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Video from Ms Pauliina about Child Poverty.

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Video from Ms Pauliina about Child Poverty.

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Effects on community taking in refugees.

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Effects on community taking in refugees.

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Refugees add diversity to aging, white communities

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Refugees have something to offer the community.

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Challenges and solutions in refugee camps.

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Challenges and solutions in refugee camps.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Video from Ms Marina about waste in Ghana. 

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Video from Ms Marina about waste in Ghana. 

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Le Ghana confronté au fléau de la pollution textile • FRANCE 24

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This is a wonderful resource with lots of links to articles about animals and habitat conservation and success stories.

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You searched for poaching - Earth.Org Kids

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Top tips to reduce your plastic waste - National Geographic Kids

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Discover top tips to help reduce plastic pollution. What simple things can you do reduce your plastic waste? Find out here and help protect the environmnet!

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Ghana Wildlife Division : National Wildlife Reserves

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Mission Statement | Mandate | Objectives & Strategies | WD Estates

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With so much of our wildlife at risk of extinction, our fragile ecosystems need protection more than ever. We are fighting to save so many species.

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There's a very simple definition of racism in this article.

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Talking to Kids About Racism & Stereotypes | Children’s Bureau

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Teaching about stereotypes & the definition of racism for kids isn’t easy or simple. Learn how to approach your children with these topics.

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Jane Elliott “Blue Eyes - Brown Eyes” Experiment Anti-Racism

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Rats trained to sniff out smuggled rhino horn and pangolin scales

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African giant pouched rats trained to alert their handlers when they find illegally trafficked wildlife products

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Pangolin Article - The Most Poached Species

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Pangolin Article - The Most Poached Species

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About the Author

Jacqueline Conciatore is African Wildlife Foundation's Writer &amp; Editorial Manager. She oversees the development of articles and other content for AWF print marketing products such as the annual report. She is passionate about using storytelling and compelling content to convey the value and... More

The world's most trafficked mammal may vanish before many people have ever heard of it. The pangolin, a shy and scaly animal, resembles an armadillo and is found in both Africa and Asia. All eight species, four found on each continent, are decreasing in population and are at risk of extinction.

Pangolins have seen a rapid decline in their population in the last several decades. In areas of accelerated human population growth, habitat loss is a grave threat for pangolins. Poaching also is a dire threat: Pangolins are slow-moving and will roll themselves into a ball if they feel threatened - making them easy targets. Their armor-plated scales can cut and inflict serious wounds on a lion, leopard, or hyena - but are no match for a weapon-wielding human. Poachers simply pick pangolins up and drop them into a bag.

Pangolins are the most trafficked mammal in the world - poachers kill as many as 2.7 million African pangolins every year. Although pangolins are a protected species in China, there is a thriving black market for pangolin meat and especially for scales, which account for 20 percent of body weight. The scales are in high demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine. People believe the scales cure arthritis and cancer, promote breast-feeding for lactating mothers, improve poor circulation, and even enhance male vitality - despite no scientific backing for any of these "cures." In fact, pangolin scales are made of keratin - the same material in human fingernails.

Illegal wildlife trade puts pangolins at risk

The largest pangolin bust on record happened in February 2019 in East Malaysia's Sabah state of Borneo. Authorities found nearly 30 metric tonnes of pangolin products, including 1,800 boxes of frozen pangolins, an additional 572 pangolins frozen separately, 61 live pangolins, and 361 kilograms of pangolin scales. They also seized two bear paws and four flying fox carcasses. The total haul was worth at least USD$ 2 million.

In a January 2019 bust, officers found 8 tonnes of pangolin scales - estimated to come from more than 14,000 pangolins - and over 1,000 elephant tusks at a Hong Kong customs facility. The contraband was concealed under slabs of frozen meat on a cargo ship headed towards Vietnam. The cargo ship originated from Nigeria, and the illegal goods were valued at almost USD$ 8 million; it was the largest wildlife product seizure ever in Hong Kong. Authorities arrested a 39-year-old owner of a Hong Kong trading company and his 29-year-old employee in connection with the crime.

Nearly 12 tonnes of pangolin scales were seized in Singapore in April 2019 - representing 36,000 killed pangolins. A 40-foot container labeled as "frozen beef" was on its way to Vietnam from Nigeria before Singapore customs flagged the suspicious shipment. The scales were packed in 230 bags alongside almost 400 pounds of carved elephant ivory. The total shipment was worth an estimated USD $38.7 million.

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Upgrading the pangolin's protection status

In 2016, pangolins were finally given the highest level of protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (or CITES), moving from Appendix II to Appendix I. On January 2, 2017, the listing went into effect, banning the commercial trade of all eight pangolin species and their parts.

But implementation is another story. Currently, just 17 pangolin-range states have enacted legislation that meets CITES requirements; 31 states have not. Increased law enforcement is required at all points of the illegal trade to help save the pangolin. Furthermore, governments must disrupt the demand by dispelling the myth that pangolin scales contain healing properties.

AWF has several different strategies to protect pangolins. In Africa, we seek to raise awareness and reduce demand via community-based programs that sensitize people to the long-term costs of poaching. We also help to create sustainable livelihoods as alternatives to bushmeat hunting. In addition, our Canines for Conservation program places highly trained detection dog-and-handler units at transportation hubs, border areas, and other hotspots across Africa to help deter poaching. In China, AWF has partnered with WildAid, the Beijing Zoo, and the Shanghai Zoo to help raise awareness about endangered species, including the pangolin.

The more we can share facts about the grave threats facing pangolins and encourage governments to denounce the killing of pangolins, the greater the chances of survival for this unusual species. We must persuade the government to officially renounce the use of pangolin scales and do so quickly - before it is too late for the gentle and elusive pangolin.
> Sign AWF's petition to pressure the China Food & Drug Administration to officially renounce the use of pangolin scales in traditional medicine

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Up to 2.7 million pangolins are poached every year for scales and meat

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Commercial pangolin trade is prohibited, but the threatened species continues to fetch millions on the black market, which is driving it toward extinction.

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How the Paris Agreement will help tackle the climate crisis

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How the Paris Agreement will help tackle the climate crisis

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How the Paris Agreement will help tackle the climate crisis (with Aidan Gallagher)- Within Our Grasp

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Wildlife Resource Management Act for Ghana

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Wildlife Resource Management Act for Ghana

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Betty from WHRO Ghana (Wildlife and Human Resources Organization) sent this along after the interview. It shows what animals are fully protected by law within the country.

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WILDLIFE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT - Ghana.docx

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How to interact with someone with a disability

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How to interact with someone with a disability

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15 Ways to Show Kindness to People with Disabilities - AmeriDisability

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Showing kindness can be simple and easy, no matter who it is for. Here are fifteen ways to show kindness to people with disabilities.

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Check out the scary statistics starting at 4 minutes until 4 minutes 22 seconds.

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How You Can Help Slow Climate Change | CBC Kids

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Climate Change-Facts and Actions for kids

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Climate Change-Facts and Actions for kids

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13 ways to save the earth from Climate Change

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13 ways to save the earth from Climate Change

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13 ways to save the Earth from climate change

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Positive aftermath of war.  We have a book in the library called, Cat Man of Aleppo!

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Positive aftermath of war.  We have a book in the library called, Cat Man of Aleppo!

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“Cat man” starts animal health center in Syria’s war zone

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The “Cat Man of Aleppo” has saved hundreds of cats in his war-torn city.

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There are many great articles in Newsela, my search keywords were: Impacts of war

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Both students living in conflict zones and refugees face unique and difficult challenges in continuing their education.

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Beautiful art blooms on ugly Afghan walls

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Russia’s war in world’s “breadbasket” threatens food supply

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Russia and Ukraine provide wheat for a lot of the world.

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When did slavery end in the United States? And what is Juneteenth? This TED-Ed lesson by author Karlos K. Hill and historian Soraya Field Fiorio

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Rats can sniff out illegal materials from poached animals!

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Rats can sniff out illegal materials from poached animals!

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Rats trained to sniff out smuggled rhino horn and pangolin scales

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African giant pouched rats trained to alert their handlers when they find illegally trafficked wildlife products

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Nearly 200 Nations Agree to Fight Global Warming

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Nearly 200 Nations Agree to Fight Global Warming

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Paris Agreement Outlines Plan for Global Climate Action

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Paris Agreement Outlines Plan for Global Climate Action

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Climate change Part 4: Paris Agreement outlines plan for global climate action

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Paris is often mentioned when we talk about climate change. What does the capital city of France have to do with global warming? In 2015 there was a big meeting of world leaders, organised by the United Nations* (UN) and hosted by France, to talk about countries sharing responsibility for managing climate change.

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How the Paris agreement helps stop climate change

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How the Paris agreement helps stop climate change

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How the Paris Agreement Helps Stop Climate Change

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The difference between vegetarian and vegan

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The difference between vegetarian and vegan

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The difference between vegetarian and vegan

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What if the world became vegetarian? *(another point of view)

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What if the world became vegetarian? *(another point of view)

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What if the world became vegetarian? - Vegetarian vs Non Vegetarian Diet - Learning Junction

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Plastic is everywhere. According to the United Nations, enough plastic waste to fill 2,000 garbage trucks is dumped into waterways such as oceans, rivers, and lakes each day. There's plastic litter at the bottom of the ocean and on top of Mount Everest.

Now plastic has been found in another unlikely place: on the backs of hermit crabs. According to a study published in February in the journal Science of the Total Environment, hermit crabs are using plastic litter as shells.

LUIS DIAZ DEVESA-GETTY IMAGES

Zuzanna Jagiello is a biologist at the University of Warsaw, in Poland. She's the study's lead author. "For me, a hermit crab in a plastic shell could be an icon icon someone or something that has important meaning (noun) The bald eagle is an American icon. of our times,"

Jagiello told TIME for Kids. "They don't have homes, so they use rubbish." Jagiello studies the Anthropocene age. That's the geologic geologic relating to the age of rock and its history (adjective) The geologic age of dinosaurs was the Mesozoic era. age we're in now. Scientists define it as the period in which human activity has had a major impact on the environment. Hermit crabs using plastic waste as shells is one example of that impact.

New Homes

Hermit crabs are small, soft-bodied crabs that live near oceans. To protect themselves from predators, the crabs typically wear seashells that have been left behind by dead sea snails.

CHAMELEONSEYE-GETTY IMAGES

But according to February's study, at least 386 hermit crabs have been documented wearing garbage. Of the world's 16 species of hermit crabs that live on land, 10 have been seen wearing trash. Nearly nine out of every 10 of those crabs were wearing plastic waste, such as bottle caps. The others wore glass or metal, such as broken lightbulbs or soda cans.

