ECO Warrior Videos ~ Our fun way of Educating the community
ECO Warriors Unite (Clip #5) is the latest in our series of fun videos aimed at educating and motivating our community. To view the entire series, or to view other videos about how plastic is polluting our oceans and ultimately poisoning us, check out our Videos section.
10 Million TONS Of Trash Floating In Pacific By Frosty Wooldridge
This amazing floating pile of plastic pollution is located in the Pacific
Ocean. It's has been named, "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch." It features
three million tons of plastic debris floating in a swirling mass of trash
that has grown to be larger than Texas. An eye-popping 46,000 pieces of
plastic float on every square mile of ocean! Humans toss another 2.5 million
pieces into our oceans hourly. " The United Nations Environmental Program
reports anestimated 46,000 pieces of plastic debris floats on or near
the surface of every square mile of ocean. Captain Paul Watson, www.seashepard.org,
composed an essay, "The Plastic Sea." He wrote a penetrating piece on
humanity's desecration of our oceans. If you ever see this plastic 'monster'
as I have, it will sicken you to the core of your soul. But the terror
it manifests sickens you further!
By Frosty Wooldridge 3-24-8
How much waste does your school create?
| In one School Year in Windsor
Connecticut's public schools, throw out roughly half a Million Non
Recyclable Styrafoam Lunch Trays. If stacked one on top of another
these trays would be taller than the worlds four largest structures
COMBINED! How did we figure this out? Peter Faulk of the Windsor Green Committee helped us with some research and provided the image of the trays stacked next to the 4 largest structures. Take a look at the research and math below used to calculate the amount of trays used in Windsor's public school's lunch rooms daily, and yearly .
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| An estimated 5 tons of Non Recyclable Lunch Trays used and discarded yearly in Windsor, CT alone! |
Our Planet - Our Future
Becoming an Eco-Warrior is easy. Learn about what the Eco-Warriors are
doing in your community. Then start by joining the crusade to save our
home, our planet. You can choose to be a part of changing your world for
the safety of us all.. Make small changes at home that lead to big changes
in how you care for our planet. Learn more about how you can get involved.
Read about the climate changes, Global warming, and pollution’s effect
on our drinking water, rivers, streams, oceans, land, plants, animals,
and the health of human race. You can learn by reading the information
provided on these educational websites or if you Don't like to read? Then
watch a film! Here are some films that inspired us to get started on our
crusade to teach others about the harms of trash and pollution..
"Hawaii Messages in the Waves", http://www.messageinthewaves.com/
by BBC.
"The Story of Stuff” http://www.storyofstuff.com/
, Anne Leonard
"Kilowatt Ours” http://www.kilowattours.org/
, by Jeff Barrie
Watch a movie with your family. Make it a family night, add popcorn to
your educational movie, and enjoy!
Global warming and "being Green"
Global warming and "being Green" have become items of great
debate. Whether you believe that humans are causing global warming, or
that the world is just going through a warming cycle, it is a proven fact
that our options for dealing with the waste we create are falling short
at best.
We are polluting and ultimately destroying our planet, our home. Getting
involved in being part of the pollution solution is easier than you might
think.
The first step is to choose to make a difference locally.
The second step is to get familiar with the information. There is plenty
of good reading out there that explains consumerism and the way we handle
trash.
Here are some Eco warriors 101's:
1. Plastic is not degradable. Once created it stays around for ever.
Most pollution is not intentional. We don't intend to send garbage into
our streams, rivers, and oceans.
2. Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle. What does this mean? It means to think
about what you buy, what you use, what you discard, and how you discard
it.
3. In the US a large percentage of our electricty is generated by burning
coal. Mountains right here in America are being blown to bits to get at
the coal reserves under the ground. These mining efforts are resulting
in pollution both locally and globally. The burning of coal is also releasing
pollutaints into the enviroment. Most Americans are not aware of the connection
between them turning on a light switch or leaving a TV running and the
low air quality, and water pollution we are experiencing. To learn more
about how we affect the planet through our electricty choices visit our
Education Page kids corner, and watch Kilowatt Ours.
The little turtle that did not know any better ~ Why care?
Think about this, You place your waste into a trash can, you bring it
to the curb, and forget about it. Your trash contained a plastic bag that
got blown out of the landfill and ended up in a stream. The stream dumps
into a river, the river ends in the ocean. The plastic bag is eaten by
a little sea turtle. The turtle dies because he starves, unable to eat
or digest any food. The turtle's body decades and the plastic debris are
released to kill again.
It isn't the little turtle's fault that he starved. The turtle mistook
the plastic bag for a jellyfish. Sadly
this really happens in the wild. This happens to more than just one sea
turtle. It happens to many, even hundreds of sea animals. For example,
sea birds like the albatross, sea lions, seals, and entire coral reefs,
are being killed by plastic trash.
What can You do to stop this chain of events?
One way to help stop this devastating cycle is to simply choose not to
use plastic bags.
Do you think we can't live without plastic bags? Some towns in Australia
have already stopped using plastic bags. They are doing fine. Here are
links to how several towns succeeded in eliminating plastic bags in their
communities.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_6605000/6605435.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1717476.ece
You can buy plastics that are biodegradable.
The biodegradable plastics are made from soy and corn. They are currently
difficult to find in the US If consumers ask for safer plastics, supply
and demand will create the push for stores to start using these biodegradable
plastics in packaging.
You can also write your government and request that biodegradable plastics
become mandatory and insist they support Eco-friendly laws.
Laura Butler receives Master Green Eco-Warrior Award
Sage Park Middle School eighth grade wins the Green Eco-Warrior Award
Windsor Sage Park Middle School eighth graders participate in Northwest Park clean up