What types of things can I do to help the environment (on an individual basis)?

Answer 1

Turn off lights when you leave a room
Keep car tuned up and clean air filter
Tires inflated properly
Recycle paper, plastic. glass

Answer 2

There are soo many things you can do to help the environment. Here are just a few that are easy to do:

1) Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
2) Unplug electronics when you are not using them.
3) Instead of buying water bottles, use a reusable aluminum water bottle.
4) Take canvas bags to the grocery store so you won't have to use the plastic bags.
5) Recycle paper, plastic and aluminum cans.

Answer 3

My kids are older now, but started helping the environment when they were little, learning from tv, school and home.
They taught me about recyling and what the numbers on the bottom of plastic containers means, so we started small recylcing milk and juice containers.
Then we started recycling aluminum cans.
We have big dumpsters here in the community where you can take everything to be recycled and the kids dump the trash bags and reuse them until you can't use them anymore.
Not using bags at the store unless we absolutely needed them, now we take reusable cloth bags or the bags you can get for cold things and reuse them.
It's kind of funny how one thing leads to another.
Now if I take them to the park or just walking around the neighborhood, if we see trash, it gets picked up. If it's something that can be recycled, it gets recycled.
At first I would freak out a little bit, they wanted to pick up other peoples trash! ewww!! but they insisted, so they each have a pair of gloves in the trunk of the car, bags to put the recyclable things in and hand sanitizer just in case there's nowhere to wash their hands.
They turn off lights and other electric things when they're not being used, they started walking and riding bikes the mile or so home from school instead of having me pick them up for their after-school activites.
There are lots of things you can do to conserve energy and do things that are good for the environment on a one person level. For every little thing you do, it may not seem like alot, but it helps.

Here are a few of many links that might help you out!
Belileve it or not, it can be fun and self-satisfying just seeing what ONE person can do!!

Answer 4

Julianna, (1) Read magazines & books about conservation and the environment (ask your reference librarian for recommendations). One good magazine is "Nature" published by the Nature Conservancy. Another good one is "The Exchange" published by the Land Trust Alliance.

(2) Join a land trust (a land trust is a private nonprofit group that helps citizens, farmers, and rural landowners permently protect their land from development and damage. You can find a land trust near you by visting the lta.org website or call the Land Trust Alliance (a clearinghouse of information) at [phone].

(3) Donate (give) money to a conservation group. There are many groups which really need your help. For example, a land trust needs money to purrchase land to save it from land development and harm. By reading magizinzes on conservatrion (and surfing the web) you will discover many groups and how they are making a diiference and what you can do with them.

There are many things you can do. Good luck. -- Robb Moose

PS Also take a walk outside each day and observe the natural world -- trees, plants, birds, animals, streams. Study nature each day. You will learn many things and see some man-made problems that someone (you?) needs to work on.

Answer 5

1. Recycle all you can

Don't pollute. Recycle glass, plastic and paper. Re-use what you can. Take initiative in the work place by setting up recycle bins, educate your children on the importance of recycling and make it a habit.
More interesting information about Recycling;

2. Water Consumption

With temperatures rising and drauts being more and more common place, do your part to save on water consumption. Take fewer showers, don't let the water run for nothing and refrain from hosing on very dry summer days...

3. Plant trees

When we refer to "Green" we refer to the trees, the plants and the grass. Help the environment by planting more trees in your home, at work and in your community. Make your efforts more organic, more green...

4.Save Energy

Save on electricity consumption by turning off lights, install dimmers, close unnecessary electronics and use fluorescent light bulbs, which use about 75 % less power than incandescent bulbs.

info: http://www.isupportgreen.org

Answer 6

1. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
2. Use energy saving bulbs
3. Reuse Plastic Containers
4. Lower the amount of heating and cooling (reduces CO2 emissions)
5. Use less water (take shorter showers, brush your teeth without running the water constantly)
6. Use energy saving appliances (have energy seal on them)
7. Save Gas (Ride a bike, go on shorter trips, carpool; stops ozone depletion as well as helps stop global warming).

This should be a good start!!!!

Answer 7

Little things: Turn out the lights, recycle, don't waste water, carpool, etc...

Bigger things: Help make those around you aware of the environment and what they can do to help; If your city doesn't have a recycling program, set into motion what needs to be done to get one; Talk to your local educators and have them educate the youth of your community in the environment and recycling and such.

