own Water, It Will Save You Money

Are you tired of paying high power bills? If you are you are not alone. Many people are, and heating your water is about 1/3 of your bill. You can lower your power bill by having a solar power hot water heater. You can even do the installing yourself. That makes even more economical.