How an individual can do his/her part in saving the Planet Earth well-being

It is an irony to have rock concerts on 7th July 2007 all over the world to save the earth.Instead, energy - electricity was used extensively, and plastic bottles littered after the concert shows. Energy was not conserved, and the use of plastic were not re-cycled by the concert audiences, but left to be collected by dustmen and not individuals. "SAVE THE EARTH" are everyone duties to achieve by re-cycling paper,plastic,metals,and even waste food turning into fertilisers; conservation of energy : water, electricity,natural gas,petroleum. Use less water ,and car-pooling are individual's part to save world's natural resources, and these will deplete maybe in 100 years time. Handphones are causing unneccessary floods all over the world, maybe ( I think , maybe scientists need to find out whether the microwaves triggered the clouds to change the weathers conditions}.

A woman that I met camped out on a beach to make sure the baby turtles when they hatched would be guided by the moon rather than a casino. She did this as a part of an environmental group.

I am looking for similar activities to do with my 5 year old son. I would like him to have the feeling he really can make a difference. I have inquired with a number of groups, but have been unable to find anything like the turtle activity. Most seem to just want money. If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them.

Thanks!

Bring him to a local zoo near you, and there will some
kid's activities participation in a "safe" playground areas.

Picking up trash along a river or in a park is a small start.
Have your 5 year old help you recycle.
Plant something and watch it grow.
Put out bird seed, make peanut butter pinecones.
Making a difference does not have to be this big grand thing, look at live earth (not so grand, but it was big), begin habits now that will last a lifetime and then all of us will see big changes.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

in that order.

Think about every purchase, do you need it, particularly regarding replacing items that aren't broken. Can you source a re-used item if you do need it, and only finally can you recycle the old one.

i think that rock for the world opened up a lot of minds to the hope that they can do something and, for that if for nothing else, yeah, i think it was a good call. i didn't watch or listen to any of it because i was, well, ok ... i was out hugging trees. but i say you have to hand it to the organizers for putting the idea out to a world of people who might not have thought about it otherwise.

I really do appreciate your help, and I agre that there is a large benefit from daily/ easily accomplished environmental activites. Our family regularly picks up trash, recycles, plant plants, and we even put out peanut butter pinecones.

I thought the turtle activity sounded marvelous, in that he would be directly responsible for saving the lives of turtles. It is a relationship he can understand. We already camp on the beach so I dont see much danger there. Also it was not a manufactured event (he can tell the difference), the turtles really do need help. Also he loves helping animals. I thought something like this would be very special to him.

Why not see if you and your son can volunteer as marsh monitors? If you're near a beach, there's probably such a program.

Here in the Great Lakes area, my husband, son and I spend several enjoyable evenings in the spring identifying and counting frog calls, and sending the data in to a larger database kept by Environment Canada and the Environmental Protection Agency. The frog part is easy and fun--there are only 13 species in our area and the program supplies a CD of their calls. As newbies, we chose wetlands that can be monitored from roadsides and other access points. If you're a more skilled birder than I am, you may also wish to monitor nesting birds in your wetland(s). Here is website on the Great Lakes program: http://www.bsc-eoc.org/mmpmain.html

Thanks! I live in Silicon valley and there are marshes by the bay. I will look into that imediately!

I'v got one!!!!! The Elkhorn Slough (near Monterey, CA)needs help Monitoring Shorebird Migration on Novemeber 8th. Thanks again for your help!

Plant something and let it grows: Good idea. Harmless
for a kid to appreciate Nature. You can do :

(1) Get several green peas or beans. Place some cotton wool soaked with clean tap water and put in a open container or a open plate. Sprinkle some beans on the cotton wool (used for First-Aid treatment).Notice something within a few days time, keep a plate indoor, and the peas or beans will grow into bean sprouts.

(2) Get a glass bottle, and fill it with clean tap water.
Place some tadpoles, and they will grow into small frogs. A little bit of distasteful suggestion.?

mpramanik, glad you found something worthwhile!

Over on the east coast, in Maryland and Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation encourages volunteers to 'Oyster Garden' to restore the oyster population in Chesapeake Bay. They are given baby oysters (called spat) on old oyster shells to grow for about 9 months, and then the oysters are distributed to restoration reefs all around the bay. They are relatively low maintenance pets (they don't move much and can filter their own food!) and its pretty neat to compare the before and after size of the oysters. I've noticed many families participating in this sort of activity.

http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=action_outdoors_oysters_md_gettingst...

Yes, my son is very excited about helping out with the birds. Although, I wonder how the wild fires are going to effect the bird migration. I would imagine it would have some effect.

That sounds like a marvelous activity through the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. I wish we could go to that too! Thanks for your concern!

Speaking of helping out the birds, check out this website focused on things we can do to save the boreal forests of Canada, which would save "our" birds in the US at the same time:

http://www.borealbirds.org/index.shtml

Check out Jeff Well's Book Birder's Conservation Handbook (Princeton Press). Dunno why I couldn't get the touchstone to work.

Practice a recyling "habit" within your household. Have separate bins with strong garbage PVC bags inside the bins marked:

"PAPER" - Old Newspapers, Unwanted Catalogs, anything "paper"materials.

"METAL" - Used canned drinks cans, processed foods cans, unused "metallic" equipment ( old computers, etc)

"PLASTIC" - Used detergent bottles, anything "plastic", PVC

"GLASS" - Beer bottles, wine bottles, sauces bottles, etc

"FOOD" - waste foods ( can be processed into manure)
put the waste foods separately in PVC garbage bags.

Organise a recycling collection center within your neighbourhood estate's councillers. Money can be generated from selling the recycled materials.(Good Civic Movement if there is no such collection center.)

I just try to make a habit out of the little things: buying local/small business when possible, buying fair trade or sustainably grown/made products, recycling, using a refillable water bottle, and riding my bike to work when possible.

The Union of Concerned Scientists published The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices about 10 years ago. I'm not sure if there has been an updated version or not. Perhaps some of the advice may be dated, but much of it may not be.

The number one thing (I think) that contributes to helping the environment is reducing your consumption. Don't buy things you don't need!

How cool that LED lights can now be used outside and in ceilings: they don't attract bugs and they can be dimmed!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/science/earth/30degrees.html?_r=1&em

(I live in Ann Arbor, and I didn't realize that the streetlights downtown were LED!! )