Answer 8

switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycle everything you can, buy paper products with a high recyled content, keep your car well maintained, car pool and use public transportation when you can, walk or bike when you can, combine errands when you can, and BECOME POLITICALLY ACTIVE- use an environmental organization (Environmental Defense, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council are some of the best) website to learn about current legislation and contact your representatives! get others to as well. visit their local offices and let your concerns be known. GIVE MONEY TO POLITICIANS and activist groups who have strong environmental records, not ones who just make promises.

Answer 9

The best we can do as individuals is be more responsible ,in our own neck of the woods

Organise well publicized clean up parties ,talk on the radio
Have citizan meetings
Get the shools involved to plant trees and listen to environmental awareness talks,

If you do any cleaning up leave signs behind saying who cleaned,why and ask people not to start dumping rubbish again ,leave a hole or bins ,in case people come with trash ,

We have done a lot of comunity cleaning and if you dont leave alternatives or try to work on peoples guilt feelings (some people actually have those ,but not many)
than your efforts are a waste of time.

That is what we do in Mexico

POSITIVE ACTIONS
Print Tshirts with slogans ,hang posters all over the place (with recycled paper if possible)

Classify trash take out all the organic waste and make compost with it ,the worst you can do is throw it with the trash

70% of contamination is due to organic waste that is mixed in with the garbage .
And it is just as bad in the sewer where it helps to breed rats and in the landfill it poisons the ground

And it is the easiest to take care of
o first of all we have to clasify trash at least keep the organic to one side ,like in a plasic bin with a lid

If you got a few meters of ground ,you only need 1 or 2 square meters in a shallow hole ,in the shade ,that you can wet now and again ,where you dump everything that is organic ,from toilet paper,bones vegetable cuttings ,eggshells,,dead bodies ,excrement ,and cover regularly with leaves to keep humid and to hide any smell
the worms will come and decompose the wastes truning it into beautifull blck soil for the garden of flower pots .

If you are in a apartment ,if you have a balcony get a big plastic bin drill some holes in the side and lid ,

Add a few buckets of sand now and again to put over the trash ,you should realt stir or move the stuff at times to airate it and ensure that the decomposition is overall ,keep moist

This rubbish does not get big very fast and the thing works for a long time with out getting full
-----------------------------...
global warming cannot be stopped but we can stop helping it becoming faster,and being friendlier to out Environment cannot be bad

these are Al gores sites
http://events.stepitup2007.org/............
http://www.stepitup2007.org/

http://events.stepitup2007.org/............


If you want to help the planet ,plant a tree every week ,if everyone on the planet did we we would be able to slowdown the destructive processes

Reduce carbon emisions,and they are already working on that by alternative forms of energy and regulations on carbon producing materials,aerosol cans,burning rubbish,industrial chimneys,powerplants etc.

The capture of carbon and the production of water and assist the aquiferous manta.

The world bank pays large subsidies for reforrestation to capture carbon and the best tree for this is the Pawlonia

Waterharvesting projects ,such as millions of small dams.to redirect over ground waterflows from the rains into the ground to supply subteranian water supplies.

The protection of existing forrests.

Stop building more highways,urban planning to include vegetation stop building cities encourage people to return to the land to conduct their business from there which now has become possible thanks to the internet.

Education to motivate people to auto sufficiency by building more home food gardens.

Education on environmental awareness
education on family planning to curb over´population

Agricultural education and improvements to follow the principals or sustainability and soil management.

More environmental or land ,design to prevent bush fires,such as--fire breaks

More dams.regulations and control for public behaviour

Alternative effeciant public transport to discourage the use of the internal conbustion engine

Recicling wastes,limit water use

Here are a 100 more ways

http://www.eco-gaia.net/forum-pt/index.p...

Answer 10

Plant native plants; remove aggressive non-native plants.
Volunteer to help a local environmental organization.
Start a compost pile.
Start a rain garden.
Research an issue, then work to solve the problem by educating others, writing letters to legislators, newspapers, etc.

Answer 11

Just as a start you can decrease your daily impact....recycle, bring reusable bags to the store with you, reduce your trips in your car, change out your old light bulbs, go vegetarian/vegan or meatless even 1 day a week, plant a tree, educate yourself & others and VOTE!!!