Jagiello says that she and her team first learned about hermit crabs wearing garbage when they noticed photos of them posted online. They decided to learn more by conducting research (see "Internet Ecology").

LUIS DIAZ DEVESA-GETTY IMAGES

For their study, the researchers scanned the Internet for photos of hermit crabs wearing trash. They found photos from all over the world. Some had been taken by scientists. Some had been taken by nature photographers. Many had been taken by people who were just curious.

What Does it Mean?

Scientists aren't sure why hermit crabs are choosing litter instead of snail shells. But they have theories.

Some sea snail populations are declining. Hermit crabs could be turning to litter because they can't find enough seashells.

LUIS DIAZ DEVESA-GETTY IMAGES

It's also possible that crabs are opting for plastic because it's light and easy to carry. Or they're drawn to its flashy colors.

Scientists agree that plastic pollution harms wildlife and habitats in many ways. But it isn't clear that the crabs are in any danger.

MITH_67-GETTY IMAGES

"It's really an amazing example of the beauty of adaptation, how some animals are coping with the Anthropocene age," Jagiello says. "What are the long-term consequences of these adaptations? We don't know."

Internet Ecology

JORDAN SIEMENS-GETTY IMAGES

To study hermit crabs, researchers used iEcology, or Internet Ecology. It's a way of doing research. It uses information on the Internet to spot patterns in the natural world. For this study, researchers looked at photos of hermit crabs that people had posted online.

iEcology isn't perfect. The data can be biased. For example, people are more likely to take and post a photo of a hermit crab in a plastic shell than a snail shell, because it's more surprising.

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Plastic is everywhere. According to the United Nations, enough plastic waste to fill 2,000 garbage trucks is dumped into waterways such as oceans, rivers, and lakes each day. There's plastic litter at the bottom of the ocean and on top...

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Plastic is everywhere. According to the United Nations, enough plastic waste to fill 2,000 garbage trucks is dumped into waterways such as oceans, rivers, and lakes each day. There's plastic litter at the bottom of the ocean and on top of Mount Everest.

Now plastic has been found in another unlikely place: on the backs of hermit crabs. According to a study published in February in the journal Science of the Total Environment, hermit crabs are using plastic litter as shells.

LUIS DIAZ DEVESA-GETTY IMAGES

Zuzanna Jagiello is a biologist at the University of Warsaw, in Poland. She's the study's lead author. "For me, a hermit crab in a plastic shell could be an icon icon someone or something that has important meaning (noun) The bald eagle is an American icon. of our times,"

Jagiello told TIME for Kids. "They don't have homes, so they use rubbish." Jagiello studies the Anthropocene age. That's the geologic geologic relating to the age of rock and its history (adjective) The geologic age of dinosaurs was the Mesozoic era. age we're in now. Scientists define it as the period in which human activity has had a major impact on the environment. Hermit crabs using plastic waste as shells is one example of that impact.

New Homes

Hermit crabs are small, soft-bodied crabs that live near oceans. To protect themselves from predators, the crabs typically wear seashells that have been left behind by dead sea snails.

CHAMELEONSEYE-GETTY IMAGES

But according to February's study, at least 386 hermit crabs have been documented wearing garbage. Of the world's 16 species of hermit crabs that live on land, 10 have been seen wearing trash. Nearly nine out of every 10 of those crabs were wearing plastic waste, such as bottle caps. The others wore glass or metal, such as broken lightbulbs or soda cans.

Jagiello says that she and her team first learned about hermit crabs wearing garbage when they noticed photos of them posted online. They decided to learn more by conducting research (see "Internet Ecology").

LUIS DIAZ DEVESA-GETTY IMAGES

For their study, the researchers scanned the Internet for photos of hermit crabs wearing trash. They found photos from all over the world. Some had been taken by scientists. Some had been taken by nature photographers. Many had been taken by people who were just curious.

What Does it Mean?

Scientists aren't sure why hermit crabs are choosing litter instead of snail shells. But they have theories.

Some sea snail populations are declining. Hermit crabs could be turning to litter because they can't find enough seashells.

LUIS DIAZ DEVESA-GETTY IMAGES

It's also possible that crabs are opting for plastic because it's light and easy to carry. Or they're drawn to its flashy colors.

Scientists agree that plastic pollution harms wildlife and habitats in many ways. But it isn't clear that the crabs are in any danger.

MITH_67-GETTY IMAGES

"It's really an amazing example of the beauty of adaptation, how some animals are coping with the Anthropocene age," Jagiello says. "What are the long-term consequences of these adaptations? We don't know."

Internet Ecology

JORDAN SIEMENS-GETTY IMAGES

To study hermit crabs, researchers used iEcology, or Internet Ecology. It's a way of doing research. It uses information on the Internet to spot patterns in the natural world. For this study, researchers looked at photos of hermit crabs that people had posted online.

iEcology isn't perfect. The data can be biased. For example, people are more likely to take and post a photo of a hermit crab in a plastic shell than a snail shell, because it's more surprising.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Plastic is everywhere. According to the United Nations, enough plastic waste to fill 2,000 garbage trucks is dumped into waterways such as oceans, rivers, and lakes each day. There's plastic litter at the bottom of the ocean and on top...

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Chance for Children Organization in Ghana

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Chance for Children Organization in Ghana

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This is a local organization here in Accra that supports Children living in poverty.

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Over 1,550 street-connected children through different programs, 69 street-connected youth and over 250 families

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Debunking 3 myths about air pollution | Nat Geo Explores

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Debunking 3 myths about air pollution | Nat Geo Explores

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7 Reasons to Be Smoke-Free

Most people don't smoke. From yellow teeth to coughing, here are seven reasons why that's a good thing.

Thirdhand Smoke

When people smoke, it creates smoke that you can see (secondhand smoke) and a kind of air pollution that you can't see that's called thirdhand smoke.

Most middle school students don't smoke - only about 1 in 50 does. And most high school students don't smoke either - about 9 in 100 do.

But why do those who smoke ever begin?

There's more than just one answer. Some kids may start smoking just because they're curious. Others may like the idea of doing something dangerous - something grownups don't want them to do. Still others might know lots of people who smoke and they might think it's a way to act or look like an adult.

Fortunately, fewer people are starting smoking than a few years ago. Maybe that's because more and more people have learned that smoking and tobacco use can cause cancer and heart disease.

But sometimes kids can't really think that far into the future to worry about an illness they might not get for many years.

So let's talk about the problems that might affect kids more quickly:

yellow teeth

smelly clothes

more colds and coughs

difficulty keeping up with friends when playing sports

empty wallet - cigarettes and tobacco products are very expensive!

Let's find out more about cigarettes and tobacco.

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What Are Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco?

Tobacco (say: tuh-BA-ko) is a plant that can be smoked in cigarettes, pipes, or cigars. It's the same plant that's in smokeless tobacco, known as dip, chew, snuff, spit, or chewing tobacco. Smokeless tobacco is not lit or inhaled like tobacco in cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Instead, smokeless tobacco is put between the lip and gum and sucked on inside the mouth.

Tobacco contains nicotine (say: NIH-kuh-teen), a chemical that causes a tingly or pleasant feeling - but that feeling only lasts for a little while. Nicotine is also addictive (say: uh-DIK-tiv). That means that if you start to use nicotine, your body and mind will become so used to it that you'll need to have it just to feel OK.

Anyone who starts smoking could become addicted to it. If you're addicted to something, it's very hard to stop doing it, even if you want to. Some kids get addicted right away. And adults are often addicted, which is why so many of them have a hard time quitting smoking.

Why Is It So Bad for You?

Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. In fact, each day 1300 people die from smoking alone.

The nicotine and other poisonous chemicals in tobacco cause lots of diseases, like heart problems and some kinds of cancer. If you smoke, you hurt your lungs and heart each time you light up. It also can make it more difficult for blood to move around in the body, so smokers may feel tired and cranky. The longer you smoke, the worse the damage becomes.

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The Other Cost of Smoking

Using tobacco eats up a lot of money, too. A pack of cigarettes costs about $6, on average. That means, even if you buy just one pack a week, you'll spend $312 in a year. Some people smoke a pack a day, which adds up to $2,190! That's a lot of computer games and clothes you could buy instead.

What's It Like?

Usually, people don't like smoking or chewing tobacco at first. Your body is smart, and it knows when it's being poisoned. When people try smoking for the first time, they often cough a lot and feel pain or burning in their throat and lungs. This is your lungs' way of trying to protect you and tell you to keep them smoke free.

Also, many people say that they feel sick to their stomachs or even throw up. If someone accidentally swallows chewing tobacco, they may be sick for hours. Yuck.

What if My Friend Smokes?

If you have friends who smoke or use tobacco, you can help them by encouraging them to quit. Here are some reasons you can mention:

It will hurt their health.

It will make their breath stinky.

It will turn their teeth yellow.

It will give them less endurance when running or playing sports.

It's expensive.

It's illegal to buy cigarettes when you're underage.

If you think it will help, you could print out articles like this one to give to a friend who smokes. He or she may be interested in learning more about the dangers of smoking.

But people don't like to hear that they're doing something wrong, so your pal also could be a little angry. If that happens, don't push it too much. In time, your friend may realize you are right.

In the meantime, it could help to talk with a parent or a school counselor if you're worried about your friend. When your friend is ready, a grownup can help him or her quit for good. If your friend decides to quit, lend your support. You might say it's time to kick some butts!

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Everyone says smoking is bad for you. Why? Find out in this article for kids.

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Scrolling through TikTok, your kids probably see goofy jokes, lip-synching videos ... and lots and lots of clothes. That's because fashion hauls-videos in which an influencer rips open packages stuffed with new clothes and models them in front of the camera-are all over social media.

On TikTok, "#haul" videos have racked up 13.2 billion views; on Instagram, 2.5 million posts include the hashtag. And if you've ever found yourself on the receiving end of a child begging for new clothes they've seen on social media, you know how tough it can be to argue against an influencer.

But children probably aren't aware of the environmental impact that experts fear these videos are having. The content often features what's known as fast fashion: mass-produced, ultra-trendy, inexpensive clothing made with cheap fabrics that are made at breakneck speeds by low-wage workers. In fact, a report from Rest of World, a journalism nonprofit organization, found that between July and December 2021, fast-fashion company Shein added between 2,000 and 10,000 new styles to its app each day.

