More ways you can help the earth

One of the ways my family helps the earth is we have a compost bin in our backyard .
We buy the things with the least amount of packaging, which means that companies don't have to cut down as many trees or use as much plastic.

Here's a craft you can do with a milk container.
With the milk container take 0ff the lid and cut a hole in the bottom. You can make a spy glass or fake binoculars or make it what ever you want it to be. Then recycle or keep it when you're done with it .

Here is another idea for what to do with paper scraps. My family uses junk mail and old papers and burn it in a bonfire or campfire instead of ripping off perfectly good pieces of notebook paper or good paper.

Don't buy energy light bulbs or the "good for the Earth" light bulbs cause they contain mercury. When they get to the dump/landfill the mercury finds its way into our water and our soil so please buy the regular bulbs or tell your parents to buy those .

Also, whenever I am cutting out something I put all the scraps in the recycling bin



WAIT TILL EIGHT

Wait till eight is a program my city runs .
If you can please wait to wash your dishes till eight . Wait to do your laundry till eight . Wait to water your garden and lawn till eight . In the summer grill outside instead of using the oven or stove . You know what if you wait till eight you actually save money too!!!!!!!!!! .
Conserving our resources is everyones business . If you don't do it then who will?

I don't just read a magazine or catalog then throw it away, I recycle it . I give it to my friends to read or let my family read it if they want to and then I put it in the bathroom for when I am using the toilet .

If your whole family has to go to the bathroom don't keep flushing it. Keep all the waste in the bowl and then flush it.

Have garage sales and yard sales and donate things instead of throwing them away. You can maybe even make a little bit of money too!!


Ride you bike or scooter or skate wherever possible ( bring water bottles) . Speaking of water bottles refill them or use the thick ones that companys hand out at expos some times . Speaking of expos don't grab like 50 brochures for a company that your family probably won't ever use or go too! If you do get a lot and don't need them recycle them .

Our Environment World Challenge

I decided to do the contest because I really care about the world/earth. I am only 9 years old and I care. If I do win, I want to use the prize money to start a real website, where kids can talk and share ideas about how they are helping the earth. If someone has a problem, they can post it and other kids can help. Here is the link to my project:

http://reelthinking.nimsisland.com/detail.php?Pid=78&Vote=edit

Every kid should care (even adults and grownups should care). It does not matter how old you are -- please make a difference to our planet! Nim, from the movie Nim's Island, takes care of her island so we should take care of our planet. If you agree with me please say so by leaving a comment. If you do something I have suggested please tell me by leaving a comment. This is important to me -- I really want to know how many kids care!

Simple Things YOU Can Do!

Here are some things we have started doing around our house:

1. We keep a paper bag in our kitchen to collect ALL paper waste -- junk mail, newspaper, paper scraps from art projects, etc. No paper goes into our trash can -- EVER. We also break down all cardboard food boxes and recycle these.

2. We buy milk in the gallon-size plastic jugs -- these can be recycled (unlike the cardboard cartons).

3. We have started a Dead Battery Can -- instead of throwing away used batteries, we are saving them in a coffee can and will turn them in to our Hazardous Waste facility. Once our batteries have been used up, we plan to switch to rechargeable batteries. Read below for more information on the hazards of batteries:

Environmental Hazards of Batteries

People are using more and more household batteries. The average person owns about two button batteries, ten normal (A, AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, etc.) batteries, and throws out about eight household batteries per year. About three billion batteries are sold annually in the U.S. averaging about 32 per family or ten per person. A battery is an electrochemical device with the ability to convert chemical energy to electrical energy to provide power to electronic devices. Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel, which can contaminate the environment when batteries are improperly disposed of. When incinerated, certain metals might be released into the air or can concentrate in the ash produced by the combustion process.

Batteries may produce the following potential problems or hazards:

	Pollute the lakes and streams as the metals vaporize into the air when burned.
	Contribute to heavy metals that potentially may leach from solid waste landfills.
	Expose the environment and water to lead and acid.
	Contain strong corrosive acids.
	May cause burns or danger to eyes and skin.

In landfills, heavy metals have the potential to leach slowly into soil, groundwater or surface water. Dry cell batteries contribute about 88 percent of the total mercury and 50 percent of the cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream. In the past, batteries accounted for nearly half of the mercury used in the United States and over half of the mercury and cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream. When burned, some heavy metals such as mercury may vaporize and escape into the air, and cadmium and lead may end up in the ash.

Hazards of Household Batteries

Controversy exists about reclaiming household batteries. Currently, most batteries collected through household battery collection programs are disposed of in hazardous waste landfills. Even stores and chains that have established take-back programs admit that it often ends up in the trash. There are no known recycling facilities in the U.S. that can practically and cost-effectively reclaim all types of household batteries, although facilities exist that reclaim some button batteries. Battery collection programs typically target button and nickel-cadmium batteries, but may collect all household batteries because of the consumers' difficulty in identifying battery types.


Info from: http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/batteries.php#whattodo