These following articles are related commentary and column articles that I wrote during the two years I was on the Cleveland High School Clarion Newspaper.
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It's easy being green
It’s hard to go anywhere these days without seeing advertising for green this or green that. Simply put, we’re in the middle of a Green Revolution. We’re told that we need to be more eco-friendly, but how do we it? We know about those handy reusable grocery bags, but isn’t there more we can do? Let’s face it, teenagers can’t afford to buy solar panels. But going green doesn’t mean you have to spend green. Some of the best changes we can make are the choices we make everyday.
Plastic Lids and Straws
This one is probably one of the simplest green ideas. It costs you nothing and if everyone caught on it would save businesses loads of money. When you purchase a soda at a restaurant that comes in one of those paper cups, don’t use a lid or straw. If the restaurant gives you a plastic or glass cup, do you really need a straw? But if you’re on the go, go ahead, it’s better to use a lid than spill your drink all over yourself in the car. But remember, and you’ll probably hear me say this a thousand times – plastic that you don’t reuse is bad, really bad. More than 100 million tons of un-recycled plastic goes into the Pacific Ocean every year stuck in a trash vortex indefinitely. For more information on these great ocean garbage dumps, visit treehugger.com, search phrase “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
This one is probably one of the simplest green ideas. It costs you nothing and if everyone caught on it would save businesses loads of money. When you purchase a soda at a restaurant that comes in one of those paper cups, don’t use a lid or straw. If the restaurant gives you a plastic or glass cup, do you really need a straw? But if you’re on the go, go ahead, it’s better to use a lid than spill your drink all over yourself in the car. But remember, and you’ll probably hear me say this a thousand times – plastic that you don’t reuse is bad, really bad. More than 100 million tons of un-recycled plastic goes into the Pacific Ocean every year stuck in a trash vortex indefinitely. For more information on these great ocean garbage dumps, visit treehugger.com, search phrase “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
Paper Towels
You use cloth napkins at Thanksgiving and you’ve probably used a cloth rag to clean something before, so why not use them all the time instead of their paper counterparts? Americans send 3,000 tons of paper towels to landfills everyday. Paper towels may be convenient but they’re a huge waste of our resources. On top of that, if you were to stop using paper towels, you’d save an average of $350 a year. Not only is “going cloth” a green tip that won’t cost you a cent, it actually saves you some green.
You use cloth napkins at Thanksgiving and you’ve probably used a cloth rag to clean something before, so why not use them all the time instead of their paper counterparts? Americans send 3,000 tons of paper towels to landfills everyday. Paper towels may be convenient but they’re a huge waste of our resources. On top of that, if you were to stop using paper towels, you’d save an average of $350 a year. Not only is “going cloth” a green tip that won’t cost you a cent, it actually saves you some green.
Once-a-Week Vegetarianism
Going green doesn’t necessarily mean going vegetarian, but lowering your meat consumption can actually do something to fight global warming. Once a week, try going vegetarian. Livestock produce methane and more than 100 other greenhouse gases, making up 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is a major greenhouse gas that warms the Earth 20 times faster than carbon dioxide.
Going green doesn’t necessarily mean going vegetarian, but lowering your meat consumption can actually do something to fight global warming. Once a week, try going vegetarian. Livestock produce methane and more than 100 other greenhouse gases, making up 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is a major greenhouse gas that warms the Earth 20 times faster than carbon dioxide.
Reducing the demand on beef and other meat products will reduce the supply and subsequently, greenhouse gas levels. But reducing demand on meat also reduces the carbon dioxide emissions from processing and transporting feed, and the transportation of animals from feed lots to processing to the supermarket. For those other six days of the week, try buying local. Meat raised locally is usually more natural and greatly reduces transportation emissions. And eating more fruits and vegetables is good for your health.
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