Six Simple Ways to Go Green Essay Example for Free

Six Simple Ways to Go Green Essay These days it seems you can`t even go two hours without seeing or hearing something about being green, whether it`s an advertisement for an Earth-friendly product, news about an environmentally-sound investment, a report about a business or community that`s taking steps to be more eco-conscious, or just general advice on how to save the planet. Going green isn`t just the latest trend though; it`s something we all must do to conserve resources, combat climate change, and preserve our planet for generations to come. Here are six easy-but essential-things you can do to green your lifestyle (and save a little cash too:) 1. Green Clean Your House: Conventional household cleaners and bug-killers can contain as many as 200 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals. These harmful toxins are dangerous for you, your children and your animal companions, as well as harmful to the environment. Chemicals in cleaning products have even been implicated in Parkinson`s disease, infertility, brain damage, cancer, and other health problems. It`s safer and greener to buy only organic, all-natural cleaning products. Many natural, cruelty-free cleaning products are available in many supermarkets and drugstores. Thrifty cleaners can also make their own green cleaning supplies with everyday, inexpensive ingredients like baking soda, borax, cornstarch, and white distilled vinegar, which is effective for killing bacteria and germs. 2. Garden with a Green Thumb: Americans use approximately 80 million pounds of pesticides in their gardens every year. Like chemical-cleaners, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers pose a threat to you and your loved ones, and the environment in general. Instead, use compost and plant native plants, which have adapted to the environment and require less water and attention, in your garden. By composting you can recycle your yard and kitchen wastes (even your dinner scraps) to fertilize your own garden. This saves you time and money and helps the environment. 3. Don`t Be in the Dark About Green Light Bulbs: Compact fluorescent light bulbs are energy-efficient, long-lasting, and cost-effective. They can be purchased at most hardware stores and cost under $4 each. If you use compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of standard incandescent ones, you`ll not only help save the environment, but you`ll also save around $30 on your electric bill. 4. Curb Consumerism: Do you really need more knick-knacks, techno-toys, fad fashions, and stuff that will ultimately land in a landfill? Cutting back on unnecessary purchases not only helps save landfill space (and all the materials needed to make the must-have merchandise), but it will also save you money for more important things. When you do go shopping bring along reusable canvas shopping bags. Every year Americans use up to 100 billion plastic bags, which equals about 12 million barrels of oil. Some stores offer a small discount if you bring your own bag, and by not using a non-biodegradable, petroleum-based plastic bag, you can help save wildlife. Thousands of animals choke to death on plastic bags, thinking they are food. 5. Eat Green: If you want to be green, it`s important to eat green-vegetarian, that is. Meatless Mondays or Thursdays, or what have you, are a great start. The less meat you eat the more you help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, curb pollution, and conserve water, land, fossil fuels, and other resources. Consider this: *A United Nations report revealed that the meat, egg, and dairy industries are responsible for more greenhouse gasses than all the cars, SUVs, ships, tractor trailers, trains, and jumbo jets combined. According to the Live Earth concert handbook, refusing meat is the single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Researchers with the University of Chicago even report that going vegan is 50% more effective in stopping global warming than switching to a hybrid car. *The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that run-off from factory farms pollutes our waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. The EPA also reports that about 80 percent of ammonia emissions in America come from animal waste. *It takes more than 4,000 gallons of water per day to produce food for a meat-eater; only 300 gallons of water a day are needed to produce food for a vegan. Nearly 80 percent of the agricultural land in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food. E: The Environmental Magazine has reported that more than one-third of all fossil fuels produced in the U.S. are used to raise animals for food. 6. Buy Local: If you buy locally-grown fruits and veggies rather than produce that has been trucked across the country, you can help conserve fossil fuels and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and other harmful pollutants released into the air. Buying produce from a local farmer`s market also supports local farmers, who often do not use as many harmful chemicals and waxes on the food they grow. You can usually find your local produce cheaper at the Farmer`s Market than in the grocery store.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Answers :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Question : On giving Jem and Scout air rifles, Atticus tells them that to kill a mockingbird is a sin. Miss Maudie explains that mockingbirds only do one thing, and that is to sing their hearts out for us. Who are the mockingbirds in the story, and how have they been ‘killed’ by the society around them? Ideas : The two main mockingbirds are Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, but there are others within the storyline. Boo Radley has been shut away from the world by his father and then later his brother through an incident which occurred fifteen years earlier when he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. The suggestion is that he had gone mad and should have been committed to an asylum. His influence in our story is all-good in that he gives gifts to the children, repairs Jem’s pants when they are caught on the fence and, of course, saves the children’s lives when Bob Ewell attacks them. Sheriff Tate recognizes the vulnerability of Boo and that any publicity would destroy him, so he says that the death was an accident. Tom Robinson is actually killed and his death is a sin committed by the whole white community of Maycomb. All he tried to do was to abide by the rules of the society in which he lived and when a black person is asked to do a chore he obeys. The main enemies of birds are cats and Lee describes Mayella as being like ‘a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tale’ and the bird she is focusing on is of course, Tom Robinson. Lee’s description is that of a cat stalking its prey. Jem to some degree was also a mockingbird. He went with Scout to the black church in order to please Calpurnia, and the Rev. Sykes. Jem suffers in that his youthful idealism is shattered by the verdict given by the all-white jury at the trial. The pet-dog of Maycomb is called Tim Johnson, a bird-dog, who one day acts strangely because he has caught rabies. He gave pleasure to the townsfolk, but suddenly he now causes fear. So much so that even the mockingbirds are silent. Atticus shoots the dog for the good of the whole town. Question : Discrimination rears its ugly head in many forms within this story. Give examples of this. Ideas : The obvious discrimination is that of the dominant white community over the subservient black community. They are not given the same opportunities regarding education, illustrated by the visit to the Negro church where only a few can read.

