Help Save the Earth!
By: Claire Roper
How I will Help
I am going to help the Earth in many ways, and some are by:
- turning off the water when I brush my teeth
- riding my bike more often, instead of taking a car
- planting some trees to replace the ones that have been cut down
- turning off lights when they are not being used
The History of Earth Day
In 1962, Gaylord Nelson decided something needed to be done to protect the environment. Nelson then headed to Washington, D.C., where he hoped to convince President John F. Kennedy to take a stand on environmental issues. It was September of 1969, at a conference in Seattle, when Nelson announced he would have a demonstration. On April 22, 1970, more than 20 million demonstrators and thousands of schools and local communities participated in Nelson`s demonstration. Nelson died July 3rd, 2005, but will always be remembered.
Interesting Earth Day Facts
- the energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle can power a computer for 25 minutes
- it takes approximately 1 million years for a glass bottle to break down in a landfill
- preventing one ton of paper waste saves between 15 and 17 mature trees
- every square mile of the oceans contains more than 46,000 pieces of floating plastic
- only 1% of Earth`s water is usable for agriculture, manufacturing, and personal needs.
- the recycling rate has increased from less than 10% in 1980 to more than 34% in 2011