Extension Report

Baldwin County Extension Office

302A Byrne Street

Bay Minette, AL  36507

Telephone (251) 937-7176 or

928-0860/943-5061 ext. 2222

FAX (251) 937-7285

Amanda Outlaw

Regional Extension Agent, Urban

April 5, 2010

Teens Going Green for Earth Day 2011

Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22nd, is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for our planet's natural environment.  As we move into the Earth Day events that are scheduled across the county and country I would like to challenge all teens to go green for the next three months and report on your progress by keeping a go green diary and email your progress to me at aoutlaw@aces.edu.  Going green does not mean that you have to make drastic changes in your lifestyle but a few simple changes can be made that you can adjust to over time. I realize that teens usually don’t make many decisions at home about what foods are purchased or how high the air conditioner is set, but they can do some things that might influence others in their household.  Some ideas to start are listed below:

1. Use canvas bags instead of the plastic or paper bags offered by local grocers and supermarkets. By refusing the paper and plastic sacks, trees are not only saved, but getting groceries in the house will actually be easier.
2. Minimize water usage by running water as you brush your teeth. By conserving water in this way, we don’t have to worry about our supply of clean water running out as quickly.
3. Take a bath instead of a shower can also conserve water.
4. Use a laptop over a desktop will also save a ton on energy bills. Because of the nature of a laptop, many people turn them off before they will a desktop. This leads to around a 75% reduction in energy usage.
5. Check Mom and Dad’s tires. Keeping tires inflated at the recommended pressure can work by saving nearly 3 miles per gallon of gasoline.
6. Switch all of the lighting in the home to compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs. These types of lighting use nearly 60% less energy than the traditional incandescent bulbs.
7. Use reusable water bottles instead of buying water out of the machine at school.
8. Walk or ride a bike to school instead of driving. You might even loose a little weight as a benefit.
9. Start a recycling program at your school and at home.
10. Start a home garden to grow some of the herbs your Mom uses when she cooks.
11. When you leave a room that no one else is in, flip off the light switch. And whenever you can, open your curtains to let in natural light instead of using artificial lights. Saving electricity helps reduce global warming.
12. When you're finished using your computer at night, shut it down and unplug it from the wall before going to sleep. And get into the habit of unplugging all your electronic stuff when you're not using it. Appliances can suck electricity from the wall even when the power isn't on.
13. If you catch your friend or sibling tossing an aluminum can in the trash or leaving the lights on, say something. If you can change someone's attitude about going green, you'll be doing twice the impact you can do by yourself. Tossing aluminum cans in the trash is like throwing money away, they can be recycled for cash, what a great fundraiser idea.

Going green today involves just making a few simple changes. As people begin making more and more changes, they’ll notice they actually consume and waste less, which has the added benefit of saving money. So what steps can you take to go green? Let me hear from you and your great idea might appear on our web site.

Email address: aoutlaw@aces.edu

Phone: 937-7176 or 943-5061, 928-0860, ext. 2222

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity educator and employer.