Fashion haul videos have actually been a thing on YouTube since at least 2008. The problem? According to Aja Barber, sustainability consultant and author of Consumed, a book that explores the impact of fast fashion on the environment, this content encourages a model of consumption that's hurting the planet. Indeed, research from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company shows that consumers are buying about 60 percent more clothing per person than in 2000, and they keep the items half as long. And quickly producing massive amounts of cheap products has an environmental impact, from growing crops for raw materials to transporting the goods to incinerating the castoffs.

"You see TikTok haul videos where someone buys thousands of dollars of merchandise from a brand, and it's a big box of stuff that they might only wear once," Barber says. And children often mimic trends they see on social media, including fashion hauls that aren't good for the planet. Here's how to talk to kids about their haul-filled feeds-and the environmental impact of their closets.

The environmental cost of fashion

Accurate numbers around the fashion industry are difficult to come by. But the World Economic Forum estimates that about 150 billion new clothing items are produced each year, and the United Nations has reported that the energy-intensive production, transportation, and packaging of all these garments generates nearly 10 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Although all fashion production has an environmental impact, Barber says the lightning-fast speed and enormous scale of fast fashion exacerbate the problems.

Fast fashion's cycle of waste often begins with its raw materials. A study published in the journal Nature found that polyester-an inexpensive synthetic fiber made from petroleum-accounted for 51 percent of fashion textile production in 2018 and is often the fabric of choice for fast fashion manufacturers. When washed, polyester clothing releases hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic fibers, which make their way into the environment through wastewater. Researchers from the Institute for Polymers, Composites, and Biomaterials estimated that 35 percent of ocean microplastics comes from synthetic clothing.

Moving the materials through a global supply chain that relies on cheap labor also has an emissions cost. For example, a raw material like cotton might be grown in Pakistan, shipped to China to manufacture the textile, and then shipped again to Bangladesh to sew the garment.

Finally, the clothing is transported to consumers across the globe. In the past, most clothing was shipped to retailers in container boats, but because fast fashion depends on churning out new trends as quickly as possible, air cargo shipments are becoming increasingly common. A report from the environmental consulting group Quantis estimated that switching just one percent of clothing transportation from boat to airplane could increase the industry's carbon footprint by 35 percent.

Because fast fashion is designed to be discarded after a few uses-both because it's made with less durable materials and quickly falls out of style-much of it ends up incinerated or in landfills. In the United States, over nine million tons of clothing and footwear ended up in landfills in 2018, up from 1.3 million tons in 1960, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And fast fashion garments donated to charity are often sent to low- or middle-income countries, only to be landfilled or burned there, according to reporting from ABC.

Getting kids to care about clothes and the planet

Members of Gen Z and Alpha (ages 12 to 26 and kids 11 and younger, respectively) are famously passionate about fixing environmental problems, from participating in school climate strikes to filing environmental lawsuits. So why can't they quit fast fashion culture?

Barber suspects that children and teens simply may not fully understand the impact of fashion on the environment. "I think the average young person doesn't realize that, for example, polyester is plastic, and it comes from fossil fuels," she says. "When we talk about plastic waste, people are thinking about food packaging, but they're not thinking about fashion."

And the pull of all those cheap clothes worn by a supercool influencer is hard to resist-even for eco-savvy kids. After all, fun TikTok and YouTube videos don't show the costs of creating the clothes. But parents can take steps to make sure young viewers understand their impact on the environment and discourage overconsumption. Here's how to get started.

Make the environment part of the purchase. A kid might think they're being budget-minded when they beg for cheap clothes, but parents can help shift their mindset to also focus on the eco-impacts of their purchase. Before you agree to click "buy," ask them to find out things like where the item was made, how many miles the item would fly, and the carbon emissions produced by that flight. ( This clothing calculator can help put things in perspective.) Then see if they'd rather find a more sustainable, local option.

Reveal the influencers. If your child shows you a haul video and asks to buy a new piece of clothing, Michelle Nelson, a professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, recommends asking pointed questions so they understand that haul videos are often advertisements: Why is that person showcasing this particular fashion brand? Do you think that they were paid? How much do you think this haul would cost someone who isn't receiving the items for free?

"If we don't know that we're being persuaded, then maybe we're not so critical of the message," Nelson says. "[Children] think 'Oh, that influencer looks really cool and I see my friends are liking it.' If we don't know that it's advertising, we're just more susceptible." ( Here's how to talk to your kids about advertising -including influencer content.)

Buy slow, buy better. If your child is asking for a non-essential item, tell them to ask you about it again in a week or two. Taking time to think about a purchase can sometimes be all a kid needs to lose interest. If they're still asking, look for a quality garment made of lower-impact materials (think plant-based linens or wool). Third-party certifications from independent review organizations like Certified B Corps and Fair Trade Certified brands can indicate that an item has been made sustainably.

Be thoughtful about purchases. Help kids build healthy purchasing habits by establishing some of your own fashion do's and don'ts. For example, limit everyone's clothing purchases to one item per month. You can also give children a fixed allowance so they think through purchases more carefully and start learning about budgeting. ( Read why too much stuff can make kids unhappy.)

Buy secondhand. "I think it's hard to say, 'Oh, don't buy this stuff'-I don't want to be the Debbie Downer all the time," Barber says, who speaks with school groups in the United Kingdom about fast fashion and consumerism. Instead, she encourages them to consider buying the brands they love secondhand to lighten their impact on the environment-and their wallets. Websites like Depop, Poshmark, and threadUP are places to start, but supporting a local shop is a great way to cut out packaging waste and shipping emissions.

Spot "greenwashing." Some fast fashion brands have launched sustainability initiatives to lessen the environmental impact of their clothing, but some consumer protection groups say these claims can be misleading. Companies aren't actually required to disclose their social and environmental practices or information about their supply chains, so work with your kids to do some extra research. Fashion Revolution ranks 250 of the world's largest fashion brands on the transparency of their social and environmental practices; you can also search for clothing brands using Rank a Brand.

Use social media for good. Fashion influencers often focus on external qualities, says Rachel Rodgers, an associate professor in the Applied Psychology Program for Eating and Appearance Research at the Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Instead, she suggests that parents focus on other influences in their child's life. "For example, [compliment] a child on their qualities and achievements, not their outfit," she says. Rodgers also suggests that parents encourage kids to fill their social media feeds with content that reflects their interests instead of #hauls. Whether it's baking, dancing, or crafting, content that aligns with who they are can make kids' feeds more holistic and less consumeristic.

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Talking to kids about fast fashion and the environment

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TikTok 'haul' videos promote cool clothes-but children likely aren't aware that the content could be impacting the planet.

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The pandemic slowed fast fashion to a standstill. Now as the world opens up and we are socializing and going places, we want to dress up again. But after living a confined and simpler life during COVID, this is a good time to take stock of the implications of how we dress. Fashion, and especially fast fashion, has enormous environmental impacts on our planet, as well as social ones.

Since the 2000s, fashion production has doubled and it will likely triple by 2050, according to the American Chemical Society. The production of polyester, used for much cheap fast fashion, as well as athleisure wear, has increased nine-fold in the last 50 years. Because clothing has gotten so cheap, it is easily discarded after being worn only a few times. One survey found that 20 percent of clothing in the US is never worn; in the UK, it is 50 percent. Online shopping, available day and night, has made impulse buying and returning items easier.

According to McKinsey, average consumers buy 60 percent more than they did in 2000, and keep it half as long. And in 2017, it was estimated that 41 percent of young women felt the need to wear something different whenever they left the house. In response, there are companies that send consumers a box of new clothes every month.

Fashion's environmental impacts

Fashion is responsible for 10 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and 20 percent of global wastewater, and uses more energy than the aviation and shipping sectors combined.

Impacts on water

Global fashion also consumes 93 billion metric tons of clean water each year, about half of what Americans drink annually.

Cotton is an especially thirsty crop. For example, one kilogram of cotton used to produce a pair of jeans can consume 7,500 to 10,000 liters of water-the amount a person would drink over 10 years. Cotton production also requires pesticides and insecticides, which pollute the soil; runoff from fertilized cotton fields carry the excess nutrients to water bodies, causing eutrophication and algal blooms.

The dyeing process for fabrics, which uses toxic chemicals, is responsible for 17 to 20 percent of global industrial water pollution.

Seventy-two toxic chemicals have been found in the water used in textile dyeing.

Contributions to climate change

To feed the fashion industry's need for wood pulp to make fabrics like rayon, viscose and other fabrics, 70 million tons of trees are cut down each year. That number is expected to double by 2034, speeding deforestation in some of the world's endangered forests.

The fashion industry produces 1.2 million metric tons of CO2 each year, according to a MacArthur Foundation study. In 2018, it resulted in more greenhouse gas emissions than the carbon produced by France, Germany and the UK all together. Polyester, which is actually plastic made from fossil fuels, is used for about 65 percent of all clothing, and consumes 70 million barrels of oil each year. In addition, the fashion industry uses large amounts of fossil fuel-based plastic for packaging and hangers.

Waste

Less than one percent of clothing is recycled to make new clothes. The fibers in clothing are polymers, long chains of chemically linked molecules. Washing and wearing clothing shorten and weaken these polymers, so by the time a garment is discarded, the polymers are too short to turn into a strong new fabric. In addition, most of today's textile-to-textile recycling technologies cannot separate out dyes, contaminants, or even a combination of fabrics such as polyester and cotton.

As a result, 53 million metric tons of discarded clothing are incinerated or go to landfills each year. In 2017, Burberry burned $37 million worth of unsold bags, clothes and perfume. If sent to a landfill, clothes made from natural fabrics like cotton and linen may degrade in weeks to months, but synthetic fabrics can take up to 200 years to break down. And as they do, they produce methane, a powerful global warming greenhouse gas.

Microplastic pollution

Many people have lived solely in athleisure wear during the pandemic, but the problem with this is that the stretch and breathability in most athleisure comes from the use of synthetic plastic fibers like polyester, nylon, acrylic, spandex and others, which are made of plastic.

When clothes made from synthetics are washed, microplastics from their fibers are shed into the wastewater. Some of it is filtered out at wastewater treatment plants along with human waste and the resulting sludge is used as fertilizer for agriculture. Microplastics then enter the soil and become part of the food chain. The microplastics that elude the treatment plant end up in rivers and oceans, and in the atmosphere when seawater droplets carry them into the air. It's estimated that 35 percent of the microplastics in the ocean come from the fashion industry. While some brands use "recycled polyester" from PET bottles, which emits 50 to 25 percent fewer emissions than virgin polyester, effective polyester recycling is limited, so after use, these garments still usually end up in the landfill where they can shed microfibers.

Microplastics harm marine life, as well as birds and turtles. They have already been found in our food, water and air-one study found that Americans eat 74,000 microplastic particles each year. And while there is growing concern about this, the risks to human health are still not well understood.

