Menu

Kids

Composting

Composting is a kind of recycling. It’s how nature reuses leaves and other plant materials. Dead plants are full of nitrogen and carbon. When the plants decompose, these nutrients go back into the earth and help other plants grow. People can compost at home as well. Instead of throwing leftover fruit and vegetable parts into a landfill to rot, they can be recycled and used in gardens. Thirty percent of the trash in landfills could have been composted. Here are some tips for composting: • Don’t compost meats, oils, milk, bones or sick plants. • Grass clippings and even newspapers are great additions to the compost pile. • You can use a pile or a bin; it depends on what is best for you and your yard. • Welcome the worms. Worms are great for compost piles; they help the decomposition process • Be patient. Composting can take anywhere from two months to two years. • The smaller the pile, the faster the process will finish. • Try to keep it moist — a dry pile won’t work. • Make sure the soil isn’t too tightly packed; air is an important part of the process. Turn the pile occasionally to let air in. • Line the bottom with small twigs and leaves. • It’s normal for the pile to be warm, between 90 and 140 degrees. • Make sure there is a good mix of material. • You can speed up the process by adding enzymes. • When the compost is finished, use it in the garden to help plants grow. There are many different ways to compost. There are bins, piles and all kinds of bacteria to add to the process. No matter how you do it, it is a great way to reduce waste and help the environment. People throw away left over plants every day. Everything from grass clippings from mowing the yard to potato skins is tossed in the trash. They are making landfills bigger and rotting. Instead they could be helping new plants grow in a beautiful garden. To learn more about composting, visit the following sources: www.michigan.gov/kids/0,4600,7-247-49067-62499–,00.html www.benefits-of-recycling.com/compostingforkids/ http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/compost2.htm

Continue Reading...

Kids

Water

Water is an incredibly important resource. Everything on Earth needs it to survive. Fresh water is the most important water for humans and other land-based forms of life. Fresh water is water that does not contain salt, and people use it to drink, cook, bathe and many other things. The difference between salt water and fresh water is very important because people and animals cannot drink salt water. The Earth is covered in water, but most of it is salt water and unusable. Only three percent of the water on earth is fresh water and drinkable, and some of that is in glaciers. The water cycle helps to recycle water, but it is still important not to waste water because humans are using it faster than it can be replaced. Here are some tips about how to use water responsibly. Collect rainwater to water plants. Fix all faucet and toilet leaks; it can save up to 600 gallons a month. Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth; this can save 10 gallons a day. Don’t let the water run when doing the dishes. Take shorter showers. Wash the bike or car with a bucket, not a hose. Make sure the dishwasher and washing machine are full before you use them. Water the plants early in the morning or late at night so the water doesn’t evaporate. Use a pool cover so water does not evaporate. Make sure hoses have shut off nozzles. Only fill your glass part way when you get a drink and don’t throw away the water you don’t drink. Don’t overfill the bathtub. Make sure the sprinkler doesn’t water the sidewalk, only the lawn. Using water wisely is an important way to keep the world healthy and to make sure everyone has enough water later. Everyone can get involved, and it isn’t that hard to do. Saving water doesn’t mean not using it or never cooling off on a hot day; it just means being smart about your water choices. For more information on water conservation, go to the following sites: http://wateruseitwisely.com/kids/, www.epa.gov/WaterSense/kids, www.thewaterpage.com/water-conservation-kids.htm,http://saveourh2o.org/kids_can_save.

Continue Reading...

Kids

Air Pollution

Air pollution can be a very scary thing, but there are ways to make a difference. By using things like solar and wind energy, less fossil fuels will be burned, and that reduces the particles and gases released into the air. More energy-efficient cars that use cleaner fuels will do the same thing. Recycling and trying not to waste energy at home will also help to keep the air clean. One of the most effective ways that people car reduce air pollution is by trying to use the car less. This means walking, riding a bike, taking a bus or carpooling. Fewer cars on the road means less pollution in the air. Clean air is important for living healthy and happy lives. Here are some facts about air pollution: • Burning coal releases particles in the air that make it dark and dirty. • When pollution and fog mix, it is called smog and is very hard to see through, which can be dangerous to breathe but also to drive in. • Cars pollute the air with carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide that come from burning gas. • Carpooling is a great way to reduce the amount of pollution caused by cars. So is walking, taking the bus or riding a bike. • When the air is polluted, the rain can also be polluted. This is called acid rain. Acid rain can be strong enough to take paint off of cars. • Smoking can also pollute the air, especially if it is inside. • People breathe around 20,000 liters of air each day. • Pesticides, which kill the bugs that try and get into homes and onto crops, can also be a dangerous pollutant. • Pollution affects the entire environment.

Continue Reading...

Conservation Corner

Plastic Bottles

Plastic is used most everywhere in the modern world. Everything from wrappers on candy to water bottles is plastic. The beginning ingredients of plastics are either oil or natural gas, but adding other chemicals and treating them differently changes how the plastics work. If manufacturers use butadiene, the plastics are tougher. Even though there are several different kinds of plastic, and even more uses for it, only two things can happen after people are finished using it. Either the plastic can be recycled and used as something new, or it can be thrown away. If it is recycled, what happens depends on what type of plastic it is. A thermoplastic is recyclable because when recycling plants melt it down, it is easy to shape it into something new. Thermosets are a lot harder to recycle, and people usually just throw them away. Instead of molding these, manufacturers cure them. This makes them a lot tougher and heat resistant, but also means the recycling plant can’t melt them and reshape them. Thermosets make things like spatulas and electronic components. When thermoplastics are recycled, they have the ability to change from plastic bottles to jackets, but it takes a several-step process. First, garbage men collect the plastics and take them to a recycling facility. Next, large machines squeeze the plastics into large squares so they are easier to transport. Then machines clean and sort the different kinds of plastics because different plastics melt at different temperatures. Most places use machines called optical beams to do this. The next step is to grind the plastics into small pieces that machines clean and separate again. Some recycling plants will then melt the plastic into little beads that they sell to companies that use plastic. Companies then take the beads or flake and melt them down again and shape them into completely new things.

Continue Reading...