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WHAT CAN I DO? First, educate your parents. When you were younger, your parents taught you how to ride a bike, how to tie your shoes, and how to catch a ball. Now, it’s up to YOU to educate THEM. Most grownups don’t realize how serious our environmental problems are. They’re busy with their jobs, trying to put food on the table for you every night. They may be caring for your grandparents too. It’s not as easy as it looks, being a parent. But you know how serious the world’s problems are, because you’re reading these words. Your parents care deeply about you and your future. If you tell them something is important to you, they will listen. Talk to them about the facts and ideas you’re reading here. Clip articles from the newspaper about the environment and put them on your parents’ pillow. Yell at them! The next time your mother tells you to clean your room, tell her you will when she cleans the atmosphere.
You may not know this, but some cars will drive about ten miles on a gallon of gas while other cars can go more than fifty miles with the same amount of gas. Five times as far! If your family can go fifty miles on one gallon of gas, obviously you’ll use a lot less gas than a family whose car can only go ten miles on a gallon. You’ll not only be burning less gas, you’ll also be creating less pollution, sending less money to Saudi Arabia or some other oil-rich country, and you’ll be preventing global warming. Now THAT’s patriotic. Imagine if EVERY driver in America used a fifth of the gas they’re burning now? In general, big cars use more gas because they are heavier. Car companies make more money by selling big cars. But if the kids of America talked their parents out of driving those cars, the auto companies would be FORCED to stop making them. They build what people want to buy. You may have heard about hybrids--cars that have two engines. One runs on gas, and the other runs on electricity. Hybrids are the cars that can squeeze more than fifty miles out of a gallon of gas. LOSE THAT GAS GUZZLER! Your parents may drive a sport utility vehicle, or SUV. These are the cars that only go 10-15 miles on a gallon of gas. A small number of people NEED to drive an SUV because they live in an area where the roads are too rough for regular cars. But if your parents don’t need an SUV and they’re driving one anyway, it’s your job to nag and whine and complain about it until they switch to a car that doesn’t waste so much gas. Tell your parents they should get rid of that SUV, not just to save gas, but to save them money, to create less pollution, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and prevent global warming and all the environmental problems discussed here. DRIVE LESS You can also help your parents drive LESS. Most of us just hop in the car without a second thought. Ask your folks--Do you really need to make that trip? Can that trip be combined with another errand? Could they walk? Could they take a bike? (They’ll live longer) Could they carpool with somebody else who is going to the same place? Convince your parents to use mass transit if it is available. If your mom or dad drives an hour or more to work each day, suggest they find a job closer to home. Or maybe they can work at home some of the time. You’ll see more of them too. VOTE FOR THE EARTH Convince your parents to vote for politicians who will protect our environment instead of destroying it. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Doesn’t EVERYONE want to live in a safe, clean world? When Election Day approaches, find out which candidates are endorsed by environmental groups such as The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and The Natural Resources Defense Organization (their web addresses are below). Convince your parents to vote for those candidates. CONTACT POLITICIANS Tell them how important it is to protect our environment. Get your whole class to write letters. Your teacher can help you find the address of your local political leaders. | |
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