Fashion's social impacts

Because it must be cheap, fast fashion is dependent on the exploited labor force in developing countries where regulations are lax. Workers are underpaid, overworked, and exposed to dangerous conditions or health hazards; many are underage.

Of the 75 million factory workers around the world, it's estimated that only two percent earn a living wage. To keep brands from moving to another country or region with lower costs, factories limit wages and are disinclined to spend money to improve working conditions. Moreover, workers often live in areas with waterways polluted by the chemicals from textile dyeing.

How can fashion be more sustainable?

As opposed to our current linear model of fashion production with environmental impacts at every stage, where resources are consumed, turned into a product, then discarded, sustainable fashion minimizes its environmental impact, and even aims to benefit the environment. The goal is a circular fashion industry where waste and pollution are eliminated, and materials are used for as long as possible, then reused for new products to avoid the need to exploit virgin resources.

Many designers, brands, and scientists - including students in Columbia University's Environmental Science and Policy program - are exploring ways to make fashion more sustainable and circular.

Less waste

Since 80 to 90 percent of the sustainability of a clothing item is determined by decisions made during its design stage, new strategies can do away with waste from the get-go.

To eliminate the 15 percent of a fabric that usually ends up on the cutting room floor in the making of a garment, zero waste pattern cutting is used to arrange pattern pieces on fabric like a Tetris puzzle.

Designer YeohLee is known as a zero waste pioneer, employing geometric concepts in order to use every inch of fabric; she also creates garments with the leftovers of other pieces. Draping and knitting are also methods of designing without waste.

3D virtual sampling can eliminate the need for physical samples of material. A finished garment can sometimes require up to 20 samples. The Fabricant, a digital fashion house, replaces actual garments with digital samples in the design and development stage and claims this can reduce a brand's carbon footprint by 30 percent.

Some clothing can be designed to be taken apart at the end of its life; designing for disassembly makes it easier for the parts to be recycled or upcycled into another garment. To be multifunctional, other garments are reversible, or designed so that parts can be subtracted or added. London-based brand Petit Pli makes children's clothing from a single recycled fabric, making it easier to recycle; and the garments incorporate pleats that stretch so that kids can continue to wear them as they grow.

3D printing can be used to work out details digitally before production, minimizing trial and error; and because it can produce custom-fit garments on demand, it reduces waste. In addition, recycled materials such as plastic and metal can be 3D printed.

Sustainable designer Iris Ven Herpen is known for her fabulous 3D printed creations, some using upcycled marine debris; she is also currently working with scientists to develop sustainable textiles.

DyeCoo, a Dutch company, has developed a dyeing technique that uses waste CO2 in place of water and chemicals. The technology pressurizes CO2 so that it becomes supercritical and allows dye to readily dissolve, so it can enter easily into fabrics. Since the process uses no water, it produces no wastewater, and requires no drying time because the dyed fabric comes out dry. Ninety-five percent of the CO2 is recaptured and reused, so the process is a closed-loop system.

Heuritech, a French startup, is using artificial intelligence to analyze product images from Instagram and Weibo and predict trends. Adidas, Lee, Wrangler and other brands have used it to anticipate future demand and plan their production accordingly to reduce waste.

Mobile body scanning can help brands produce garments that fit a variety of body types instead of using standard sizes. 3D technology is also being used for virtual dressing, which will enable consumers to see how a garment looks on them before they purchase it. These innovations could lead to fewer returns of clothing.

Another way to reduce waste is to eliminate inventory. On-demand product fulfillment companies like Printful enable designers to sync their custom designs to the company's clothing products. Garments are not created until an order comes in.

For Days, a closed-loop system, gives swap credits for every article of clothing you buy; customers can use swap credits to get new clothing items, all made from organic cotton or recycled materials. The swap credits encourage consumers to send in unwanted For Days clothes, keep them out of the landfill, and allow them to be made into new materials. Customers can also earn swap credits by filling one of the company's Take Back bags with any old clothes, in any condition, and sending it in; these are then resold if salvageable or recycled as rags.

But perhaps the least wasteful strategy enables consumers not to buy any clothes at all. If they are mainly concerned about their image on social media, they can use digital clothing that is superimposed over their image. The Fabricant, which creates these digital garments, aims to make "self expression through digital clothing a sustainable way to explore personal identity."

Better materials

Many brands are using textiles made from natural materials such as hemp, ramie or bamboo instead of cotton. Bamboo has been touted as a sustainable fabric because it is fast-growing and doesn't require much water or pesticides; however, some old growth forests are being cut down to make way for bamboo plantations. Moreover, to make most bamboo fabrics soft, they are subjected to chemical processing whose toxins can harm the environment and human health.

Because of this processing, the Global Organic Textile Standard says that almost all bamboo fiber can "not be considered as natural or even organic fibre, even if the bamboo plant was certified organic on the field."

Some designers are turning to organic cotton, which is grown without toxic chemicals. But because organic cotton yields are 30 percent less than conventional cotton, they need 30 percent more water and land to produce the same amount as conventional cotton. Other brands, such as North Face and Patagonia, are creating clothing made from regenerative cotton-cotton grown without pesticides, fertilizers, weed pulling or tilling, and with cover crops and diverse plants to enhance the soil.

Textiles are also being made with fibers from agriculture waste, such as leaves and rinds. Orange Fiber, an Italian company, is using nanotechnology to make a sustainable silky material by processing the cellulose of oranges. H&M is using cupro, a material made from cotton waste. Flocus makes fully biodegradable and recyclable yarns and fabrics from the fibers of kapok tree pods through a process that doesn't harm the trees. Kapok trees can grow in poor soils without much need for water or pesticides.

In 2016, Theanne Schiros, a principal investigator at Columbia University's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), mentored a group of FIT students who created a bio-design award-winning material from algae. Kelp, its main ingredient, is fast growing, absorbs CO2 and nitrogen from agricultural runoff, and helps increase biodiversity. With the help of Columbia University's Helen Lu, a biomedical engineer, the team created a bio-yarn they called AlgiKnit. Having received over $2 million in initial seed funding, the start-up, based in Brooklyn, is scaling up for market entry.

Schiros and Lu also developed a microbial bioleather. The compostable material consists of a nanocellulose mesh made through a fermentation process using a culture of bacteria and yeast. Schiros explained that these bacteria produce cellulose nanofibers as part of their metabolism; the bacteria were used in the fermentation of kombucha as early as 220 BC in what was Manchuria and in vinegar fermentation as early as 5,000 BC in Egypt. Biofabrication of the material is 10,000 times less toxic to humans than chrome-tanned leather, with an 88 to 97 percent smaller carbon footprint than synthetic (polyurethane) leather or other plastic-based leather alternatives. The fabrication process also drew on ancient textile techniques for tanning and dyeing. Schiros worked with the designers of Public School NY on Slow Factory's One x One Conscious Design Initiative challenge to create zero-waste, naturally dyed sneakers from the material.

Schiros is also co-founder and CEO of the startup Werewool, another collaboration with Lu, and with Allie Obermeyer of Columbia University Chemical Engineering. Werewool, which was recognized by the 2020 Global Change Award, creates biodegradable textiles with color and other attributes found in nature using synthetic biology. "Nature has evolved a genetic code to make proteins that do things like have bright color, stretch, moisture management, wicking, UV protection-all the things that you really want for performance textiles, but that currently come at a really high environmental cost," said Schiros. "But nature accomplishes all this and that's attributed to microscopic protein structures."

Werewool engineers proteins inspired by those found in coral, jellyfish, oysters, and cow milk that result in color, moisture management or stretch. The DNA code for those proteins is inserted into bacteria, which ferment and mass-produce the protein that then becomes the basis for a fiber. The company will eventually provide its technology and fibers to other companies throughout the supply chain and will likely begin with limited edition designer brands.

Better working conditions

There are companies now intent on improving working conditions for textile workers. Dorsu in Cambodia creates clothing from fabric discarded by garment factories. Workers are paid a living wage, have contracts, are given breaks, and also get bonuses, overtime pay, insurance and paid leave for sickness and holidays.

Mayamiko is a 100 percent PETA-certified vegan brand that advocates for labor rights and created the Mayamiko Trust to train disadvantaged women.

Workers who make Ethcs' PETA-certified vegan garments are protected under the Fair Wear Foundation, which ensures a fair living wage, safe working conditions and legal labor contracts for workers. The Fair Wear Foundation website lists 128 brands it works with.

Beyond sustainability

Schiros maintains that making materials in collaboration with traditional artisans and Indigenous communities can produce results that address environmental, social and economic facets of sustainability. She led a series of natural dye workshops with women tie dyers in Kindia, Guinea, and artisans in Grand-Bassam, Côte d'Ivoire, and collaborated with New York designers to make a zero-waste collection from the fabrics created. The projectconnected FIT faculty and students to over 300 artisans in West Africa to create models for inclusive, sustainable development through textile arts, education, and entrepreneurship.

Partnering with frontline communities that are protecting, for example, the Amazon rainforest, does more than simply sustain-it protects biodiversity and areas that are sequestering carbon. "So with high value products that incorporate fair trade and clear partnerships into the supply chain, you not only have natural, biodegradable materials, but you have the added bonus of all that biodiversity that those communities are protecting," she said. "Indigenous communities are five percent of the global population, and they're protecting 80 percent of the biodiversity in the world...Integrating how we make our materials, our systems and the communities that are sequestering carbon while protecting biodiversity is critically important."

The need for transparency

In order to ensure fashion's sustainability and achieve a circular fashion industry, it must be possible to track all the elements of a product from the materials used, chemicals added, production practices, and product use, to the end of life, as well as the social and environmental conditions under which it was made.

Blockchain technology can do this by recording each phase of a garment's life in a decentralized tamper-proof common ledger. Designer Martine Jarlgaard partnered with blockchain tech company Provenance to create QR codes that, when scanned, show the garment's whole history. The software platform Eon has also developed a way to give each garment its own digital fingerprint called Circular ID. It uses a digital identifier embedded in the clothing that enables it to be traced for its whole lifecycle.

Transparency is also important because it enables consumers to identify greenwashing when they encounter it. Greenwashing is when companies intentionally deceive consumers or oversell their efforts to be sustainable.

Amendi, a sustainable fashion brand focusing on transparency and traceability, co-founded by Columbia University alumnus Corey Spencer, has begun a campaign to get the Federal Trade Commission to update its Green Guides, which outline the principles for the use of green claims. When the most recent versions of the Green Guides were released in 2012, they did not scrutinize the use of "sustainability" and "organic" in marketing. The use of these terms has exploded since then and unless regulated, could become meaningless or misleading.

