三條環保小貼士:小改變創造大不同

也許你每天都能看到“環保從你我做起，從身邊小事做起”這樣的標語，也許你從未把這樣的話放在心上。但其實改變就是一點點發生的，每個人都盡一份力，世界就會有大不同。別再懷疑自己的能量啦！快讀讀下面的環保小貼士，加入我們的環保大軍吧！

As adolescents, having a meaningful impact on the world can seem like an impossible and daunting task for the simple fact of being kids. Changing the world does not only mean finding a cure for cancer, eliminating poverty, or finding the origin of humanity, but recycling a piece of paper as well. Going Green is a practical way that adolescents can have a real, meaningful influence in the world. There are numerous options of how individuals can change their lifestyles to be more eco-consciou s. What follows are three simple ways young adolescents can go green and change the world.

1. Recycle

According to a Wire & Twine online article, 63 million newspapers go out to street vendors , local paper boys, or newspaper dispensers every day and of those 44 million are thrown away; recycling the Sunday newspaper alone we could save half a million trees a week.

The age of technology constantly creates new phones, iPods, or new computers coming out. Many will stand in line for hours if not days to get their hands on the new piece of technology, but what happens with the old ones once they are replaced? Nothing, according to Earth911 about 75% of the old devices sit in the back of a drawer collecting dust. By taking them to the local stores that collect them they go to people with disabilities, war veterans, and shelters for battered women which in turn removes them from landfills where the phones explode because of the lead and lithium-ion the phones contain .

2. Go vegetarian one day a week

Instead of breaking down the pros and cons of the vegetarian lifestyle into a long boring paragraph, here are some astonishing facts on going vegetarian for only one day. According to Noam Mohr, a physicist at the New York University Polytechnic Institute, the United States would save 100 billion gallons of water which is enough to supply all homes in New England for about 4 months.

The United States would save 70 million gallons of gas which is enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined and still have some to spare. The United States could prevent 3 million tons of soil erosion, 4.5 million tons of animal excrement, and about 7 tons of ammonia emissions. The Environmental Defense concludes with the most interesting fact: if the entire population omits one meal of chicken, the amount of carbon dioxide accumulated would be the same amount if more than half a million cars were taken off U.S. roads.

When Apache Junction High School senior, Kehli Nowak remarked on what she thought about the facts and if she could try going vegetarian one day a week she responded, “After taking into consideration these baffling facts, I would be willing to try vegetarianism one day a week. Giving up just one day of eating meat is worth the benefits it could bring.”

3. Ditch bottled water

Most drink bottled water because of the common conception that bottled water is healthier than regular tap water; turns out, 25% of bottled water comes from regular tap water and all that is done extra is it going through a filter. Tap water has higher regulations from the FDA than bottled water does. Companies do not need to list where they got the water from, how they purify the water, or what chemicals their plastic water bottles contain. Plastic bottles do not get recycled 90% of the time which results in 1.5 million tons of plastic in landfills which take thousands of years to decompose. Not only are you drinking the same water as the one in your house but also paying extra. The average 24-pack of bottled water cost $3.97 at the local Wal-Mart and a reusable water bottle cost between $4.99-$7.99; just imagine how much money could be saved if reusable water bottles replaced plastic water bottles.

Senior, Nicole Steen said, “I myself have always used bottled water and then recycled it after I was done using it. After considering that bottle water and tap water has little to no differences I will try and “ditch bottled water” and begin using reusable water bottles.”

Changing the world for a positive has to start somewhere and while it may be hard and at times it may seem as if the small changes that are being done are not impacting the world keep in mind what Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”作爲青少年，你會覺得自己不過是個孩子，對世界難以產生什麼深遠影響。但改變世界可不僅僅指找到戰勝癌症的良方、幫助人們脫貧或找到人類起源，回收廢紙也可以改變世界。想用自己的力量讓世界變得更美好嗎？支持環保事業是個可行的方法。每個人都能通過多種方法讓自己的生活方式更環保。青少年可以試試下面這三種簡單的方法支持環保，改變世界。

1.回收廢物

Wire & Twine網上的一篇文章指出，每天有6300萬份報紙通過街邊報攤、報童或報紙投遞員送出，其中有4400萬份被丟棄；每週僅靠回收週末版報紙就能少砍50萬棵樹。

科技時代裏手機、平板電腦或電腦不斷推陳出新。許多人爲了嘗試新技術不惜排隊等上數小時甚至數天時間去購買，但有了新設備以後舊設備該如何處理呢？根據Earth911的調查，75%的舊設備被人們丟在一邊漸漸遺忘。如果把這些舊設備送到當地的回收商店，那些殘障人士、退伍老兵和受虐婦女的手裏，如若不然這些人就不得不跑到因鉛和鋰泄露爆炸產生的廢墟中尋找這些廢舊設備。

2. 每週吃一天素

這裏我不會大段冗述吃素好壞與否，我會告訴大家一些關於每週吃一天素的驚人數據。紐約大學理工學院的物理學家諾姆•莫爾指出，如果每週吃素一天，全美國能節約1000億加侖水，這些水足夠新英格蘭地區所有居民使用四個月。還能節約7000萬加侖天然氣，這些能源足夠加拿大和墨西哥所有汽車使用，並且還有剩餘。還能減少300萬噸水土流失、450萬噸動物糞便和約7噸氨氣排放。美國環保協會例舉出最有意思的數據：如果所有美國人少吃一頓雞肉的話，減少的二氧化碳排放量相當於美國公路上50萬輛汽車停駛所減少的二氧化碳排放量。

阿帕切聯合高中高年級學生科莉•諾瓦克表達了自己對這些數據的看法並就自己能否每週吃一天素做出瞭如下回應：“看到這些令人驚訝的數據後，我願意每週吃一天素。這個舉動帶來的益處值得我這樣做。”

3. 少喝瓶裝水

大多數人選擇瓶裝飲用水是因爲他們覺得喝這樣的水比喝自來水健康，而事實卻並非如此，25%的瓶裝水來源於自來水，只不過被過濾了一下而已。美國食品藥品管理局對自來水的要求比瓶裝水更高。瓶裝水公司無需標明瓶裝水的水源地、過濾方法和塑料瓶化學品含量。90%的塑料瓶未被回收，變成150萬噸塑料填埋到地下，而土地分解這些塑料需要上千年。瓶裝水與自來水無異，價格卻更高。普通的一箱24瓶裝的瓶裝水在沃爾瑪賣3.97美元，便攜水壺的價格在4.99美元-7.99美元之間；算算如果你自備便攜水壺放棄瓶裝水能省下多少錢吧。

高年級學生妮可•史蒂恩說：“我以前常喝瓶裝水，喝完了會回收塑料瓶。後來發現瓶裝水和自來水沒什麼區別，我就再也不喝瓶裝水了，而是自備水壺。”

我們必須儘自己一份力讓世界變得更美好。這並非易事，你可能會偶爾氣餒，那就想想瑪格麗特•米德說過的那句話吧：“不要懷疑那些有想法有決心的人們改變世界的能力；事實上，改變世界的恰恰就是這樣的人們。”