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Buy organically-grown
foods. Native Sun carries all kinds of fruits, vegetables,
and grains that have had no chemical fertilizer, pesticides,
or herbicides. Show you care by buying these things! They'll
be better for you and for the earth because no chemicals are
going into the soil or water. |
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Make your meals earth-friendly.
When packing a lunch, put sandwiches, chips, etc. in reusable
plastic containers instead of sandwich bags. Carry your drink
in a washable bottle, and your lunch in a reusable lunch container.
For meals at home, put leftover food in hard, plastic washable
and reusable containers. |
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Re-use your plastic sandwich
bags. Plastic takes over 100 years to biodegrade,
so the less plastic we throw out, the better. After using a
plastic bag, wash it out with soapy water and let it dry. Then
you can use it over and over again, and it works just as well
as a new bag! |
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Put a brick in your toilet
tank. Put a brick inside a plastic bag to contain
all the crumbs and then put it in the tank of your toilet. Since
the average toilet uses 3 to 7 gallons of water per flush, the
brick will displace some water in the tank, so your toilet will
use ý - 1 gallon less each time someone uses it! |
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Plant a tree.
It's a great way to save the earth's oxygen! There are two ways
to do this. You could find a tree (like a maple) that produces
seeds every spring and plant them in the yard OR start them
in pots until they're at least a foot tall and then put them
in the yard. |
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Don't litter.
Pick up trash when you see it in your neighborhood and throw
it in a trash can or recycling bin. You'll keep your neighborhood
clean and cut down on pollution. |
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Feed the animals.
Planting flowers, trees or shrubs is a great way to give animals
food and shelter in your own backyard. You can attract butterflies
with brightly colored flowers, hummingbirds love red flowers
and bats and moths like sweet-smelling white flowers. Contact
a nursery or garden center near you to find out what kinds of
plants will provide food and good cover for the wildlife you'd
like to see. |
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Open windows instead of
using air conditioning. When the weather outside
is nice, save money, electricity, and the earth by opening some
windows. |
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Use both sides of paper.
At school, you can save trees by using both sides of a sheet
of paper while taking notes or completing an assignment. At
home, if you have to take a phone message or leave your parents
a note, don't just throw the paper away when you're done. Save
it for the next time you need to jot something down quickly.
Having a few pages of "scrap" paper around is a good way to
keep from wasting new sheets each time. |
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Don't use expensive paper
to color on. Notebook or recycled paper will work
just fine for drawings and is much cheaper than packaged printer
paper. If your parents work in an office, ask them to bring
home scrap paper or used printer paper that is still blank on
one side for you to draw on. |
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If you don't need a light
on, don't use one! Your house probably has enough
windows to light up the house during the day. If it's 1:00 on
a bright sunny day, open the blinds instead of turning on a
light. If you're going to be in a room for only a minute, try
to go without any electric lights at all! If you do have to
turn on a light, turn on only as many as you need. |
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Save water.
Take baths or quick showers, turn off the water while brushing
your teeth, and make sure to turn faucets off all the way when
you're done. If a faucet is leaking, put a pan, bowl, or cup
underneath to catch the water, and use it for something else
like watering a plant, cooking, making Kool-Aid, or drinking!
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"Recycle" your clothes.
When you grow out of your clothes or you no longer like or fit
into something, DON'T THROW IT AWAY! Sell it in a garage sale,
donate it to the needy through clothing drives or give it to
charity. |
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Use recycled products!
Recycled paper, plastic, cardboard, and other products are now
being sold! Be careful not to confuse "recycled" with "recyclable".
"Made from recycled waste" or "post-consumer waste" is what
you really want. |
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Make recycling bins to
use at school or at home. Make three bins: one for
paper, one for organic waste (food), and one for cans and bottles.
Display a poster explaining what goes in each bin to make sure
everyone understands how to use the system properly. |
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Use real silverware and
dishes instead of paper ones. The last thing we need
is extra garbage in landfills, and this is a great way to cut
down on some of it. Use permanent kitchenware unless you absolutely
have to use disposable stuff! |
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Don't buy products with
lots of packaging. Select fresh produce from display
bins instead of the pre-packaged variety. A lot of packaging
means more garbage in the landfills. |
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Use alternatives to cars.
Going to school, sports practice or a friend's house? If it's
close by, walk or ride a bike! If you need to use a car, organize
a car pool with neighbors or friends to cut down on gas and
air pollution. |
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Get involved in your city.
Did you know that last year volunteers picked up 242,860 pounds
of litter from Jacksonville's streets? Kids can volunteer with
the City of Jacksonville through the Don't Trash Jacksonville
program. Follow the link to find information about becoming
a volunteer. |
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Get people to think about
the earth. There are almost 6 billion people on this
earth, and every one of them needs to take care of it! Always
look for environment-safe products and encourage others to do
the same. From recycling to buying less packaging to planting
trees to saving water to conserving energy, keep the environment
in mind! |
