Posts

Recycling paper!

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 Paper! It's what we write on. Many places such as businesses and schools have switched to primarily digital documents, making paper less and less necessary. Though paper can be recycled, trees need to be cut down to make it. This, along with factories required for companies to produce paper on a massive scale, makes paper less sustainable than ideal. Although paper isn't perfect, we do need it sometimes. If you want to draw or paint, you need paper. If a writer wants to print their book, they need paper. If someone wants to make origami, they need paper. Many things require paper, and I believe that writing and drawing on paper can often be more rewarding than doing the same activity digitally. Having a physical thing after making something is a rewarding experience. Because of this, paper is still a necessary thing that we can't completely get rid of. The good thing about paper is that it's recyclable. When paper is recycled, it is taken to a recycling center where it

Three Reasons Why You Should Grow a Wildflower Garden.

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Gardening is a relaxing activity, proven to reduce stress and anxiety. People around the world enjoy gardening. Though gardening can be relaxing and enjoyable, not everyone knows how to garden (Including me). But, there is one type of gardening that anyone with even the smallest patch of grass can do. Wildflower gardening! Many people are annoyed by weeds. If you do yard work, you most likely spend large portions of time weeding your yard. But, what if you didn't have to? If you've ever seen a sidewalk, you've probably seen small flowers growing out of the cracks. One of the most common of these flowers is the dandelion. Dandelions have  many uses . They can be cooked and eaten, used as a natural medicine, and used in making art. The famously easy-to-grow flowers could be the next addition to your yard or garden. In this article, I will be covering three reasons why you should grow wildflowers in your garden. One - They provide homes, food, and other resources for animals.

Fashion Brands - How to Resist Fast Fashion.

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Fast fashion. Pollutes the Earth. Makes unsafe working conditions. And is almost unavoidable. So, here's a guide to how to avoid fast fashion. Step one - Know what brands to avoid. This is the most obvious and most effective advice. If you see an add about a brand talking about the cheap prices, it is probably a fast fashion brand. If something is "too good to be true" it isn't true. Do not buy a $5 dress from anywhere that isn't a thrift or secondhand store. Brands to avoid: 1. Shein- Along with being low-quality, Shein provides unsafe and honestly inhumane working conditions for its employees. Shein is a terrible business that too many people are customers of. Just please don't buy from them, and if you see someone you know buying from them, don't be afraid of being annoying. Be annoying and tell them everything wrong with Shein. 2. Temu- "No one will buy our stuff cause they think its fake!" This is one reason why people don't buy from Tem

Why you should leave the leaves this fall.

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When the first leaf falls, you know that autumn has started. I'm not going to do any exposition in this one, leaves are important! And I'm going to tell you why. (I decided to write this article after seeing a post by  blackforager  on Instagram. I love her account and recommend you check her out!) Leaves make soil healthier. If you're planning on doing any gardening, you may want to leave the leaves. Leaves function like compost. They sit on your yard, decompose, feed the microorganisms in the soil, and make it healthier. It's really cool and helpful of the leaves to do that. Leaves provide homes for animals. I discussed this partially in my article about  why you shouldn't mow your lawn . In the article, I discussed the environmental impact mowing/not mowing your lawn has. Fallen leaves function similar to tall grass or wildflowers, leaving a space for small animals and insects to live. It hurts the environment to get rid of leaves. If you ignore all of this and d

What is Fridays For Future?

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Fridays For Future , or FFF, is a global organization led by young people that addresses the climate crisis. The FFF is youth run, and demands action to help the environment by protesting outside of city halls, parliments, and other government buildings. What is the goal of FFF? On  their website , FFF states that their goal is to pressure policy makers into listening to scientists and to limit global warming. Along with this, FFF has a  list of demands . These demands include following the Paris Agreement by keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 °C, listening to the current science, and ensuring climate justice for all people. The Paris Agreement. One of FFF's main goals is to follow  The Paris Agreement . The Paris Agreement is a commitment between all countries to address the climate crisis. The main goal of the Paris Agreement is to keep the rise in the global temperature below 2 °C (3.6 °F). How can I help? FFF provides many outlets to help their cause. If you'd li

The American Climate Corps - What it is, and what it means to you.

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Joe Biden has been pushing for the creation of the ACC, and it has finally launched September, 2023. The American Climate Corps (The ACC) is a program that will train people in high-demand jobs that could save our environment. The ACC is partnered with AmeriCorps, which is a federal agency that provides volunteering opportunities for American from every walk of life, no matter previous experience. The ACC is also partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Departments of Labor, Interior, Agriculture, and Energy. The goal of the ACC is to give young people an easy-to-access way to save our planet, and to ensure employment. What jobs will the ACC train people for? The ACC works similar to an internship, and you are payed to join. The ACC will help to fix the current shortage in clean energy workers. But what jobs are available? Tradespeople- Tradespeople are people trained to do manual labor. In this case, that could be installing electric vehicle chargers, in

Dandelions: And why they aren't weeds.

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 When I was little, I remember picking a dandelion and showing it to my parents. "That's a weed, not a flower," I remember them saying to me. But I didn't understand why people didn't like dandelions. What was so bad about them? As I got older, I learned why people don't like dandelions: They grow everywhere. They're weeds. But that still didn't make sense to me. Why is it bad that they grow everywhere? And what even is  a weed anyways? Well, I did some research. What is a weed? A weed is defined as "any wild plant that grows in an unwanted place, especially in a garden or field where it prevents cultivated plants growing freely." Cambridge Dictionary The thing about this definition is that it isn't "scientific" like you'd expect it to be. A weed is just a plant that we have decided we don't want, A.K.A. plants that grow by themselves. Many weeds, along with being pretty, can be very useful. One of my favorite useful wee

Why you shouldn't mow your lawn.

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 The smell of smoke and hot dogs fills the air. The grass is unnaturally green, but patches of it are yellow and dry. On the pavement of the sidewalk you see a dried-up worm. Welcome to the suburbs! Short green lawns are common throughout America. But the hard truth is that they are terrible for the environment. This is because they lack biodiversity, and focus on having a clean and put-together aesthetic. In other words, lawns look fake. In this article, I will be discussing the reasons why you should not mow your lawn. Mowing your lawn gets rid of native flora. There are different types of plants everywhere. Literally everywhere! It's amazing how many varieties of plants we have on this planet. I'm sure you've noticed some of these plants growing in your own yard. And I'm sure that you, like most people, thought of them as a nuisance. Most people think of weeds and flowers as a bad thing, but why? What is the difference between these two flowers?: The only difference