Making a Difference
50 simple things Elementary
Kids can do to Save the Earth!
We travel together, passengers on a little
spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable supplies
of air, water, and soil… preserved from
annihilation only by the care, the work, and I will
say, the love we give our fragile craft
Adlai Stevenson
What to do to help our awesome
land.
Guard our buried treasures
What is happening to our land?
What Kids say:
“We have to stop buying things that we
use once and then throw away.”
Karen Leason, Age 10
What Mr. Fulton says:
“There is no away!”
Take a guess
•
What is glass make
of?
a) Frozen water
b) Sand
c) Plastic
Did you know:
• Every month we throw out enough glass to
fill up a giant skyscraper? Over 28 billion
bottles and jars!
• Glass can be recycled at factories where
they break the bottles, melt them down
and make new jars and bottles this saves
energy.
Buy Now Play Later
• How many of your
toys were once your
mom’s or dads?
a)All of them
b)None of them
c) One or two of them.
What can you do?
Look for toys that are make to last
and not going to break the first
time you use them.
Take a guess:
• How many times can
one aluminum can be
recycled?
a)Never
b)Once
c) Again and again and
again.
Did you know?
• We use over 65 billion aluminum cans every
year and we could recycle every one of them.
• There is no limit to the number of times an
aluminum can could be recycled. You might be
drinking out of a can that was used 20 years
ago.
• Recycling aluminum saves energy. The energy
you save from recycling one can could keep
your TV running for three hours!
Precycle it!
• Over half of the plastic we
buy and throw away each
year is just packaging.
What happens to it when it’s
thrown away?
a)Nothing it just sits there and
clutters up the Earth
b)It rots back into the earth
c) People reuse it .
What can you do?
• Look for things in packages that can be
reused or recycled
• Look for cardboard or paper packages not
styrofoam or plastic.
• Some times the packaging costs more
than the item!
Pass it on.!
• How much of the stuff we throw out could
be recycled?
a)None of it - garbage is no good for any thing
b)Just a little bit
c)Half of it
What can you do?
• Have a garage sale
• Donate to the Trift store,Salvation Army,or
Twice But Nice
• Offer things you no longer use to other
people.
Stamp out Styrofoam
Take a guess
• If you lined up all the
Styrofoam cups used
in just one day, how
far would they reach?
a)A mile
b)Around the earth
c) Across Canada
Did you know?
• Styrofoam is
permanent garbage.
In can’t EVER
become part of the
earth again
• Styrofoam is
dangerous to animals.
Some think it is food
and eat it.
What can you do?
• Avoid Stryrofoam - it is often made from
one of the chemicals that caused the
ozone layer to thin.
• Carry a cup in your back pack.
• Use dishes that you can wash rather than
throw away.
• Bring a litterless lunch, not just this week
but every week.
Feed the worms!
• Take a guess
• Which of these is
something a worm won’t
eat??
a)Beef Steak
b)Dirt
c) Vegetables
Did you know?
• You can make compost out of any thing
that was once alive. (don’t use meat
though)
• Each of us produces about 600 kg of
organic “garbage” per year. That would
weigh more than all the kids in this school.
• None of it needs to go in the landfill it can
go back into your garden.
• Worms can help you compost and they
are good for your garden.
What you can do
• Start a compost
• Don’t throw away
perfectly good apples
and oranges. If you
don’t like something
in your lunch tell your
parents so they won’t
waste money buying
it.
What can you do about solid
waste?
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
What can you do about
Preserving our oceans,
rivers, lakes and streams?
What Kids Say
• “If we, the people, pollute the water, we
will kill the fish and the animals that live
nearby will die too. Then it will make the
food chain out of order. Then we will die
because the food chain is not in order.”
Joey Leichter, Age 10
What is a food chain anyhow?
All of our energy comes from the
sun.
Energy from the sun is captured by
plants through photosynthesis.
Animals capture the energy from
the plants.
Some animals eat plants and other
animals
Some animals eat only other
animals.
Every link in the chain is important.
We must keep all the parts. Even
some things we don’t like or can’t
understand why the are important.
Aldo Leopold (paraphrased)
Weeds are flowers too.
Crab grass
Thistle
More weeds
Rattlesnake
Insects
Viruses and Bacteria
Starlings
Sharks
Leeches
Wolves
Remember..
