As Earth Day approaches, many students may wonder how they can help protect the environment. Being conscious of the environment and working to protect it doesn’t always have to be big changes. In fact, small, consistent changes can make a big difference over time. By making smarter choices at school and at home, students can help reduce waste, conserve energy, and create a healthier planet for future generations.
Earth Day was founded by Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin as a nationwide grassroots protest on April 22, 1970. However, the overwhelming success of the first Earth Day, which saw 20 million participants, forced the government to act, leading to the creation of the EPA. EPA stands for promoting sustainability, educating the public on environmental protection, and hosting events. Helping to protect and preserve the environment is important to the community because we need to keep the animals safe. Not only that, but we also need to be leaving the world in a good shape for the future, and by doing that, we need to set examples to the younger generations that come along in the world. By using the following tips, students can start trying to reduce waste at school.
One way students can help the environment is by reducing waste at school. For example, students can stop using plastic water bottles and start bringing their own reusable water bottles so they can refill them when needed.Students can also use recycling bins for paper, plastic, and cans whenever they are available. Throwing items in the correct bin helps prevent unnecessary waste from ending up in landfills or oceans.
Students can save energy by turning off the lights when you are leaving the room, or they can turn off the computers, monitors, and overhead projectors instead of leaving them in sleep mode. Unplug chargers for tablets and laptops. Students can also manage heat and cooling by keeping doors and windows closed, so that we don’t waste energy. Students can open blinds during the day to use sunlight instead of electric lighting, and use smart power strips to turn off multiple devices with one switch. We don’t even have to save energy; we can also start buying old clothes instead of new ones.
Students can also make environmentally friendly choices with clothing and other items. Buying secondhand clothes, donating items that no longer fit, or passing them down to siblings helps reduce waste and gives items a longer life. Reusing notebooks, folders, and school supplies can also save money while helping the environment.
Transportation choices can make a difference as well.Students can car pool together or walk to school so that we can use less gas, or we can ride bikes. If we see trash you outside or inside you can pick it up and throw it away in the proper bin like the recycling bin or trash can when you pass by it.
Challenges students face is that we don’t have an eco friendly environment like trash cans are recycle bins and it’s hard to be eco friendly if we don’t have those things. Students can sometimes forget to put trash in their right place or waste things and or not caring too much about our eco systems.
