Environment Speech

A Few of Our Problems:
• Overpopulation
• Over consumption
• Over harvesting (wood, fish, ex)
• Non-renewable energy
• Toxic waste
• Greenhouse gases
• Ozone depletion
• Landfills and leaching
• Plastic, Styrofoam, non-biodegradable stuff
• Water pollution
• Over-using ground water (and all water)
• Polluting ground water
• Desertification
• Invasive species
• Too much meat
• Treatment of animals
• Deforestation
• Habitat Loss
• Biodiversity loss
• Genetic engineering
• Monocultures
• Pesticides
• Poverty
• Poaching
• Illegal animal trade
• Humans


Global Warming:
You think there’s nice weather?
Maybe here there is.
• But what about the hurricanes?
• What about the droughts and floods?
• What about the melting ice caps?
• Melting Ice caps means more fresh water in the ocean, which alters currents and messes up climate.
• More water in the ocean means rising sea levels.










Coal: The biggest polluter and the widest-used source for electricity in America.

If it’s so bad, why do we keep using it?
Because it’s easy to find!
We’re just too lazy to change…

Invasive species are a huge problem
Pampus grass
Star thistle
Scotch Broom
Kudzu
Climbing ferns
Eucalyptus
Zebra mussels
Cane toads-Austraila
Wild Boar
European Starling

Humans


We are in the 6th mass extinction ever recorded! Remember the dinosaurs? Well, humans are about as destructive as that comet, it seems.

30,000 species are lost every year
That means three species per hour

And honestly, though these species have their benefits to humans, they all have a right to live.

Maybe this will put you in perspective. If all the humans on the planet suddenly disappeared, the planet would go on living. It would probably be better off considering what we’re doing to it. But if all the bugs went extinct, the planet would go into shock and die. Not even all bugs, but something as simple as ants. We can’t live without them. They can do just fine without us.


WHAT CAN YOU DO?
• Turn off lights and computers and everything when you’re not using them.
• Unplug stuff. Even when they’re turned off, computers, TVs and everything is slowly draining electricity (hey, it helps your wallet too).
• Buy Energy Star Appliances.
• If you’re remodeling your house, go with a green plan.
• Carpool, bike, or take the train.
• Don’t eat so much meat. If you feed 12 pounds of grain to a cow, you get 1 pound of beef back. All that food could be put to a better use. And the conditions these animals are raised in is absolutely dreadful. And Americans eat way too much meat. That’s one of the main causes of clogged arteries, heart attacks, and obeseness.
• Buy sustainably harvested fish, etc.
• Buy organic food.
• Buy re-usable grocery bags