What consumers can do

The key to making fashion sustainable is the consumer. If we want the fashion industry to adopt more sustainable practices, then as shoppers, we need to care about how clothing is made and where it comes from, and demonstrate these concerns through what we buy. The market will then respond.

We can also reduce waste through how we care for our clothing and how we discard it.

Here are some tips on how to be a responsible consumer:

Buy only what you need

Buy from sustainable brands with transparent supply chains

Learn how to shop for quality and invest in higher-quality clothing

Choose natural fibers and single fiber garments

Wear clothing for longer

Take care of clothing: wash items less often, repair them so they last. Patagonia operates Worn Wear, a recycling and repair program.

Upcycle your unwanted clothes into something new

Buy secondhand or vintage; sell your old clothes at Thred Up, Poshmark, or the Real Real.

When discarding, pass clothing on to someone who will wear it, or to a thrift shop

Rent clothing from Rent the Runway, Armoire or Nuuly

"I think the best piece of clothing is the one that already exists. The best fabric is the fabric that already exists," said Schiros. "Keeping things in the supply chain in as many loops and cycles as you can is really, really important."

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Why Fashion Needs to Be More Sustainable

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As the world re-opens, it's a good time to take stock of the implications of how we dress.

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22 Fun and Free Recycling Games for Schools

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These hands-on recycling games are fun and easy to use in your classroom to get kids thinking about recycling before Earth Day.

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Would you want to eat in the dark? Adam Navis and Liz Waid tell about a restaurant where no one can see. Restaurants like this let people experience life very differently.

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Create a simulation (living/experiencing something) to get your audience to understand your UN SDG.

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Poverty Simulator | United Way of Goodhue, Wabasha & Pierce Counties

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Is gaming taking over your life? Take this video game addiction test to find out. 9 questions to determine the severity of your gaming problem.

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Any Group can create a board game - doesn't have to be about climate change.

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Use facts about what you learned about your topic to create question cards. If the player gets the right answer, they can move 3 spaces forward and if they get it wrong...

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Single-use plastic, microplastic are an environmental disaster | CBC Kids News

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What Are Microplastics? Science For Kids

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Greenhouse gases explained for kids | CBC Kids News

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Climate change from a kid's perspective I CBC Kids News

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Climate change explained in 5 minutes | CBC Kids News

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We've all heard of it, but what is climate change and what is it doing to our planet?

So, what is climate change?

Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up.

Scientists estimate that since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has caused the Earth to warm by approximately 1°C. While that might not sound like much, it means big things for people and wildlife around the globe.

Unfortunately, rising temperatures don't just mean that we'll get nicer weather - if only! The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.

As temperatures rise, some areas will get wetter and lots of animals (and humans!) could find they're not able to adapt to their changing climate.

Check out our magazine!
National Geographic Kids is an exciting monthly read for planet-passionate boys and girls, aged 6-13! Packed full of fun features, jaw-dropping facts and awe-inspiring photos - it'll keep you entertained for hours! Find our magazine in all good newsagents, or become a subscriber and have it delivered to your door! Ask your parents to check out the 'Subscribe' tab on our website!
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What causes climate change?

1. Burning fossil fuels

Over the past 150 years, industrialised countries have been burning large amounts of fossil fuels such as oil and gas. The gases released into the atmosphere during this process act like an invisible 'blanket', trapping heat from the sun and warming the Earth. This is known as the " Greenhouse Effect ".

2. Farming

Believe it or not, cows' eating habits contribute towards climate change. Just like us, when cows eat, methane - a type of greenhouse gas - builds up in their digestive system and is released in the form of... a burp! This might sound funny, but when you imagine that there are almost 1.5 billion cows releasing all that gas into the atmosphere, it sure adds up!

3. Deforestation

Forests absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide - another greenhouse gas - from the air, and release oxygen back into it. The Amazon rainforest is so large and efficient at doing this that it acts like our planet's air conditioner - limiting climate change. Sadly, many rainforests are being cut down to make wood, palm oil and to clear the way for farmland, roads, oil mines, and dams.

How will climate change affect the planet?

The Earth has had many tropical climates and ice ages over the billions of years that it's been in existence, so why is now so different? Well, this is because for the last 150 years human activity has meant we're releasing a huge amount of harmful gases into the Earth's atmosphere, and records show that the global temperatures are rising more rapidly since this time.

A warmer climate could affect our planet in a number of ways:
- Shrinking sea ice
How will climate change affect wildlife?

Climate change is already affecting wildlife all over the world, but certain species are suffering more than others. Polar animals - whose icy natural habitat is melting in the warmer temperatures - are particularly at risk. In fact, experts believe that the Arctic sea ice is melting at a shocking rate - 9% per decade! Polar bears need sea ice to be able to hunt, raise their young and as places to rest after long periods of swimming. Certain seal species, like ringed seals make caves in the snow and ice to raise their pups, feed and mate.

It's not just polar animals who are in trouble. Apes like orangutans, which live in the rainforests of Indonesia, are under threat as their habitat is cut down, and more droughts cause more bushfires.

Sea turtles rely on nesting beaches to lay their eggs, many of which are threatened by rising sea levels. Did you know that the temperature of nests determines whether the eggs are male or female? Unfortunately, with temperatures on the rise, this could mean that many more females are born than males, threatening future turtle populations.

How will people be affected by climate change?

Climate change won't just affect animals, it's already having an impact on people, too. Most affected are some of the people who grow the food we eat every day. Farming communities, especially in developing countries, are facing higher temperatures, increased rain, floods and droughts.

We Brits love a good cuppa, (around 165 million cups of the stuff every day!), but we probably take for granted just how much work goes into growing our tea. Environmental conditions can affect the flavour and quality plus it needs a very specific rainfall to grow. In Kenya, climate change is making rainfall patterns less and less predictable. Often there will be droughts followed by huge amounts rain, which makes it very difficult to grow tea.

Farmers might then resort to using cheap chemicals to improve their crop to earn more money, even when long-term use of these chemicals can destroy their soil.

How are people coping with climate change?

Buying Fairtrade products can help make sure a farmer is paid a fair wage. This means they can cover their costs, earn enough money to have a decent standard of living, and invest in their farms to keep their crop healthy, without needing to resort to cheap methods of farming which can further damage the environment.

This support also helps farmers to replace eucalyptus trees - which take up a lot of water - with indigenous trees that are better for the farmers' soil. They can learn to make fuel-efficient stoves which will not only make them a little extra money, but also reduce the carbon footprint of the community - cool!

How can I help prevent climate change?

Small changes in your own home can make a difference, too. Try switching to energy-saving lightbulbs, walking instead of using the car, turning off electrical items when you're not using them, recycling and reducing your food waste.

All these little things can make a difference. You can check out more eco-friendly ideas, in our kids' guide to saving the planet! Plus, check out our cool article about Greta Thunberg, too, to discover how young people are making their voices heard.

You can download information about Fairtrade and climate change for your school, here! www.fairtrade.org.uk/schools.

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What is climate change: facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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What is climate change (a.k.a. global warming) & why is it happening? We explain how it affects our planet & how we can prevent it...

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I want you to think for a minute about your dog or your cat and the love that you have for them. They may even be snuggling next to you right now! What about when you walk in the door from school? I bet they greet you with a wagging tail or a rub on your leg. The love your dog or cat has for you is unconditional. They may not speak to you in words, but they can communicate with you. You can tell when they're happy, sad, excited, or hungry and when they want to play.

OK, now think about your favorite character from a show or movie or book. Are they an animal? What about that animal character makes them your favorite? Maybe it's the character's personality, how they make you LOL, or how you can see yourself in them. You would never want to see anything bad or sad happen to them.

Whether an animal is your favorite animal character or the sweet dog or cat in your home, you believe that they should be given a good and happy life. A life of happiness and not pain.

But what about the animals who are not allowed the chance to communicate? The animals who don't choose to be farmed and then harmed for a meal. The animals who don't choose to be taken from the wild or their families and held captive for entertainment. The animals who don't choose to be bred only to race in front of a screaming crowd. The animals who don't choose to be used for experiments. The animals who don't choose to have their skin and fur stolen for clothes and shoes.

Well, I am here to talk with you for those animals.

My name is Dani, and I'm a 12-year-old vegan. Being vegan is a decision to not eat, wear, or use animals in any way for any reason. Since going vegan at 5 years old, I started to connect to animals in a more empathetic way. I started to see myself in them and realize the impact that I could have on their lives and the environment that we all share.

Animals Have Feelings

So, how can we connect loving animals to animal rights and being vegan? The same way you connect with your dog or cat and a cute cartoon character-by seeing them as an individual and as someone who is just like you. Animals feel love, have families, enjoy spending time with their friends, and even have thoughts and dreams. ❤️ You don't have to talk to a cow to know that they wouldn't want to die for a burger or a duck to know that they wouldn't want to have their feathers pulled out for a coat. And there is no "nice" way to do these harmful things.

Animals Are Interesting Individuals

Did you know? Orcas in the wild usually live their entire lives with their moms and can swim up to 140 miles per day. However, in marine parks orcas have been separated from their family and are forced to live in tanks for their whole life.

Did you know? Chicken moms talk to their babies while they are still in the egg. But at hatcheries, chicks never get to meet or see their mom. 😢

Did you know? Mice and rats like to tickle each other and make chirping noises that would be like us laughing. But the mice and rats who are used for experiments and at school for dissection are taken from their family and are often sad and stressed. Plus, the way that mice and rats are used and abused is totally avoidable and unnecessary. There is no way, if they could talk to us in words, they would agree to the pain and suffering that happens to them.

How You Can Stand Up for Animal Rights

Humans are often bullies to animals, and I'm here to tell you there are ways to stop the bullying toward them. There are so many courses of action to advocate for animals and stand up for animal rights.

You can bring vegan food to school and other events, like birthday parties and sleepovers, to share with your friends and family while talking with them about the importance of animal rights and their food choices. You can wear animal rights T-shirts or sweatshirts and put stickers on your water bottle or school folders to start a conversation with kids at school. You can encourage your local bookstores and library to include kids' books about animal rights and being vegan, like Amanda the Teen Activist by Catherine Kelaher, Bear Boy by Justin Barker, Not a Purse by Stephanie Dreyer, and Chickpea Runs Away by Sarat Colling.

You can create attention-grabbing chalk art around your neighborhood and town. Make beautiful pieces using phrases like "Peace Begins on Your Plate," "Be Nice to Mice," "I'm SomeONE, Not SomeTHING," and "Friends, Not Food." Instead of visiting a roadside zoo on a family vacation, find a true animal sanctuary to visit in order to support animal rescue and awareness.

