| The majority of the scientific community | | | | Surround yourself with houseplants. Every |
| agrees. Man is adversely affecting the | | | | balcony can have flowerboxes filled with |
| environment and accelerating global warming. | | | | beautiful oxygen-producing blooms. Apartments |
| Greenhouse gases created by our modern | | | | with flat roofs can have rooftop gardens. |
| lifestyles are blanketing the Earth in a | | | | Business people can fill office buildings and |
| warming cocoon and causing an ugly | | | | retail establishments with live trees, |
| metamorphosis - a planet riddled with severe | | | | hanging plant baskets, and exotic flowers. |
| weather, animal species extinctions, and an | | | | Even people with a 'brown thumb' can find |
| inhospitable environment for future | | | | easy-to-grow plants like philodendrons, |
| generations. | | | | cacti, spider plants, ivies, and African |
| | | | violets. |
| Governments and industries are not reacting | | | | |
| quickly. In our lifetime, the world as we | | | | Reduce the impact of your trash. |
| know it may no longer exist. It is up to | | | | |
| everyone to start making changes NOW, working | | | | Most landfills produce huge amounts of |
| together towards a common goal: the | | | | methane. Garbage produces methane gas when it |
| preservation of this glorious, beautiful | | | | decays in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) |
| world in which we live. | | | | environment. Most landfills crush garbage and |
| | | | place it into a plastic-lined pit, then layer |
| Quit overstuffing yourself at the table. | | | | the trash with dirt and more garbage. |
| | | | |
| Huh? That is a strange statement! How can | | | | You can help prevent landfill methane |
| your eating habits have an effect on | | | | production by composting as much as possible. |
| greenhouse gases? | | | | Just about anything organic is compostable - |
| | | | potato peelings, coffee grounds, unsalted |
| There are a growing number of overweight and | | | | pasta water, moldy baked goods, etc. Avoid |
| obese people in the so-called affluent | | | | large items like whole potatoes and corncobs. |
| countries. Have you ever considered where all | | | | You should chop them into smaller pieces |
| those hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken | | | | before adding them to your compost bin. Avoid |
| nuggets come from? Producers use prime | | | | meat, oily or fatty substances, or anything |
| agricultural land to cultivate grass and | | | | prepared with appreciable amounts of salt. |
| grain crops for feeding animals in the human | | | | |
| food chain. | | | | Add finished compost to your houseplants and |
| | | | garden, or use it for lawn top-dressing to |
| A single cow needs about five acres of | | | | create lusciously healthy growth. You can |
| pasture in order to thrive. During its | | | | purchase a commercial compost bin at your |
| lifetime, a cow can create truckloads of | | | | local department, hardware, or garden supply |
| manure - manure that creates a considerable | | | | store. Alternatively, search the Internet for |
| amount of methane (a greenhouse gas). The | | | | 'plans compost bin construction' if you would |
| agricultural land required to raise one cow | | | | like to try building a bin from scratch. |
| would feed humans more efficiently when | | | | |
| devoted to crops like wheat and soybeans. | | | | You can add many unusual items to your |
| | | | compost: |
| The meat we consume goes through several | | | | |
| processing stages using a variety of | | | | 100% cotton clothing (no buttons or zippers) |
| materials - including paper, plastic, | | | | |
| Styrofoam, and cardboard. Transportation to | | | | 100% wool sweaters or socksbrown paper |
| the slaughterhouse, processing plant, retail | | | | bagsburnt toast, cakes, potatoescorked or |
| store, and then to the kitchen burns up | | | | soured winecrushed eggshellsdryer |
| energy and creates toxic greenhouse | | | | lintfeathers and furhair clippingsjunk mail |
| emissions. | | | | (no plastic or metal)leather goods (metal and |
| | | | plastic pieces removed)pasta, cooked or |
| All that extra food ultimately creates | | | | uncooked (without the sauce)shells from |
| methane gas when it ends up in the sewer. In | | | | almonds, peanuts, and walnutsshredded |
| addition, each extra pound of fat on the body | | | | papersmall pieces of cardboardsmall |
| requires more oxygen to maintain, depleting a | | | | quantities of expired dairy productstea bags |
| resource that plant life must replenish. | | | | and coffee filterstoenail and fingernail |
| | | | clippingsvacuum cleaner bags and |
| Give back some of the oxygen you breathe! | | | | contentswooden skewers (broken into small |
| | | | pieces)wooden toothpicks |
| Plant life consumes carbon dioxide (a | | | | |
| greenhouse gas) and produces life-giving | | | | You can locate a more comprehensive list if |
| oxygen. However, man clears forests and prime | | | | you search the Net for 'things to add to |
| agricultural land to erect ever-higher | | | | compost'. |
| skyscrapers. If we were to spend more time | | | | |
| building down into the ground instead of up | | | | These tips are just a start. Keep watching |
| into the air or sprawling into the | | | | for further informational articles in the |
| countryside, we would leave more surface area | | | | days to come. |
| for agriculture and nature. Until architects | | | | |
| embrace this concept, we can help replenish a | | | | (c) Copyright Kathy Steinemann: This article |
| bit of the Earth's oxygen by filling our | | | | is free to publish only if this copyright |
| lives with greenery. | | | | notice, the byline, and the author's note |
| | | | below (with active links) are included. |