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Article: What's So Great About Going Green?

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Article: What's So Great About Going Green?

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by Joann. Joann Wonders, " How can you go green? " Thanks for WONDERing with us, Joann!

Do you have a green thumb? If someone asks you that, they're not wondering if your thumb is actually the color green. They're wondering if you're good with plants. Can you make "green" things like plants ?

In today's world, the color green is often associated with the Earth and its environment. So many of Earth's living things - from plants to trees to the grass in your front lawn - are green. That's why the movement to protect our environment - called environmentalism - is often referred to as the "green" movement or "going green."

The overall goal of environmentalism is to protect and conserve the Earth's environment. Everything we do has an impact on the environment - either good or bad. The environmentalists encourage us to pursue actions that will help rather than harm the environment.

Environmentalism can take many forms and concentrate on numerous issues. For example, attempts to reduce and strategies to increase of materials are just two common forms of environmentalism in action.

As more and more people are made aware of the effects of their actions on the environment, they seek ways to reduce the negative effects of these actions. "Going green" has become a popular saying as people take steps to help preserve the Earth for future generations.

These actions may be as simple as using a grocery bag instead of paper or plastic bags. Or they may be more complex, such as purchasing a car to reduce the burning of fuels.

"Going green" takes on new importance each year on Earth Day. As we celebrate the Earth and its natural resources, it's appropriate to think about what choices we can make to have a positive impact on the environment and reduce the negative impacts.

If you need some encouragement to "go green," consider some of these interesting facts:

The size of the world's tropical rainforests decline by 1.5 acres every second because of land development.

This reduction in the size of rainforests leads to the destruction of over 130 plant, animal and insect species every day - that's about 50,000 species per year that become extinct!

Approximately 36 of the 50 United States expect some type of water shortage by 2013.

saves energy: experts say 20 cans can be made out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can from new material.

A television set can run for about 3 hours on the energy saved by just one aluminum can.

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by Joann. Joann Wonders, " How can you go green? " Thanks for WONDERing with us, Joann! Do you have a green thumb? If someone asks you that, they're not wondering if your thumb is actually the color green. They're wondering if you're good with plants.

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Article: Companies Cut Down on Millions of Straws, After Receiving Girl Scout's Letter

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Article: Companies Cut Down on Millions of Straws, After Receiving Girl Scout's Letter

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Newsela | Companies cut down on millions of plastic straws, after Girl Scout's letter

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Because of a Girl Scout's letter, companies including Alaska Airlines, Dignity and Farmer Brothers are reducing or eliminating their use of disposable plastic straws.

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Please listen to whichever episode inspires you!

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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Ebook: Questions and Answers About Saving the Earth

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Ebook: Questions and Answers About Saving the Earth

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Read Curious Questions and Answers About... Saving the Earth on Epic

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Read Curious Questions and Answers About... Saving the Earth on Epic

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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This is a video created by other 3rd grade students!

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This is a video created by other 3rd grade students!

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Sustainability for kids: fun ways to go green!

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"Renewable Energy Development in the California Desert" by mypubliclands is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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"Polluted Water at Dakshinkali" by ankraut is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Article: How Does Pollution Affect the Earth?

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Article: How Does Pollution Affect the Earth?

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A sea otter carefully uses its paws to free itself from a plastic bag that's tangled loosely around its body. This sea otter isn't the only animal to have a dangerous run-in with litter: It's estimated that about half of all marine mammals have eaten or gotten trapped by plastic.

A LITTLE POLLUTION = BIG PROBLEMS

Plastic pollution is different from paper or food waste because it never fully decomposes, or breaks down into pieces that can be reused by nature. Instead, plastic often ends up in water, where it releases toxic chemicals and can be mistaken for food. In a study conducted by the journal Science, scientists estimate that 8.8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, threatening over 700 species of marine animals.

Plastic trash isn't the Earth's only pollution problem. Oil accidentally spilling into the sea, agriculture products like fertilizers and pesticides seeping into the soil, and even excess noise and light can pollute the environment.

For instance, the sounds made by ships mess with whale calls, and bright lights can confuse animals such as birds and newly hatched sea turtles.

CLEANING UP OUR ACT

Once released into the environment, pollution can affect wildlife habitats for years. It's easy to blame factories, but some of the mess comes from everyday human activities. For instance, car exhaust fumes and excess garbage can seriously harm Earth's health.

You can probably clean your room in a couple of hours. (At least we hope you can!) But you can't cram Earth's pollution problem into your closet. We all need to pitch in and clean up the planet. Look at it this way: Just like your room, it's always better to prevent the Earth from getting dirty in the first place. Check out these tips for cutting down on your own personal waste.

Recycle: The process of turning stuff that would otherwise be thrown away as trash into new products

Compost: Decaying material, like leftover food scraps, that adds nutrients to soil and helps plants grow

Decompose: The process of breaking down something into parts that can be reused by nature; for example, fallen leaves decompose to become soil.

Biodegradable: Something usually used by people that decomposes; for example, unlike a plastic spoon, a biodegradable spoon won't stay in the environment for thousands of years-it'll decompose.

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Find out how pollution from plastic, light, oil, and other trash affects Earth.

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Help clean up the park! Your job is to sort the stuff people throw away and put it in the proper bin. Is it recycling, compost, or trash? Get facts about climate change and tips on how you can help save the earth.

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Help clean up the park! Your job is to sort the stuff people throw away and put it in the proper bin. Is it recycling, compost, or trash? Get facts about climate change and tips on how you can help save the earth.