You can also order stickers, posters, and literature from PETA Kids to learn more about animal rights and facts, activism, and being a kind vegan kid.

*****

Ready to get started helping animals? Become a PETA Kids member like me!

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Animal Rights: Why Kids Should Care | PETA Kids

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Young animal activist Daniella talks about why being kind to animals is important and why kids should support animal rights.

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National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)

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There are some great quotes in this video you might want to consider for your project.

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History of Animal Rights | Moby's Veganniversary

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Crabs are found using plastic trash for shells. There is some great statistics in this article--great facts to add to your notes!

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The ocean is full of amazing creatures. It’s also full of plastic. There are about 171 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the sea, according to a study published in the journal PLOS One in 2023. That’s bad news for…

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The Ocean's deepest animals found with plastic in their stomachs

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The Ocean's deepest animals found with plastic in their stomachs

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Tech group--could this article inspire you to do something similar?

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Is Artificial Intelligence Good for Society?

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Many people are embracing artificial intelligence, or AI. Tools such as ChatGPT use AI to generate text quickly, which some people find helpful for school or work. Other AI tools create images or chat bots. But AI isn’t always accurate…

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Australia will bar kids under 16 from using social media, according to a law that passed the Australian Parliament on November 29. Under the law, social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook will have to pay fines of up…

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Despite decades of progress, the air quality in the United States has started to decline over the past few years, according to data provided in summer 2019 by the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency recorded 15 percent more days with unhealthy air in the country in 2018 and 2017 compared to the average from 2013 to 2016.

The reasons for the recent decline in air quality remain unclear, says the agency, but may be related to high numbers of wildfires, a warming climate, and increasing human consumption patterns driven by population growth and a strong economy. The long-term outlook also remains unclear, even as politicians debate air pollution standards.

What is air pollution?

Air pollution is a mix of particles and gases that can reach harmful concentrations both outside and indoors. Its effects can range from higher disease risks to rising temperatures. Soot, smoke, mold, pollen, methane, and carbon dioxide are a just few examples of common pollutants.

In the U.S., one measure of outdoor air pollution is the Air Quality Index, or AQI which rates air conditions across the country based on concentrations of five major pollutants: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (or particulate matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Some of those also contribute to indoor air pollution, along with radon, cigarette smoke, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, asbestos, and other substances.

A global health hazard

Poor air quality kills people. Worldwide, bad outdoor air caused an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016, about 90 percent of them in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization. Indoor smoke is an ongoing health threat to the 3 billion people who cook and heat their homes by burning biomass, kerosene, and coal. Air pollution has been linked to higher rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory diseases such as asthma. Inthe U.S. nearly 134 million people-over 40 percent of the population-are at risk of disease and premature death because of air pollution, according to American Lung Association estimates.

While those effects emerge from long-term exposure, air pollution can also cause short-term problems such as sneezing and coughing, eye irritation, headaches, and dizziness. Particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometers (classified as PM ₁₀ and the even smaller PM 2.5) pose higher health risks because they can be breathed deeply into the lungs and may cross into the bloodstream.

Air pollutants cause less-direct health effects when they contribute to climate change. Heat waves, extreme weather, food supply disruptions, and other effects related to increased greenhouse gases can have negative impacts on human health. The U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment released in 2018 noted, for example, that a changing climate "could expose more people in North America to ticks that carry Lyme disease and mosquitoes that transmit viruses such as West Nile, chikungunya, dengue, and Zika."

Environmental impacts

Though many living things emit carbon dioxide when they breathe, the gas is widely considered to be a pollutant when associated with cars, planes, power plants, and other human activities that involve the burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline and natural gas. That's because carbon dioxide is the most common of the greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Humans have pumped enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past 150 years to raise its levels higher than they have been for hundreds of thousands of years.

Other greenhouse gases include methane -which comes from such sources as landfills, the natural gas industry, and gas emitted by livestock-and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were used in refrigerants and aerosol propellants until they were banned in the late 1980s because of their deteriorating effect on Earth's ozone layer.

Another pollutant associated with climate change is sulfur dioxide, a component of smog. Sulfur dioxide and closely related chemicals are known primarily as a cause of acid rain. But they also reflect light when released in the atmosphere, which keeps sunlight out and creates a cooling effect. Volcanic eruptions can spew massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, sometimes causing cooling that lasts for years. In fact, volcanoes used to be the main source of atmospheric sulfur dioxide; today, people are.

Airborne particles, depending on their chemical makeup, can also have direct effects separate from climate change. They can change or deplete nutrients in soil and waterways, harm forests and crops, and damage cultural icons such as monuments and statues.

What can be done?

Countries around the world are tackling various forms of air pollution. China, for example, is making strides in cleaning up smog-choked skies from years of rapid industrial expansion, partly by closing or canceling coal-fired power plants. In the U.S., California has been a leader in setting emissions standards aimed at improving air quality, especially in places like famously hazy Los Angeles. And a variety of efforts aim to bring cleaner cooking options to places where hazardous cookstoves are prevalent.

In any home, people can safeguard against indoor air pollution by increasing ventilation, testing for radon gas, using air purifiers, running kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans, and avoiding smoking. When working on home projects, look for paint and other products low in volatile organic compounds: organizations such as Green Seal, UL (GREENGUARD), and the U.S. Green Building Council can help.

To curb global warming, a variety of measures need to be taken, such as adding more renewable energy and replacing gasoline-fueled cars with zero-emissions vehicles such as electric ones. On a larger scale, governments at all levels are making commitments to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The Paris Agreement, ratified on November 4, 2016, is one effort to combat climate change on a global scale. And the Kigali Amendment seeks to further the progress made by the Montreal Protocol, banning heat-trapping hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in addition to CFCs.

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Air Pollution Causes, Effects, and Solutions

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Pollutants in the air aren't always visible and come from many different sources.

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Cheddar still keeps pet tigers at home despite court order

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Two tigers at the centre of a row between neighbours in Ghana 39;s capital, Accra still in a cage on one of the properties despite a court ordering their removal .

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>:D

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Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action | The United Nations in Ghana

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Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action

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13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

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Gender Equality 👧🧑🏻 SDG 5 👩‍💼 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Why gender equality is good for everyone

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Why gender equality is good for everyone

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Why Gender Equality Is Good for Everyone — Men Included | Michael Kimmel | TED Talks

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NASA satellites and aircraft are constantly above Earth, and they’re especially monitoring icy regions.

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Welcome to Britannica School, a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Primary, Middle and Secondary School.

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Goal 5: Gender equality - The Global Goals

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Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

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Real life conversations with kids about gender stereotypes 

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Real life conversations with kids about gender stereotypes 

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Feminist parents who care deeply about raising children outside of gender stereotypes sometimes fumble when approaching conversations with their kids.

After all, you may know a ton about feminism and equality, but when it's time to translate those to kid-language, you get stuck.

The pink and blue divide is unquestionably strong, with tons of color-coded options for kids in clothing and toy options. And sometimes the images we see are even worse - sexualized and objectified messages that we'd rather hide from our kids than confront them.

But the best way to tackle tough conversations with kids is... to actually have them!

Real-life conversations with children about gender stereotypes don't have to be scary or intimidating. They simply need to happen, and they don't need to be perfect.

To tackle gender norms at home, take inspiration from this real-life conversation I had with my 5 year-old.

A real-life conversation with a 5 year-old

For my kiddo's Easter basket, we grabbed a bag of seasonal M&Ms and sprinkled them in. When I took a closer look at the individually-wrapped packets, I noticed how the two M&Ms were personified on the front.

Instead of the tempting approach - roll my eyes and toss it in the garbage...(Really, who was harmed?) - I dove headfirst into a conversation about it. It went something like this:
(Each separate line represents a switch back-and-forth between my daughter and me.)
Me: Hmmm.... what do you think they're trying to tell us about this green M&M?

(Kid): That she's a girl.

Mmm... how do you know?

Well, she has a flower in her hat, and a ribbon, and she's standing like this.

Yeah... and do I stand like that? (We both imitate the green one.)

No!

Do YOU stand like that?

Not really!

How about this red M&M? What do you think they are telling us about this one?

Well, it's probably a boy.

Oh interesting, why do you say that?

He's wearing a bow tie.

True. Some men wear bow ties. Did you know that some women wear bow ties?

No.

Yeah, they do. I actually have a friend who's a woman and wears bow ties.

Cool!

And how is the green one standing?

Like this! (We both act it out. Hand on hip, thumbs up out in front, getting a little silly.)

What are their personalities like?

Well, the green one seems kind of ( kiddo acts out the pose again; can't seem to find the exact words.) And the red one seems really confident!

Yes, I agree. Are only boys confident?

No, girls are confident, too!

Key Takeaways of the Real-Life Conversation About Gender Stereotypes

So that was our conversation! There's lots more we could have explored, too - the difference in the sizes of their hands and feet, the shapes of their mouths, and more. It's not quite a college course on gender studies, but these are the everyday conversations we need to have frequently.

Let's recap the highlights of this chat:

Detect stereotypes.

Sometimes the hardest part is training your eye and your brain to notice gender stereotypes and acknowledge them. When you visit a store, shop online, or consume media (books, videos) with your children, keep your antennae up. Train yourself to notice when representation of gender, race, or ability is "off."

Keep it casual and friendly.

There's no need to sit down and have a serious, grave conversation about gender stereotypes with your kids. Spontaneity is sometimes best! It also takes the pressure off of children. When they suspect something is wrong, they may clam up and fear they're in trouble.

Consider their age and developmental stage.

This will vary widely depending on your individual child. You don't have to give your child facts and figures. Depending on their age and developmental stage, you don't need to rattle off terms like misogyny or patriarchy or stereotype or sexism if you don't want to.

Use curiosity; not lectures.

Notice how I didn't deliver a long lecture to my child about why this candy wrapper was "bad." That would be oversimplistic and create guilt for eating the candy. When you bring true curiosity to tough conversations with your children, it gives them freedom to explore different ideas.

Foster analytical skills.

Using the strategies I outlined here, I was able to support and strengthen my child's critical thinking skills and media literacy. We need to build our children's analytical "muscles" if we want them to think independently about rules and norms when we're not there.

What's most important about conversations with children about gender stereotypes is to notice them and discuss them regularly.

The more you notice it, the more likely your children are to notice it.

Now it's your turn! I have a challenge for you. Practice with this image of the crayons I recently spotted at the toy store. If you saw these in the store or in an online advertisement, what would you say?

How would you initiate the conversation with your kids?

Even better... go try it now! Report back and be sure to let us know below how it goes.

