If I could change the world, I would…
How our trash impacts the environment
WILDLIFE
- There is more plastic than fish!
- Eight million metric tons: That’s how much plastic we dump into the oceans each year. That’s about 17.6 billion pounds — or the equivalent of nearly 57,000 blue whales — every single year. By 2050, ocean plastic will outweigh all of the ocean’s fish.
- Most ocean trash sits at the bottom of the ocean.
- 70 percent of ocean garbage actually sinks to the seafloor, meaning we’re unlikely to ever be able to clean it up.
- The number of dead zones is growing.
- In 2004, scientists counted 146 hypoxic zones (areas of such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies) in the world’s oceans. By 2008, that number jumped to 405. In 2017, in the Gulf of Mexico, oceanographers detected a dead zone nearly the size of New Jersey — the largest dead zone ever measured.
- The oceans are losing mussel mass.
- One effect of greenhouse emissions is increased ocean acidification, which makes it more difficult for bivalves such as mussels, clams and oysters to form shells, decreasing their likelihood of survival, upsetting the food chain and impacting the multibillion-dollar shellfish industry.
CLIMATE CHANGE
PUBLIC HEALTH
Human health is at risk through our inaction. We keep producing large amounts of trash, we do not dispose of it correctly, and in the end that will be our downfall as it is for the environment and wildlife in the ecosystems we all share. We cannot prevent or promote longevity with how we treat our Earth. The more emissions that we produce due to how much trash we generate, affects us long term. One can develop diseases such as asthma, birth defects, cancer, cardiovascular disease, childhood cancer, COPD, infectious diseases, low birth weight, and preterm delivery. Bacteria, vermin and insects can also be added to the problem that trash causes.
HOW WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
RECYCLE!
*Recycling noise of throwing a bottle in the recycling can*
Recycling is the access or process of converting waste into reusable material.
There are different ways to recycle your bottles, plastic, metal, and glass.
The recycling materials are taken to a plant and they are sorted and then cleaned and reused with different products.
-Fade in-
Now, specifically in Cleveland, we have to recycle our used products. They gave us a new bin to put our recyclables in.
*Garbage truck noise.*
Recycling can help Earth not be filled with trash that can be reused.
Instead of throwing your paper, bottles, or plastic into the trash, think about the different ways they can be reused into new products! Take the small extra time to find a recycling bin (which is usually right next to trash cans).
Recycling is a small act that makes a huge impact!
Another way we can help change the world is by planting more trees.
Trees cleanse the climate and release oxygen into our atmosphere.
They provide an abundance of benefits to us and our world, everyday.
We can plant trees in our neighborhood *digging noise*
This way we can prevent all of our trees getting taken down
We get oxygen from our trees and we need oxygen to breathe.
Planting trees is a great way to give back to our planet.
This is a way to make our Earth more green and a way to come together as a community
In grade school we posted trees on our grade schools lawn because they had to cut old dead ones home
This can be a science project for younger grades to help make sure there are trees for new generations
Deforesting is a huge issue with the rainforests because we need the resources for paper products and wooden products.
If we tear trees down without replanting them our earth will start dying because we need the trees and plants
Benefits of Recycling
- Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators.
- Conserves natural resources such as timber, water and minerals.
- Increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials.
- Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials.
- Saves energy.
Recycling and planting new trees is a great way we can help the earth and change the world. As students we need to set an example that others can follow because planting trees and recycling seems like a small change but in the long run it will make a huge impact
Poem about changing the world:
How can we change the world?
Change the way that things are?
What will it take?
What have we done so far?
Are we calling for kindness?
Are we learning together?
Are we leaving a legacy?
We’ll be proud of forever?
Do we care about others?
Do we try to understand?
Could we unite the globe?
Every place, every land
Every single last person,
All residents by birth.
It’s in our best interests
To cherish our earth.
So, what are we doing?
Will it ever be done?
Can we craft a better future
For the generations to come?
Can we nurture all spirits
Between ocean and sky?
Can we change the world?
We can certainly try.
By: MS Moem
Educational Technology -- Mlyssa 