Environmental Issues
GOING
GREEN!!!
Prepared
By
Margaret E. Rousset
Missouri ABE/ASE Content Standards
 Adult Education Content Standards for Roles in
the Family, the Workplace, and the Community
Science and Technology
GOAL 1: Understand and use basic concepts of science to achieve
personal, family, workplace and community goals.
Standard 1: Demonstrate knowledge of basic scientific facts and principles
in various contexts.
d)
e)
g)
h)
Describe the characteristics of various forms of energy.
Analyze the relationship between matter and energy in the context of current
issues.
Describe the earth and its systems as they relate to pollution, climate, oil and
gas supplies, water cycle, carbon dioxide cycle, and other current issues.
Explain the interdependence of living things.
Why Should We be Concerned?
The World’s Population is
Increasing!!!
World Population Growth
Most of the world’s population increase since 1950 has
been in the developing countries.
Western Hemisphere at Night
Satellite Photos:
a. Cities, towns, villages lit
up at night by
electricity.
b. Demand is growing
faster than supply.
c. White patches are city
lights.
d. Red spots in South
America & Africa (not
shown) show large-scale
burning of forests.
Energy Flow Through Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuels are Nonrenewable Energy
How The Greenhouse Effect Works
What are the Greenhouse Gases?
 A. Water vapor
 B. Carbon dioxide ***
 C. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
 D. Methane
 E. Nitrous oxide
Categories of Pollution
Environmental Science
Key Terms
 Greenhouse Effect
 Recycling
 Air Pollution
 Landfills
 Water Pollution
 Composting
 Land Pollution
 Biodegradable
 Smog
 Non-Biodegradable
 Global Warming
 Food Chains & Food Webs
 Indoor Pollution
 Renewable Energy
 Ozone Depletion
 Conservation
 Recycling
 Endangered Animals
 Fossil Fuels
 Habitat Destruction
 Solar Power
 Oil Spills
 Acid Rain
 Deforestation
Thinking Green - Being Green
 Putting the four R's - Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle and Recover the resource into
action.
 Simple, everyday recycling saves
energy for everyone.
 Your home, your community, your city,
your state, your country, and your world
benefits.
Recycling Codes
These symbols are marked on all solid plastic items:
1: PETE (PET) = polyethylene terephthalate
2: HDPE = High-density polyethylene
3: V (PVC) = Polyvinyl chloride
4: LDPE = Low-density polyethylene
5: PP = Polypropylene
6: PS = Polystyrene
7: Other = Any other plastic
Currently, HDPE and PET are the two most
commonly recycled resins.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
1. Get a free home energy audit - Most
public utilities will conduct a free audit and tell
you how much power your household uses and
offer strategies to help you reduce your energy
consumption.
2. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Choose
reusable products instead of disposables.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
3. Use Less Heat & Air Conditioning
- Add insulation, weather stripping, caulking.
This can save up to 25% on your energy use.
Turn down your heat at night or when you are
away. Just 2° higher in summer or lower in
winter can save 2,000 lbs. of Carbon
Dioxide each year.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
4. Change a Light Bulb - Replacing just one 60watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save
you $30 over the life of the bulb. If every
U.S. family replaced one regular light bulb with a
CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of
greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million
cars off the road.
Change is Good.
A compact
fluorescent light
(CFL) bulb
 Lasts 10 times longer
than incandescent
bulbs,
 Uses two-thirds less
energy
 Gives off 70% less
heat
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
5. Drive Less and Drive Smart -
Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides
saving gasoline, walking and biking are great
forms of exercise. Check out options for
carpooling to work or school.
Make sure your car is running efficiently.
Keeping your tires properly inflated can
improve your gas mileage by more than
3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not
only helps your budget, it also keeps 20
pounds of carbon dioxide out of the
atmosphere.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
6. Buy Energy Efficient Products - When
buying a new car, choose one that offers
good gas mileage. Choose energy-efficient
home appliances. Avoid products that
come with excess packaging, especially
molded plastic and other packaging that
can't be recycled. If you reduce your
household garbage by 10 percent, you
can save 1,200 pounds of carbon
dioxide annually.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
7. Use Less Hot Water - Set the water
heater at 120 degrees to save energy. Buy lowflow showerheads to save hot water and about
350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly.
Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to
reduce your use of hot water and the energy
required to produce it, saving at least 500
pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most
households.
Use the energy-saving settings on your
dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
8. Use the “Off” Switch - Save electricity
and reduce global warming by turning off
lights when you leave a room. Remember
to turn off your television, video player,
stereo and computer when you're not
using them. While brushing your teeth,
shampooing the dog or washing your car,
turn off the water until you actually need it
for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill
and help to conserve a vital resource.
Saving Energy
While brushing
teeth, leave the
water off until
it’s time to rinse.
Another example:
Unplug cell
phone chargers
when not in
use.
This saves
energy.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
9. Plant a Tree - During photosynthesis,
trees and other plants absorb carbon
dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an
integral part of the natural atmospheric
exchange cycle here on Earth, but there
are too few of them to fully counter the
increases in carbon dioxide caused by
automobile traffic, manufacturing and
other human activities. A single tree will
absorb approximately one ton of
carbon dioxide during its lifetime.
How Can I Help?
10 Things you can do
10. Encourage Others to Conserve Share information about recycling and
energy conservation with your friends,
neighbors and co-workers. Take
opportunities to encourage public
officials to establish programs and
policies that are good for the
environment.
***Be A ROLE MODEL for your children.
Teach them to be energy conscious.
BE Proactive
 These 10 steps will take you a long
way toward reducing your energy
use and your monthly budget. And
less energy use means less
dependence on the fossil fuels that
create Greenhouse Gases and
contribute to Global Warming.
What Are Other Things You Can Do?
 Use Reusable Shopping Bags
 Pay Your Bills Online
 Use Rechargeable Batteries
 Buy Recycled Products
 Shop & Sell On Craig’s List
 Compost Kitchen & Yard
Waste
 Recycle Your Car Tires
 Choose Items with Least
Packaging
 Send E-Cards
 Use Cloth Diapers
 Recycle Car Batteries & Oil
 Tune Up Your Car
 Use Non-toxic Cleaners
 Recycle Empty Prescription
Bottles
 Discontinue Junk Mail
 Recycle Aluminum Cans
 Recycle Newspapers
 Recycle Plastic and Glass
 Recycle Used Motor Oil
 Recycle Your Shoes
 Use Your Own Coffee Cup
 Place a Brick in Your Toilet
 Eat Your Vegetables
Eat Your Vegetables & Grains
The larger the population, the more energy it
takes to sustain the population. The same
amount of grain can support ten times
more people at the herbivore level than at
the carnivore level.
Eating more grains saves energy.
Energy Efficiency
FACTSHEET
 http://www.energyideas.org/documents/factshe
ets/hometips.pdf
Let’s Protect This Beautiful World!!!
Can you think of at least 10 more ways to
Go Green?
Toward a Sustainable Future
• A sustainable society is a society in balance with the
natural world, continuing generation after generation,
neither depleting its resource base by exceeding
sustainable yields nor producing pollutants in excess of
nature’s capacity to absorb them.