Diets Make You Fat Essay

The United States of America is a nation known for our obsession over â€Å"big things†. Americans have the biggest cars, the biggest houses, and now, the biggest people. Obesity rates in the United States has skyrocketed and more than one-third of American adults are obese. Some researchers suspect that by 2030, more than half the population will be obese unless Americans change what they consume and how much they exercise. Many Americans are now realizing the deadly effects of obesity and are turning to diets to stabilize and maintain a healthy weight. But for some people, this cultural solution to the national problem does not work at all, and even gives reverse affects. Although dieting can help an individual to lose weight, it can also lead to gaining of weight because of hormones, the dieting mentality, and our culture as Americans. Although people see dieting as the sure-fire way to losing pounds, scientists have found that dieting actually changes the way their brain and metabolism work. When a person starts a diet, their brain begins to send hormones that tell the body to hoard body fat. This makes it harder to lose weight because your body thinks that it is lacking food, and therefore, relies on body fat. These same hormones also trigger food craving in the brain, making that individual hungry constantly and eventually succumb to eating again (Naish, 1) . The dieting mentality is also a huge reason why diets can have reverse affects. Have you ever gone to dinner with a friend, who ordered a huge plate of pasta because tomorrow was the start of her diet? Or, have you ever heard someone say they were going for ice cream because they â€Å"earned† it by going to the gym that day? This makes it so diets are nothing more than a storm of restrictive eating patterns, shame, and guilt. A person on a diet may lose the pounds they wanted, but as soon as they reached their goal, they start to fall in the same patterns again and gain the weight they lost, or even more (Johnson, 1). Lastly, our own culture fights against us. We are a nation of fast food and junk food, and are always reminded of it through advertisements. People cannot go a day without seeing at least one advertisement for the new McDonald’s burger or the new sugary junk food that’s available at the nearest grocery store. These companies are exact in the business of advertising their products, and most of the time, target young children to create a â€Å"brand-loyalty† through happy commercials and toy giveaways. We have been manipulated by these companies, and it’s very hard not to indulge in their products. This culture of ours needs to change before we improve our health and stop obesity. In conclusion, diets in America can be too blame for making us â€Å"fat†. Our own bodies, minds, and culture wreak havoc against us and make it very hard to shed those pounds that one wants to lose. Some Americans turn to deadly diets as an answer, such as fad-diets, and also diets that lead to bulimia. However, there are diets that actually work, such as the dieting by lowering portions. Whatever the diet may be, Americans must face the cruel reality that their lives are in jeopardy and must fight off the urge to eat fast food and junk food, and exercise regularly. Or else, we have to face the consequences of the future.

Essay Cinematography in Schindlers List - 1498 Words

The paper I decided to do was on â€Å"Schindler’s List†. I have seen this movie four times and yet had not really noticed the many ways in which the director, Steven Spielberg, used the camera to emphasis a â€Å"million words†. It was interesting, when watching this film from this stand point, how I was able to see the importance of the way the director uses sounds and color to make some much significant points of a film. I decided to emphasis the way certain close ups and facial expressions were used to show very significant emotions of the characters in the film. In these particular scenes, no words had to be used. The camera focuses on the character involved in the scene and one can tell exactly what is going on in the mind of the character.†¦show more content†¦The relieved boy runs off. The next scene is a powerful scene. The camera does a close up of Goeth looking into a mirror. He is adjusting his hair. He seems to slip into a dream world. He envisions himself the powerful emperor that Schindler describes. He whispers â€Å" I pardon you†. The camera then focuses on Goeth eyes. Without saying anything, the viewer knows that Goeth is far too gone. He doesn’t have the power described by Schindler. He is a mad man. Another scene with Goeth that uses camera scene only and silence to depict so much is the scene where all the Jewish is in the hot trains. Schindler feels compassion toward these suffering people. He asks that some hoses be provided in order to cool the passengers. The SS guards think, because of their own perversions, that Schindler is trying to be cruel. They think he is trying to give the Jewish false hope. Schindler laughs a long with them. He then asks that his very long hoses be brought so that they will reach the end of the train cars. The next scene shows Schindler spraying the cars at the end of the line. The camera shows a close up of Amon Goeth. Goeth’s expression, without any words, shows a man that is very confused. You can tell that Goeth now sees that Schindler is not being cruel. He sees a man that is powerful, compassionate and a member of the Nazi party. Goeth’s expression seems to ask how I think the director was attempting to show that perhaps there was more to this monster, butShow MoreRelatedThe Holocaust : The Most Tragic And Shameful Event1330 Words   |  6 Pagesalthough, a closer analysis of different pieces of art like the film, Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, a graphic novel, Maus, written by Art Spiegelman, and another film, Life Is Beautiful, directed by Roberto Benigni, reveals that art based on a catastrophic event can be ethically acceptable if it reaches equilibrium with fictional content and historical actuality. 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