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Show THE ZEPHYR MAY 1990 PAGE 26 EARTH DAY ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS FROM G.C.M.S. & G.C.H.S. 1st Place Grand County High School Second Place Middle SchoolHMK Uke A Light Save The Planet By Ember Modne By Jennifer Rodocker As more and more people accumulate on the surface of the world, the stress of keeping our global home stable also Increases. People dont realize the importance of conserving the planet as long as possible. Earth Day may have the effect needed to make them see the light I hope that sometime in my generation Ill see the air getting cleaner because people are getting smarter. To me "Earth Day stands for a time of realization of what were doing to our world. And as more people are born, more caring people will be stepping out of the crowd to show that they care. I believe that there is a little bit of care insider every single person in this world. Maybe "Earth Day" will show them that they need to bring it forth and help. No one, Im sure, wants to blow it up, or put it through a trash bin. Maybe one day, no animal will be in danger of extinction, no people starving because of politics, no danger of even a thought of war, no danger of ultra violet rays destroying our earth, no air, water, or land pollution, and no Ignorance. And maybe people caring enough to create "Earth Day will be responsible for it. And our planet will be illuminated, like a light, out of the darkness of troubles. Every hour another species of plant or animal disappears from the earth. The rain forests, which support at least half the planets life forms and sustain our crumbling ozone layer by soaking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, are being destroyed. Garbage is piling up In our landfills, enough that half of them will be completely full In 10 years. Despite the enormity of the earths problems, there Is something we can do about fixing up the planet. Dont waste. We Americans produce more trash per person 10 times our weight per year. We toss enough aluminum to rebuild the American Airlines fleet 71 times, enough paper and wood to heat five million homes for 200 years, and enough glass to re-f-ill 220 floors of the World Trade Centers Twin Towers every two weeks. Ride a bike to control the greenhouse effect (the carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere when oil and coal are burned), we just have to cut down the use of fossil fuels. We produce five tons of ozone-depleti- ng carbon dioxide. The world average Is under one ton per person. Plant a tree. A tree Is a natural purifier, soaking up deadly carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. But so many trees are being burned or chopped down. That means more and more carbon dioxide is wreaking havoc on the ozone layer! Therefore, planting a tree is a great way to First Place Middle SchoolHMK fight the greenhouse effect Recycle. Not only does the U.S. produce more garbage, were worse when It comes to recycling what we chuck. Challenge For the Next Twenty Years Dont flush the toilet unless necessary. When you flush just one Miller water! Kleenex or cigarette, you are wasting a precious resource By Jill It on of less energy. takes a lot our already depleted Try living to all boom! fossil fuels The earth shaking heat and light our homes. Bombs falling everywhere. Blast, I it me. a come out from As inside the shelter, around Help save the planet, right now! Gradually stops. dust bowl of chemicals choke me. I want to die. Then I wake up crying. I go into my mothers room to see if she is still there, then outside, only to see a diesel booming by obnoxiously, eating up gas and spitting out Third Place Middle SchoolHMK exhaust into the once breathable air. What will there be to live for if all other life is gone? Our biggest Our Future problems are caused by the Human Race. Because of the take all, leave none, fix it later attitude, we now face many environmental problems. We are in a daze. We need to wake up and dramatically start By Meissa Bentley changing; for example, people need to start putting efforts and scientific What are we doing? Men have lived on earth thousands of years, knowledge towards the repair of our destruction. When it all comes down to saving our earth, we might have to start doing things much, much and now, with all our knowledge and technology, we are ruining our beautiful planet with pollution, toxics, and many other things. I would like simpler. Our rain forests, particularly the Amazon, since it is the largest to ask everyone who reads this essay to consider the problems, follow rain forest in the world, producing most of the oxygen we breathe, is some suggestions and do your part to save our planet. We are using our natural resources too fast. We should try to being destroyed faster than we realize. It is the most delicate habitat on earth. Thousands of acres are being cut down for the benefit of the slow down because the future generations are not going to have natural grazing of cattle. Sure cows are important, but not enough to destroy resources if we keep using them at the rate we are. One example Is the plants and animals, most of which are being destroyed faster than they Amazon rain forests. They are being burned and cut down at such a rate are being discovered. Therefore, we might be weakening our chances for that they are disappearing and cant grow back. The Rondonlan Rain existence. Many plants and animals face extinction today. forests are disappearing so fast that they will be totally wiped out in The of the Amazon is a selfish act by corporations twenty-fi- ve years. In the U.S. only fifteen percent of the and land owners. Imagine one square foot of tropical rain forest and all forests are left. They are disappearing at a rate so fast that they will be of the life It bears. Then Imagine it destroyed. Where do these gone in fifteen years. Some of these trees have stood for a thousand "homeless" animals go? Naturally they will find a new square foot of years and will be gone in a generation along with many of the wildlife In forest (already populated) and settle until that square foot Is cut down. them. Pollution is another big problem. Gas is a major contributor. If The amount of life that lives in one square foot triples, becoming more crowded. Where does It end? Extinction. every one could carpool more and drive less, the skies would clear up Our country has practically wiped out all of our natural resources, more. In many big cities the sky Is gray Instead of blue. The Exxon-Vald- ez oil spill did not help Alaska. It Is killing Alaskas wildlife and yet we are pointing the finger at Brazil for torching the Amazon. Rather than preaching, we must be an example and start making choices that ruining their ocean. There are also many endangered species. If we could try to save demonstrate how serious we are, such as recycling EVERYTHING, Inventing cleaner ways of transportation, having stronger laws protecting these wonderful animals, then future generations can enjoy them also. our earth, and Intensely start educating the future generations about the If everyone put forth an honest effort, then the wildlife that shares our planet could also fulfill their right to live. earths problems and solutions that will make or break our earth. Landfills are full and recycling factories are empty. There Is an There are many races of people with many different Ideas. But to Americans save the earth, we have to come together as one race. The Human Race. urgent need to recycle, and If you cant recycle, se. over a hundred and sixty tons of solid waste every year; more produce MAKE EVERY DAY "EARTH DAYI than three pounds per person each day. Recycling has four steps: de-foresta- build-u- p, old-gro- tion re-u- wth |
