msc108finalproject

[msc108finalproject]

Our planet needs YOUR help! We only have one planet and ours is dying. Human activity is the number one cause in our planet’s slow but steady decay. The good news is there are many ways to help revive our planet and make it sustainable for future generations to come.

Here is some food for thought! 

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Ten Ways You Can Help the Planet!

Bike more! Drive less! Or carpool 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 

Conserve Water & Electricity 

Choose Sustainable Seafood

Plant A Tree

Energy Efficient Lightbulbs 

Choose Nontoxic Chemicals 

Educate

Volunteer

Buy Less Plastic 

(realsimple) (wwf) (50waystohelp) (NOAA)

https://www.projectkolika.org/post/2016/08/02/more-tips-to-help-our-planet

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What Does Our Planet’s Future Look Like?

The future looks grim for our planet if we do not start to help today. In just over 40 years, the world has witnessed 60% decline in wildlife populations across land, sea and freshwater and is heading towards a shocking fall of two-thirds by 2020. This has happened in less than two generations. 170 million hectares of additional deforestation will occur by 2030 – the size of Mongolia – driven by large- and small-scale livestock farming and soy and palm oil production. (Lambertini) Human activity is the number one largest contributing factor to our planet’s downfall.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a35783/nasa-underground-water-supply/

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How Can Our Diet Impact the Earth?

Animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all the world’s transportation systems combined. (PETA)

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9443825/breeding-super-cows-less-methane/

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The Figures of a Meat Diet

 * Producing just one hamburger uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles. Of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the U.S., more than one-third are devoted to raising animals for food. (PETA)

* A typical pig factory generates the same amount of raw waste as a city of 12,000 people. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, raising animals for food is the number-one source of water pollution. (PETA)

* Of all agricultural land in the U.S., 87 percent is used to raise animals for food. That’s 45 percent of the total land mass in the U.S. About 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to produce feed for animals raised for food. The meat industry is directly responsible for 85 percent of all soil erosion in the U.S. (PETA)

* More than 80 percent of the corn we grow and more than 95 percent of the oats are fed to livestock. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people—more than the entire human population on Earth. According to the Worldwatch Institute, “Roughly 2 of every 5 tons of grain produced in the world is fed to livestock, poultry, or fish; decreasing consumption of these products, especially of beef, could free up massive quantities of grain and reduce pressure on land.” (PETA)

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Vegetarianism: Help Save Our Planet!

Changing your diet to a vegetarian one will immensely help our planet! Being vegetarian for just one year can save the same amount of emissions as taking a small family car off the road for six months. (vegsoc) Eating a vegetarian diet means 2.5x fewer carbon emissions than a meat diet.

A vegetarian diet requires two-and-a-half times less the amount of land needed to grow food, compared to a meat-based diet.

When we give up meat, we are giving up the non-sustainable fishing industries and shark finning — two significant problems in our ecosystems. Farmed fishing leads to disease, anti-biotics in our food, as well as harm to the fish population. Shark finning kills millions of sharks, and when we don’t have sharks, the food chain becomes imbalanced.

https://oldwayspt.org/resources/oldways-vegetarianvegan-diet-pyramid

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Ways you can reduce your carbon footprint!

Recycling is my favorite way of helping our environment! It doesn’t have to be hard either and goes further than just sorting your trash. Second-hand shopping is a fantastic way to help our environment. Fast fashion is a wasteful unethical way to life. Second-hand shopping not only allows you to find fresh pieces that not everyone has but also helps our environment! Go green and shop at Goodwill for clothes, furniture, art! 

Making the switch from plastic to reusable is another excellent way to help our environment. Reusable water bottles, straws, and bags are a perfect way to help reduce our plastic. Did you know most plastic that isn’t recycled ends up in the ocean and takes form with trash gyres in the Pacific? Or even worse, marine life can get stuck in plastic or also end up eating it and dying. By reducing plastic in our everyday life, we can help lessen these problems! 

Biking is an excellent source of exercise and can help reduce carbon emissions! If biking to your destination is too far, try to use public transportation or carpool with a friend! There are lots of easy ways to help reduce our carbon footprint!

https://worldculturenetwork.com/how-to-reduce-the-carbon-footprint/