Published: April 23, 2008 05:04 pm            

Everyone can do more

We’ve come a long way since 20 million people across America celebrated the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.

That was the same year the Environmental Protection Agency came into being, and the agency’s Web site recalls that cities were buried in smog, and polluted rivers were catching fire.

The agency established regulations aimed at requiring business and industry to clean up their acts.

At the same time, average Americans began to change wasteful habits. Many started turning off lights when leaving a room, and we began to recycle, reducing the amount of trash our communities were sending to landfills.

More and more, people are taking notice of the need to protect our planet for future generations, and they’re rolling up their sleeves to take action.

Local third-graders recently competed to see which class could collect the most plastic bags for recycling. This past weekend, volunteers gathered for a riverbank cleanup along the Eel and Wabash rivers. Others joined to clean up Canal Park in Delphi, and the Cass County Solid Waste District gathered old tires during its annual Tire Amnesty Day.

We can, of course, do more.

One of the best things we can do is plant a tree.

The National Arbor Day Foundation notes that trees are like the lungs of the planet. They breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.

Additionally, they provide habitat for birds and other wildlife, and they reduce erosion by storing water and breaking the force of rain as it falls. Trees also absorb sound and reduce noise pollution, and they can keep your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

We can turn down our thermostats in the winter and turn them up in the summer. Experts say a difference of just one degree can reduce energy costs by about 4 percent.

We can use ceiling fans throughout the year. By reversing their direction in the winter, the blades push air down, helping to keep rooms warmer.

We can repair leaky faucets. One drip per second can waste as much as 10 gallons of water a week.

We can cut water use in half by installing low-flow faucets, and the use of a low-flow toilet can cut water use by 70 percent.

Let’s all do our part.

        

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