DOTS

1. Take shorter showers. I’ve always had a problem with taking short showers. Globally, this will help the environment by conserving water. Throughout my overpopulation posts, I learned that one of the many consequences of overpopulation is the draining of resources, including water.

2. Drink from metal water bottle, not plastic. Mr. Sproul has gone off on many tangents questioning why anyone would drink from bottled water when we have perfectly good tap water in Maine, all while a Poland Springs water bottle stood on my desk. It also wastes plastic and research has shown that tap water is healthier. Nationally, this will conserve water (about three times more water is used for a water bottle than actually put in), lower toxic fumes that are created when making bottles, and help the landfills, oceans, and other areas that recyclable bottles help destroy (although I always recycle!).

3. Correct others when they misuse bins. Speaking up has been something I’ve been working on. I see people putting their bottles, food, and trash into the wrong bins all the time. Since monitoring the stations, I’ve now started to correct people. I want to continue this within Deering and around the community. Hopefully, people around the world help out others, so we can teach people how to properly recycle, compost, and redeem.

4. Continue environmental events. I’ve never been great with keeping up with the news, but the blog posts have kept me informed about environmental news. I hope to continue keeping up with the news so I know what’s going on with the environment locally, nationally, and globally.

5. Eat organic. Recently, I’ve been trying to eat less processed food and more organic food. Not only does this benefit my body but also the environment. There are a great amount of pros for eating organic food: it’s local - so less transportation costs, less chemicals and pesticides, cage free animals, it reduces farm pollution, it support local sellers, and usually the food has more taste!

6. Save energy. To help save energy (and money!), I’ll remember to shut off the lights and unplug things like the hair dryer and toaster. Globally, this will help conserve energy.

7. Lower the printing. I will print back to back, and only if I must print something. Saving paper will help our forests, and waste, air, and even water pollution.

8. Bike more. Not only is biking good for me but it also helps the environment by saving gas. Cars are a huge contributor to pollution. WIth new hybrid technology hopefully we can decrease this amount of pollution from transportation.

9. No styrofoam. I want to cut down on styrofoam and help Portland become a styrofoam free city! At my work, The Woods at Canco, they use so much styrofoam. I’m not sure if it will convince them to change to their cups and boxes, but I want to inform them of the harm of styrofoam for the environment. Also, I will avoid any styrofoam at home and places like Dunkin Donuts. Eventually, I think our country, and then world will be styrofoam free.

10. Finally, I want to continue my environmental work in college. Throughout high school, especially this year, environmental club / the independent study has been a great experience. I hope to use what I’ve learned to continue advocating, studying, and improving the environment within my school, the country, and throughout the world.