Going green, do we care?

By Phoebe Ferguson

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​Contents
Introduction
The Benefits of going green
Statistics
Reasons why we don't care
What we can do
Conclusion

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 ​Introduction
Going green is the direction the population needs to head in to help stop global warming. Many
people feel that they can’t help or they don’t know what to do to help. The global businesses are
creating a huge amount of emissions everyday due to the growing population and growing
demand for goods and services. The effects of global warming are showing everyday, but not
enough of the global population are feeling the effects and therefore do not try to cut down
emissions. “​Going green”​ means to pursue knowledge and practices that can lead to more
environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles. This can help
protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for current and future generations​.
Coral reefs are dying. Forests are crumbling. Arctic animals, such as polar bears, are losing the
sea ice they call home.

Climate change threatens our agriculture, health, water supply, infrastructure and more. No part
of the world is immune from this growing epidemic. In this essay I will look at the problems
global warming is causing and how to find long term solutions. I am going to research how the
population will be educated and what could be done to make the general population become
more interested in wanting to find a solution. The statistics are shocking but most people have
no idea about these growing problems.

Throughout my essay I will talk about the different areas of going green, and how it will benefit
the earth. I will also look into why people don't want to go green, and easy ways to reduce your
carbon footprint.

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 The Benefits of going green
Many people don’t realise the amount of small ways they can go green without impacting the
way they go about on a daily basis. Purchasing ​eco-friendly vehicles helps to decrease the
amount of pollutants that get into the air. This makes both the indoors and outdoors have
cleaner air for people breathe. This means people will now be breathing better air everyday. This
allows people's health to be improved and therefore means less spending on insurance and
hospital bills. This is the way the world wants to go due to the growing amount of viruses and
illnesses circulating. When going green, you are reducing your carbon footprint. By reducing
pollution, we are able to reduce the amount of energy that is being used. This allows the
environment become greener and a better place to live in, with less global warming.
Going green has the power to help save the rainforests. Every year a percentage of the main
rainforests in the world goes towards creating new roads and clearing land for agriculture. This
is happening because there is such a huge demand for this. The trees are being cut down in mass
amounts to supply paper. These trees are meant to act as an air purifier for millions of animals
and humans, if these trees continue to be cut down we will start running out of clean oxygen.
Nowadays people use a huge amount of different products on themselves. A lot of these products
have toxic ingredients in them thats are bad for your health and for the environment. People
need to be more aware of what products they use and start using green cleaning products. This
will benefit the earth as well as yourself.

Statistics

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The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 0.9 degrees Celsius since the late 19th
century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions
into the atmosphere. Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the five warmest
years on record taking place since 2010. 2016 was the warmest year on record. The oceans have
absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters of ocean showing warming of
more than 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969​. ​Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around
the world including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, and Africa.

Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, has
nearly doubled then the last century and is accelerating slightly every year. The number of
record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of
record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed
increasing numbers of intense rainfall. The statistics are going to continue to rise, quicker and
quicker if something is not done soon. The sea levels will continue to rise causing catastrophic
flooding in major cities and countries such as the Maldives, and the whole south coast of
America
​How climate change i​s affecting the global temperature since
1880

​Reasons why we don't care

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The main reason why people haven't started to change how they live their life is because they
don’t feel the effects of climate change first hand. Many people believe climate change is a
distant problem, but its not. It is happening now and fast ​but maybe it's not happening fast
enough for people to really start caring​. A lot of people think that we won’t bear the brunt of
climate change until 2050 or 2100. This is where the problem is and it shows that we aren’t
properly educated on how fast this problem is growing. ​Climate change doesn’t dominate
elections. It doesn’t dominate headlines, airtime and social media. It doesn’t dominate
consumer choices. It doesn’t even dominate Google searches. There are occasional spasms of
attention, usually when some international conference convenes. These conferences get airtime
and this is the reason the population isn't completely in the dark about climate change but it's
just not enough. Climate change will be a major challenge in the best-case scenario and
something truly terrifying in the worst case. What we do now will significantly determine
whether the future unfolds closer to the former or the latter. In any scenario, the poorest and
weakest will suffer most.

If we’re not here in 10,000 years, it’s going to be because... we

underestimated the odds of our future pains and overestimated the value of
our present pleasures.
— Dan Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

What can we do?

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There are a lot of solutions to Climate change. People need to be made aware that even small
things can help reduce climate change. ​Power your home with renewable energy. Choose a
utility company that generates at least half its power from wind or solar and has been certified
by ​Green-e Energy​, an organization that vets renewable energy options. If that isn’t possible for
you, take a look at your electric bill; many utilities now list other ways to support renewable
sources on their monthly statements and websites.

Heating and cooling are among the biggest uses of energy, heating and air-conditioning account
for almost half of home energy use. by sealing drafts and ensuring it’s adequately insulated
therefore reducing the amount of heating and cooling. People also should start to invest in
energy-efficient appliances. Since they were first implemented nationally in 1987, efficiency
standards for dozens of appliances and products have kept 2.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide out
of the air. That’s about the same amount as the annual carbon pollution coughed up by nearly
440 million cars.

Reduce water waste, saving water reduces carbon pollution, too. That's because it takes a lot of
energy to pump, heat, and treat your water. Taking shorter showers, and turning off the tap
while brushing your teeth can make a big difference. Consumers need to be more aware of what
they buy and actually eat the food they buy, and make less of it meat. Approximately 10 percent
of U.S. energy use goes into growing, processing, packaging, and shipping food and about 40
percent of it just winds up in the landfill. And since livestock products are among the most
resource-intensive to produce, eating meat-free meals can make a big difference, too.

Buy better bulbs, LED lightbulbs use up to 80 percent less energy than conventional
incandescents. They’re also cheaper in the long run, so it’s a good solution for everyone. Pulling
out plugs can also be great for preventing climate change. Leaving plugs in all day can create a
lot of unnecessary power wastage. So don't leave fully charged devices plugged into outlets,
unplug rarely used devices or plug them into power strips and timers, and adjust computers and
monitors to automatically power down to the lowest power mode when not in use.

In recent years Electric cars have become more accessible and popular. People need to start
Driving fuel-efficient vehicles. Gas-smart cars, such as hybrids and fully electric vehicles, save
fuel and money. Maintaining your car also is important. If people kept their tires properly
inflated, we could save 1.2 billion gallons of fuel each year. A simple tune-up can boost miles per
gallon anywhere from 4 percent to 40 percent, and a new air filter can get you a 10 percent
boost. Nobody realises the little things that affect global warming in such a massive way.

Conclusion

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In conclusion, I feel a bigger effort needs to be made to make people aware of climate change,
and to educate people on how to go green. ​"Going green" means to pursue knowledge and
practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions
and lifestyles, which can help protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for
current and future generations. This definition of going green needs to be everywhere, and
people need to start realising the problem is now. There are so many benefits to going green, it is
a wonder there hasn't been a bigger movement to do so.

In first world countries we will not see the full effects of all our pollution for another while,
where as third world countries will have the full brunt of climate change very soon. This is a
problem as they do not have the resources to aid their people.

More and more people believe that the little things they do will not make an impact to stopping
this, but it could. If everyone gets together and really started to care for the future of our Earth,
we could stop climate change and go green for the better.