In the meantime, if you hope to continue to eliminate your gender bias in the home, model equity, and dismantle harmful messages to children, sign up for the free mini e-book here:

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Real life conversations with kids about gender stereotypes | Think or Blue

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How to talk to a 5 year-old about gender norms. See how easy it is in this real life conversation with kids about gender stereotypes.

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How is air pollution caused? What are its effects on pour health and environment?

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How is air pollution caused? What are its effects on pour health and environment?

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What causes air pollution?

Air pollution refers to the contamination of our air with harmful gases and particulates. Globally, 9 out of 10 people breathe polluted air but many people are unaware of the potential health and environmental impacts of poor air quality. Here's what you need to know.

Air pollution is caused when harmful gases and chemicals are released into the air. These pollutants include Particulate Matter (very small particles that get into our respiratory system), nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide.

The majority of these pollutants are emitted through human activities like burning fossil fuels, vehicle exhaust fumes and emissions from agriculture and industry.

How does air pollution affect our health?

Air pollution has a huge impact on our health, reducing quality of live and cutting lives short. In fact, it's the world's largest single environmental health risk. It aggravates breathing conditions and increases the risk of asthma attacks leading to more hospital admissions. Prolonged exposure can cause serious medical conditions, such as cancer, heart attacks and strokes. In fact, one in three deaths from strokes, lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease globally are caused by air pollution.

While we are all affected, those who are the most vulnerable in our society are more at risk, especially children and older people. Exposure to air pollution can cause children to develop breathing conditions and stunted lungs.

There is also a growing body of research linking air pollution to other illnesses, including diabetes, developmental problems for children and suggested links to dementia.
Watch Dr Zoe Williams explain how air pollution impacts our bodies, long-term health and children
How does air pollution affect the environment?

A great number of air pollution sources are also those of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Greenhouse gases cause the Earth's heat to be trapped in the atmosphere, which leads to warmer temperatures, exacerbating climate change.

Air pollution can also impact the quality of soil and water, impacting ecosystems and wildlife.

How can we reduce air pollution?

We need policies and laws in place that protect people's health and support the shift to cleaner alternatives. At ClientEarth, we've taken legal action to combat pollution and fight for clean air in 11 countries across Europe. We're calling on the UK government to introduce stronger clean air laws to better protect people's health. We're also working to design more stringent EU laws that will have an impact in all EU Member States.

How can you avoid air pollution?

Avoid busy roads and high traffic areas, where possible, try to walk on the side of the pavement furthest from the road and choose routes through green spaces. The further you are from traffic, the lower the pollution levels.

If you suffer from lung conditions, avoid doing strenuous exercise on high pollution days.

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How is air pollution caused? What are its effects on our health and the environment?

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Air pollution refers to the contamination of our air with harmful gases and particulates. The majority of these pollutants are emitted through human activities like burning fossil fuels, vehicle exhaust fumes and emissions from agriculture and industry.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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The “Fortnite” video game is rated “T” but still has many young players

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“Fortnite” attracts players of all ages, but are some too young?

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by Kyla. Kyla Wonders, " Why do some people vape? " Thanks for WONDERing with us, Kyla!

When it comes to bad habits, kids to learn early on that there are certain things you shouldn't do. Don't pick your nose. Don't bite your fingernails. Don't talk without raising your hand. Don't run with scissors.

As you grow older, you learn there are other bad habits that you definitely should stay away from. One : smoking cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes is an addictive habit with a wide range of consequences that can be to your .

Efforts to educate children about the dangers of cigarette smoking have paid off. The number of kids today who smoke cigarettes is at an all-time low. However, a new bad habit that can be just as dangerous has to a new generation of youngsters .

Over the past several years, e-cigarettes have entered the marketplace and become very . Some people that they're a safe alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes, but are they?

E-cigarettes - short for electronic cigarettes - are smoking devices powered by batteries. They're often designed to look and feel like regular tobacco cigarettes. Instead of tobacco, however, they use cartridges filled with liquid known as e-liquid or e-juice.

E-liquids contain nicotine, flavorings, and a variety of other chemicals. E-cigarettes contain heating elements that convert the e-liquids into a vapor that the user inhales. This is why using e-cigarettes is often called "vaping."

Proponents of e-cigarettes point out that they don't burn tobacco, so users don't inhale the tar and carbon monoxide found in tobacco smoke. Does this make e-cigarettes safe, though?

experts say "no." They highlight the fact that e-cigarette users still consume unhealthy amounts of addictive nicotine. Moreover, e-liquids are mostly unregulated and have been found to contain a variety of other chemicals, some of which are known to cause cancer.

Although many experts believe e-cigarettes are less dangerous than tobacco cigarettes, they're still a bad habit you don't want to start. Some opponents of e-cigarettes dislike the fact that e-liquids come in such a wide variety of flavors, some of which appear to be toward kids.

Others worry that e-cigarettes will become a gateway to using tobacco cigarettes. Kids may try e-cigarettes thinking they're safer. Once they're hooked on nicotine, however, they may move on to tobacco cigarettes for a more potent nicotine fix.

Recent scientific studies suggest that there indeed may be a link between e-cigarette use and trying tobacco cigarettes. For , a 2016 study published in the journal Pediatrics concluded that teens who had never smoked tobacco cigarettes but who had used e-cigarettes were six times more likely to try tobacco cigarettes than kids who had never used e-cigarettes.

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Are E-Cigarettes a Safe Alternative to Tobacco?

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by Kyla. Kyla Wonders, " Why do some people vape? " Thanks for WONDERing with us, Kyla! When it comes to bad habits, kids to learn early on that there are certain things you shouldn't do. Don't pick your nose. Don't bite your fingernails.

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For many centuries, Western culture has regarded animals as objects, subject to human exploitation and abuse. This view is deeply rooted in public perception and the legal system and woven into many of the structures upon which society currently relies.

The movement for animal rights aims to overturn these harmful notions and, by doing so, increase understanding, compassion, and respect for the multitude of animal species with whom we share the planet.

WHAT ARE ANIMAL RIGHTS?

In many countries, including the US, animals are legally considered property, a classification that allows for their treatment as exploitable objects rather than sentient beings. This legal categorization reveals how society has conditioned people to prioritize human interests, preferences, and desires at the expense of animals and their wellbeing. These attitudes are justified by widely-held beliefs that animals cannot possess interests, preferences, or desires themselves-beliefs propagated by influential thinkers like René Descartes, who asserted in the seventeenth century that animals are essentially machines responding to base stimuli.

The philosophy of animal rights aims to reverse this objectification of animals, elevating their formal status from something to someone and ultimately releasing them from human exploitation of any kind, whether in farms, laboratories, or any other venue where their autonomy is typically denied. Animal rights would theoretically extend to animals living in wild habitats, making activities such as whaling and deer hunting a violation of those animals' rights. The interests of animals would also need to be accounted for when humans intrude on natural habitats or exploit natural resources that wild animals require, for example, via mining, logging, agriculture, and urban development.

DO ANIMALS DESERVE RIGHTS?

Human rights arise from the perceived inherent value of a human mind, an idea based on the fact that all members of our species consistently experience and can express emotions such as pain, joy, love, and the desire for safety and comfort. The value attached to human wellbeing has led to the development of various norms and laws to protect human needs-although patriarchy, racism, and other forms of oppression continue to perpetuate inequality in the protection of human rights.

In contrast to human minds, animal minds are often considered unknowable, unreadable, and therefore unimportant, rendering the exploitation of animals for human purposes acceptable to the public. The denial of animal rights is based on the fact that people cannot understand the expressive languages of animals, making it difficult to measure whether animals can experience emotions and pain and whether they value safety and comfort.

Yet, these notions of the inferiority of animals' minds are increasingly challenged by the growing accumulation of scientific knowledge suggesting that animals likely do experience pain,[1] possess inner worlds including memories,[2] and show emotional sophistication.[3] This knowledge is challenging the many human preconceptions and daily practices that give rise to animal suffering and the trampling of animals' ability to enjoy autonomous, pain-free lives. If nonhuman animals possess elements of consciousness and sentience, should their inherent value be recognized by inalienable rights?

History Of THE US ANIMAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

A distinct US animal rights movement emerged during the twentieth century, led by several influential publications and public organizations. In 1954, the Humane Society of the United States was formed to advocate for improved animal protection and an end to animal cruelty. In 1975, with his book Animal Liberation, philosopher Peter Singer made the utilitarian argument that there is no logically consistent justification for furthering the preferences and interests of human beings by sacrificing the preferences and interests of animals.[5] While his argument was not based upon animals holding inherent rights, Singer's approach galvanized contemporary social thought relating to the treatment of animals. Singer's philosophy later influenced the 1980 founding of the nation's largest animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In 1983, philosopher Tom Regan's seminal treatise The Case for Animal Rights approached the question of animal rights by building upon the work of Immanuel Kant. Regan advanced a deontological rights perspective arguing that animals have the same inherent value as humans because both humans and animals are "subjects of a life" and thus, have the right not to be used by others as a means to an end.[6]

ANIMAL WELFARE Vs. ANIMAL RIGHTS

While both animal welfare and animal rights aim to protect animals from human-caused harm, these concepts can diverge significantly in both philosophy and action. Whereas animal welfare seeks to prevent unnecessary suffering without ending all suffering or exploitation, an animal rights approach aims to lift animals beyond the reach of human use altogether by granting animals the right to retain control over their own lives and bodies.

Animal welfare approaches aim to improve the treatment of animals under human control, whether on farms, in laboratories, or in homes. Some animal welfare laws exist in the US, most notably the Animal Welfare Act. Yet, by still permitting a great deal of suffering to occur, the Act's limitations reveal the problematic nature of welfare as a framework for fully protecting animals. Farmed animals, for example, are exempt from protection under the Act, despite the suffering and slaughter that billions of animals undergo each year in the US food system.

In contrast, the philosophy of animal rights argues for an abolitionist approach to animal exploitation. Animal rights thinking is based on reassessing the value ascribed to animal lives and the morality of subjecting animals to human control. An animal rights framing abjures any form of animal captivity since captivity infringes on an animal's essential rights of freedom and self-determination.

Despite their differences, there can be significant practical overlap between rights and welfare approaches in the animal protection movement. Some advocates take a pragmatic approach, seeking incremental improvements in the lives of exploited animals while maintaining rights-based philosophical underpinnings. Given how entrenched animal exploitation is in modern human economies and the degree of suffering animals endure in captivity, incremental changes can still improve the lives of thousands and even millions of animals. In addition, gradual improvements in animal welfare awareness can also help move the public conversation toward more rights-oriented perspectives.

