Make Every Day Earth Day By Wendi Williams, Editor

Being good stewards of the earth is not a new concept. Millions of American children have learned about pollution and its environmental impact from resources like the Weekly Reader, a more than 100-year-old educational children's magazine. But the green movement appears to be picking up steam and remains a popular topic of debate in and around environmental, political, and social circles. You could also say that "going green" has literally become fashionable. The fashion conscious environmentalist buys clothing made of cotton and other organic materials. World governments continue to explore ways to protect the environment, particularly when it comes to alternative sources of energy.

As participants learned during Extension's 2009 Urban-Rural Interface Conference, developing alternative energy is a complex, timely, yet worthwhile endeavor. In 2005, the United States, the world's largest energy consumer, derived its primary energy sources from petroleum (40 percent), coal (23 percent), and natural gas (23 percent), followed by nuclear power (8.4 percent) and renewable energy (6.8 percent) (Wikipedia, 2009). The term "alternative or renewable energy" is used to describe other usable forms of energy that are taken from natural resources such as the wind, tides, the sun, biomass (biological material), or geothermal heat. But why is there such an urgency to become green consumers today?

Environmental Threats
In 1985, scientists discovered that the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere was not only thinning, but had a big hole over the continent of Antarctica. By the year 1987, that hole was the size of the United States. Without this protective layer from the ultraviolent rays of the sun we are susceptible to skin diseases, damaged crops, and depleted food supplies for fish, not to mention being severely burned by the sun. Other environmental threats include air pollution from cars and power plants, and high sulfur levels from burning coal that cause acid rain. Acid rain is harmful to man, trees, and wildlife. And let's not forget about global warming caused by heat trapped, manmade gases that consistently warm the earth. As a result of this phenomenon some areas experience drought, while in other areas glaciers melt causing sea levels to rise and flooding to occur. Either way it goes, pollution in its various forms is harmful to the existence of mankind and all species of plants and wildlife.

What can we do?
While America observes Earth Day on April 22, we should strive to make every day Earth Day by recycling glass, paper, electronic waste, and using products and services that are not harmful to our environment. Visit the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star website at http://www.energystar.gov/ to find out what you can do to help protect our environment.

Geocities. (n.d.). Holes in the ozone layer. Going Green. Retrieved April 29, 2009.

National Geographic Society. (2009). What is global warming? Environment. Retrieved April 29, 2009.

United States Department of Energy. (2009). Energy sources. Retrieved March 27, 2007.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Energy Star. Retrieved April 29, 2009.

Weekly Reader Corporation. (n.d.). About us. Weekly Reader. Retrieved March 27, 2007.

---

If you do not have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat and wish to view the
PDF publication on this site, click here to download: