This blog post was written by Environmental Club President Megan Phelps. The holiday season is characterized by a combination of contradictions. Along with the emphasis on togetherness and connection comes a culture of obsessive consumption of material goods. On Black Friday alone, Americans spent about 3 billion dollars on, well, stuff. From cradle to grave, excessive consumption is detrimental to the environment: Raw material extraction damages ecosystems and produces byproducts that are toxic to wildlife. Manufacturing is powered by fossil fuels, releasing carbon (and various pollutants into the air and contributing to global climate change. Consumers purchase the goods, reinforcing that process, and then throw them away, filling up our landfills and creating plastic pollution. This year, I want to do things differently. I am planning to give meaningful gifts that are light on the earth. Here are some ways to make your gifts count: CHOOSE LOCAL Buying from small, local businesses strengthens your local economy and your community bonds. ~Ideas~ Shop your local farmer’s market Search Etsy (be sure to refine your search under “Shop Location”) Visit local small businesses around your neighborhood Give a jar of local honey Go to a swap meet in your area BUY FAIR Many consumer goods are made in factories overseas that exploit workers and subject them to unsafe working conditions. By purchasing goods with a fair trade seal (or made by ethical companies), you are supporting fair conditions for people. ~Ideas~ Alter Eco Chocolate Equal Exchange Coffee GIVE GREEN Plants and seeds make great gifts, and are carbon negative, making them beneficial to the planet! ~Ideas~ Heirloom Seeds Garden Grow Kits Bee Kind Seed Packet Visit a local nursery to give an already-growing plant ECO-FRIENDLY TOOLS Give a gift that can help your loved one green up their lifestyle. ~Ideas~ Insulated Klean Kanteen Brush with Bamboo Toothbrush Reusable Produce Bags Simply Straw Reusable Glass Straw Reusable Cotton Rounds GO ORGANIC Purchase organic cotton or wool, hemp, bamboo, or cashmere if giving something to wear. Synthetic fibers (such as polyester, nylon, or spandex) shed microfibers into waterways when washed. Conventional plant fibers (such as non-organic cotton) are grown using pesticides, which disrupt ecosystems and lead to cancer in humans. ~Ideas~ Maggie’s Organic Cotton and Wool Socks DIY Cable Headband Kit Rawganique Organic Hemp Scarf MAKE IT YOURSELF Making a gift yourself adds a personal connection (plus, it is better for your wallet!). ~Ideas~ Bake cookies (gingersnaps are nice and festive!) Whip up some granola (this is a basic recipe) Knit a scarf Sew organic cotton face rounds (here is a good tutorial if you use a sewing machine, or you can do what I did and wing it) Craft body balm Create spa goods INVEST TO LAST Many products have a planned obsolescence, which is a manufacturing ploy to get consumers to keep buying. If you purchase goods that are made to last, there is less waste! ~Ideas~ Buy Me Once Cherry Space Pen Buy Me Once Soccer Ball SECOND IS BEST Buying items second hand diverts waste and reduces the strain on the planet’s resources by just reusing what’s already in existence! ~Ideas~ Visit your local thrift, vintage, or charity shop Search ebay.com or etsy.com (be sure to filter “used” for Item Type) MAKE A DONATION Donate to an organization your loved one believes in in their honor for a tangible, positive impact. Give them the gift of giving! ~Ideas~ The ACLU Planned Parenthood 350.org Our Revolution Earth Justice The Sierra Club PRESENCE OVER PRESENTS Give an experience instead of an object for a lasting memory. ~Ideas~ Coupons for: A bike ride and picnic in a scenic spot A nice meal A trip to gelato A trip to the thrift store Lessons of a skill you have (e.g. if you play guitar, you can offer to give them a lesson; if you are a great gardener, you can offer to plan and start their garden) A pass for a local museum A membership to a yoga studio A National Parks Pass A class at a local community college Tickets to a concert, play, or improv show An art class Psst: Phyla is a good company that allows you to create custom bundles of gifties for your friends and family. Each bundle includes a donation to a nonprofit, and is either organic, USA-made, fair trade, or crafted to replace toxic materials.
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This post was written by Environmental Club member Edward Shingler. What Causes Climate Change? Ever since the Industrial Revolution, humans have continued to grow more and more attached to their machines. Machines produce clothes, machines sort through food, and lately machines have the ability connect us at a moment’s notice. Humans and machines are now inseparable partners. Unfortunately, a troublesome third wheel has been tagging along for quite a while: fossil fuels. Since the industrial revolution, we have relied on fossil fuels (namely coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy. We burn them to release the energy stored inside. This energy we use to create electricity, power factories, and facilitate transportation. When fossil fuels are burned, a gas called carbon dioxide, or CO2, is often released into the atmosphere. We need greenhouse gases, like CO2, to keep our planet warm enough to live on. They trap heat that would have otherwise escaped from Earth. However, our release of CO2 on an extreme scale has caused a major increase in heat. With so much CO2, the extra heat has begun to cause changes in the natural systems that regulate our climate. These effects are collectively known as climate change and make the Earth a less suitable environment to live in. What Are the Effects of Climate Change? The effects of climate change include global temperature increase, sea level rise, warming and acidifying of oceans, less snow cover, shrinking ice sheets, and unusual weather patterns. All of these changes throw off the natural balances that have allowed inhabitats to exist for centuries. Here's an example: The mountain pine beetle, a beetle that munches away at and spends most of its life in pine trees, has generally been contained in the southern pine forests of North America where temperatures are warm and the beetles can survive the winter. However, as global temperatures increase, vast swaths of forest become buffets for these beetles. Affected forests tend to die, furthering the effects of climate change by decreasing CO2 intake from the atmosphere, destroying the dwellings of many forest critters, and creating enormous fire hazards. This is just one of the thousands of examples of how climate change endangers the environment. There are many examples of how climate change affects human life as well. Increasing temperatures and limited rainfall make it more difficult to cultivate crops, leading to shortages of food, higher frequencies of extreme weather events such as hurricanes and floods cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses in a relatively short amount of time, and rising sea levels endanger populations island nations, which are slowly being submerged. So What Now? Climate change is an indisputably grave issue. It is major cause for concern for plants, animals, and humans alike. If climate change isn’t reversed soon it might get out of hand. Fortunately, we know there are ways to stop and potentially reverse climate change. We need to totally change our energy system and rely on new technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and hydroelectricity. Look for another article to come that will provide insight into what actions can be taken against climate change. Images via, via, via, via. The Mount Everest Academy Environmental Club is having a contest for art pieces that best communicate the problem of climate change. Submit a: Poem Fiction short story Essay Collage Painting Sketch Theater piece Video Song Or any other creative piece! Winners will be selected from 4 grade level groups: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12. Winners' work will be posted on the MEA Environmental Club website and used for promotional campaigns, flyers, etc (with credit to the winner!). Submissions are due December 18th, 2016. Please submit your art to [email protected]. (If you create a visual art piece, please take a picture of it. If you are selected as a finalist, we may ask for the physical copy.) |
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