WHAT LAWS PROTECT ANIMAL RIGHTS in the US?

There are currently no laws that protect animal rights in the US because the rights of animals have yet to be acknowledged, either philosophically or practically. There are, however, some significant developments that are paving the way toward more formal animal rights laws.

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is a nonprofit organization working to establish nonhuman personhood. The legal concept of personhood is necessary for an entity to be recognized as a rights-holder within the US legal system. Currently, all nonhuman animals are considered property and are therefore unable to possess rights.[7] Achieving nonhuman personhood status for living animals would allow the release of nonhuman persons from abusive situations and subsequent litigation to pursue punitive actions against rights violations.

Outside the US, there has been encouraging international progress on animal rights law. South Korea plans to grant legal status to animals with an amendment to the Civil Act in a bid to stem a growing tide of abuse to companion animals. In the UK, the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill aims to align laws with the growing body of scientific evidence that demonstrates that animals are sentient and therefore suffer when pain is inflicted on them. Although both bills are welfare-oriented in that they allow for the continued use of animals for human purposes, they are nevertheless progressive in transcending the objectification of animals and potentially opening the door to further legal protections.

WHY ARE ANIMAL RIGHTS IMPORTANT?

Contrary to a view of animals as unfeeling objects, contemporary science reveals that animals can think and feel and can experience pain, depression, and boredom. And, like us, they can express themselves by laughing, speaking,[8] and singing,[9] among many other unique forms of expression. Improving recognition and respect for animals' rights is an essential step in humanity's evolving understanding of the depth of animal minds and sensibilities.

Intersectional Benefits OF ANIMAL RIGHTS

In the context of food and farming, arguments for animal rights can include moral justifications, as well as perspectives related to public health and environmental protection.

REDUCED SUFFERING

Farmed animals can experience physical and psychological pain. Implementation of laws based on an animal rights philosophy would see an end to conventional animal farming, in which animals are exploited for human benefit. A rights perspective would preclude any economic or ethical justification for intentionally exposing animals to the sort of harm that commonly occurs in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), including extreme confinement, separation of mothers from their young, overcrowding and anxiety, and eventual slaughter long before the end of animals' natural lifespans.

IMPROVED ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH

Industrial animal farming generates immense public health risks, which would be avoided if animal rights halted the conventional production of animals for human consumption. Whether they house poultry, hogs, or cattle, the CAFOs that produce most US meat and animal products generate vast volumes of concentrated manure. These wastes can endanger or even kill farm employees and contaminate water supplies and air in adjacent rural communities. In addition to the human health risks posed by manure, animal farming is one of the most significant contributors to the emergence of zoonotic diseases that cause pandemics.[10] Eliminating CAFOs and replacing animal protein with alternative foods would reduce future pandemic risk while significantly improving the air, land, and water quality.

REDUCED GLOBAL HUNGER

Overall, eliminating animal farming for human consumption would increase the amount of food available for human populations. Whereas animals living unrestricted lives forage for food in the natural environment, animals kept in confinement eat grain- and legume-based feed produced by farming commodity crops like corn and soy. Although animal feed includes crops and crop residues that are not edible by humans, one-third of the world's human-edible grain goes to farmed animals, and animal farming requires the output of 40% of global arable land.[11] Although animals in some regions of the world currently provide important supplemental nutrition for vulnerable human populations, alternatives exist for creating a food system that prioritizes human nutrition without relying on the suspension of animal rights.

IMPROVED CLIMATE RESILIENCE

Recognizing animal rights by ending the farming of animals for food would also go a long way toward bringing global greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets within reach. In 2017, research revealed that replacing beef cattle production in the US with the cultivation of beans could free up 42% of US cropland and provide GHG savings equivalent to up to three-quarters of 2020 US emissions reduction targets. Globally, producing animals for food emits twice as many GHGs as producing plant-based foods.[12] Shifting to a plant-based food system by 2050 would remove GHG emissions from animal farming and could provide additional carbon sequestration potential. Even without further emissions reductions from other sectors, a plant-based food system protecting animal rights would shift carbon emissions enough to give the world a reasonable chance at limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees C.[13]

REDUCED DEFORESTATION

Eliminating animal agriculture under the banner of animal rights could greatly assist in preserving forest lands worldwide. The corn, soy, and other grains fed to animals in CAFOs are often genetically modified and grown in unsustainable industrial monocrops. In their most damaging form, many feed crops are produced in places like the Brazilian Amazon, enabled by logging and burning primary rainforest lands to make way for soybeans. Animal agriculture is one of the primary drivers of deforestation within this critical habitat.

POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF RECOGNIZING ANIMAL RIGHTS

Many major US industries would look very different if animal rights were legally enshrined. Animals would no longer be used for food or clothing, resulting in the abolition of CAFOs and the vast amounts of pollution they generate. Instead of farming animals and their feed crops, US farmers could instead grow crops for direct human consumption and the accelerating plant-based food industry, contributing to the emergence of a new farm economy compatible with animal rights. Laboratories would no longer test medicines and cosmetics on animals, shifting instead to existing computer modeling or biological testing alternatives. Even the way animals live as companions might change if human caretakers fully recognize animals as beings in their own right, with their own interests and feelings.

CONCLUSION

Achieving animal rights recognition in the US can transform a range of industries to be healthier and more sustainable, including food production, personal care products, and textiles. Although there is a long way to go before the rights of nonhuman species can be formally recognized and respected by US law, change is brewing. Calls for improved animal welfare are proliferating, revealing a society no longer comfortable with historical norms of animal treatment. Similarly, the animal rights movement is gaining momentum, bolstered by documentaries, undercover reporting exposing the cruel treatment of animals in everyday contexts, and continuing research demonstrating the cognitive and social complexity of nonhuman animals. As plant-based technologies increasingly replace animal products from meat to leather, the utilitarian justification for exploiting animals is rapidly disappearing.

[3] Lori Marino and Christina M. Colvin, "Thinking Pigs: A Comparative Review of Cognition, Emotion, and Personality in Sus Domesticus," International Journal of Comparative Psychology 28 (2015).

[4] Sinclair, Upton, and Earl Lee. The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition. See Sharp Press, 2003.

[5] Singer, Peter. "Animal liberation." In Animal rights, pp. 7-18. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1973.

[6] Regan, Tom. "The case for animal rights." In Advances in animal welfare science 1986/87, pp. 179-189. Springer, Dordrecht, 1987.

[10] United Nations Environment Program and International Livestock Research Institute, Preventing The Next Pandemic: Zoonotic Diseases and How to Break the Chain of Transmission (Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Program, 2020).

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What Are Animal Rights & Why Are Animal Rights Important?

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Legal protection of animal rights would radically alter the US food system while providing benefits to human health and environmental sustainability.

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7 Ways You Can Help End Pet Homelessness

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Millions of pets end up in shelters every year across the United States. Being a pet-friendly community starts with working to end pet homelessness.

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You're driving your car when you see a dog on the side of the road. With a sinking feeling, you realize they are alone. What should you do?

This is a wrenching scenario for all who care about animals. After all, what if your own pet were standing there? Use our guidelines for providing safe and effective help.

Don't cause an accident

You can't help an animal if you become injured in the process. Look in your rear-view mirror before braking, turn on your signal, pull your car completely off the road, turn off the ignition, set the parking brake, and put on the hazard lights. If you have emergency flares, prepare to use them.

Catch them safely

Safety first

A strange, frightened, and possibly sick or injured animal can behave unpredictably. A sudden move on your part, even opening your car door, can spook them and cause them to bolt-possibly right onto the highway. If the animal looks or acts threatening, or if you feel uneasy about the situation, stay in your car.

If possible, restrain the animal. Create a barrier or use a carrier, leash, piece of cloth, or length of rope to keep the animal in the area. Signal approaching vehicles to slow down if you cannot confine the animal, or divert traffic around them if they appear to be injured and is still on the roadway.

Use caution

Use caution when approaching the animal. Should you succeed in getting close enough to capture them, you stand a good chance of being scratched or bitten.

When moving toward the animal, speak calmly to reassure them. Make sure they can see you at all times as you approach, and perhaps entice them to come to you by offering strong-smelling food such as canned tuna or dried liver.

Lure them into your car

If you are certain you can get help from animal control very soon, try to lure the animal into your car with food, close the door and wait for help. In most cases it isn't a good idea to attempt to drive somewhere with a strange dog unrestrained in your car; they may become frantic or aggressive. Cats may do the same, as well as lodge themselves under the car seat, and it can be dangerous trying to extract them.

Call for backup

If you're not able to safely restrain the animal, call the local animal control agency (in rural areas, call the police). Do so whether or not the animal is injured, and whether or not they are wearing an identification tag. Leave your phone number with the dispatcher, and try to get an estimate of how long it may take someone to respond. If possible, stay on the scene to keep an eye on the dog or cat until help arrives. Make sure you report to authorities precisely where the animal is by using road names, mile markers or landmarks.

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If you found a dog or cat, here are some tips to help reunite those pets with their owners or help a stray dog or cat.

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“Change the game”: Supermodel Halima Aden reinvents modest fashion

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Muslim supermodel to design for modest fashion brand.

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The True Cost of Fast Fashion | EcoSense for Living | PBS LearningMedia

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Journalist, fashion lover, and expert shopper Elizabeth Cline walks us through her journey to discover the high environmental and human cost of the fashion industry, while sharing tips for how to better "shop for the planet."

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Young people think vaping is safe, but schools want them to know the dangers

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School staff and parents work together to help teens learn about the dangers of vaping.

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Know Vape, Nic Sick: The Dangers of Youth Vaping | PBS LearningMedia

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KNOW VAPE is a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of youth vaping in Idaho and includes the documentary "Nic Sick: The Dangers of Youth Vaping," which follows Idaho teens as they talk about how and why they started vaping and the consequences they experienced, including physical, mental, and social.

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BrainPOP - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology

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Community Conversations | Teens & Tobacco | PBS LearningMedia

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Adolescents and young adults are picking up the addictive nicotine habit. In 2015, 25.3 percent of US high school youth currently used at least one tobacco product, e-cigarettes being the most common. The trends raise questions that Teens and Tobacco Use: A Community Conversation explores in a special televised program. Videos and discussion questions in this gallery are appropriate for teaching middle and high school students about tobacco products and the dangers of using them.

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Is Video Game Addiction Real? | Above the Noise | PBS LearningMedia

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As the video game Fortnite is taking over the world, there's a rising panic that some gamers are getting full-on addicted, with headlines like "Parenting the Fortnite Addict" and "I almost lost my sons to Fortnite" popping up all over the place.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.