The earth does not belong to man
Man belongs to the earth
Man did not weave the web of life
We are merely a strand in it
What we do to the web
We do to ourselves.
Chief Seattle 1853
What can you do to conserve
water?
Be a water leak detective
If a leaky faucet fills a coffee
cup in 10 minutes how
much water will it waste
in a year Enough for:?
a) A glass of water.
b) A bath
c) 52 baths
What can you do?
Prestp on, Presto off
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Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth
Wash your car with a bucket of water
Sweep your driveway
Use drip irrigation
Plant native plants – xeric landscaping
Turn your tap off when peeling vegetables
Keep water in the fridge so it is cold.
Obey water restrictions
Take a guess
• Where do you use most of the drinkable
water in your house?
• a) the kitchen sink
• b) the garden hose
• c) the toilet
What can you do?
• Get a low volume toilet or put something in
the back of the toilet so less water flushes
• Don’t flush needlessly
Shower or Bath
Take a guess
Which uses more water
a) A bath
b) An eight minute shower
What can you do?
Don’t Dump it!
• Take a guess
Which of these would you want in your
drinking water?
a) Furniture polish
b) Motor oil
c) Paint thinner
None of them!
Storm drains lead to streams.
What you can do
• Get rid of harmful chemicals properly.
Don’t dump them on the ground or down
the drain. If you don’t know how to get rid
of them phone the Ministry of Water,Land,
Air Protection 558-1717
Protect those streams!
What can you do?
Plant, Plant, Plant, don’t litter
and conserve water!
Plant, Plant, Plant!
What about our Air,Energy and
Global Climate Change
What can you do!
Help cut down on the use of fossil
fuels.
Walk,run, bike, skate, scoot, ….
Did you know that over half the
energy used in the home is for
heating and that over half of that
is wasted?
What can you do?
Turn down the heat
Turn up the cooling
Turn off the electricity that is not
being used.
Take a guess
• How does most heat escape from your
house?
• A) through the walls
• B) through the basement
• C) through the windows and doors
What can you do?
• Pull down window shades at night and
close the curtains when it’s cold
• If your parents want to put up weather
stripping ask if you can help
• Go on a leak hunt with a feather or a
ribbon
• Close the door
Saving energy can help in many
ways.
When you are an adult and making
choices – choose green energy.
The main thing is “get involved”
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Join an environmental club
Help teach your parents
Write letters about concerns
Be aware, do your homework, take action
Dream for a better world
Appreciate what a beautiful part of the
world we live in.
• Every week is Earth Week
Taking ethical, safe, meaningful
action,
“The Monday Group.”
• Take only positive positions – Be for something
• Do your home work - become an expert
• Eliminate Stereotyping-treat everyone as an
individual of high moral worth.
• Keep a balanced view
• Keep your options open
• Don’t make excuses or scape goat
• Try, try again
Share the work- be wary of the
tragedy of the commons
• We are all in this together. Whose job is it?
Apply yourself. Get all the
education you can, but then...do
something. Don't just stand
there, make it happen.
--Lee Iacocca
Never doubt that a small
group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it’s
the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
“Every week is Environment Week
and every day is Earth Day
(but nobody is perfect)
Mr. Fulton
Please help me sing - to the
tune of Home,Home on the
Range
Oh, give me a home,where the fresh waters foam
And the white mountain peaks pierce the sky
Where the Peregrines fly through the crystal blue
sky,and the kokanee hatches close by.
Home Home in B.C.where the mountains sweep down
to the sea, Where the salmon and trout, swim swiftly
about and the Grizzly Bear watches close by.
Please help me save, where the tall grasses wave
And the pine trees old hands with the stars
With the sounds of the frogs and the smells of the
bogs
It’s the land that is dearest to me
Home Home in B.C.where the mountains seep
down to the sea, where the salmon and trout, swim
swiftly about
And the Grizzly Bear watches close by.
If you have a chance to restore or enhance
And to give all your best to the earth
You will not regret all your toil and your sweat
It’s the land that is dearest to all.
Home Home in B.C.where the mountains sweep
down to the sea, where the salmon and trout, swim
swiftly about
And the Grizzly Bear watches close by.
Have a great week!