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