Change the way you think

How much water does it take to make...
...one slice of bread? 10 gallons
...one hamburger? 4,000 - 18,000 gallons
...one medium sized apple? 18.5 gallons
...one sheet of printer paper? 2.6 gallons
...one cotton t shirt? 400 gallons
...one latte? 50 gallons
 
Check out this video by the World Wildlife Fund

 

This video's message is true: We have to change the way we think. Whether you are picking out a car or an afternoon snack, take some time to think about it's impact on the world. 

Water is just the beginning: Were the workers who made it treated fairly? What resources were used in making, processing, packaging, and shipping it? Will it become trash soon or last a long time? Is there a more eco-friendly option? 

We can change our politicians and our lightbulbs, but for real change to happen, we have to change the way we think. 

Why Not to buy Bottled Water

Would you buy something if you knew you could get an unlimited amount of it easily for free? Well, you probably have. Think about bottled water. Annual worldwide bottled water sales are estimated to be around $50 too $100 billion a year. But what’s wrong with bottled water? Well, here are 5 reasons:

1. Making the plastic bottles requires up to 47 million gallons of oil each year. 

2. The bottles travel from where they are bottled to you in a truck, plane, or boat - burning fossil fuels along the way. 

3. Less then 1/2 of the Fiji Islanders have a reliable source of safe drinking water. But a factory there produces millions of water bottles and ships them to the US (a country where water comes freely from the tap.)

4. Only a few of the bottles get recycled. Most of them sit in landfills for thousands of years. Or they sit in parks, beaches, forests, or sidewalks as litter.
5. Bottled water costs more per gallon than gas, as this poster shows:

So, why do people buy it if it's so bad? Most people's answers are that they think tap water is gross. Well actually...tap water is much more regulated by the government than bottled water. And if you'd rather be on the safe side, you can easily buy a filter to make sure your water is clean. Also, another argument is that bottled water is convenient. I must agree, it is convenient to have water readily available. But you can solve that problem too, buy taking about five seconds to put a reusable water bottle or two in your car.

So, if you are looking for one thing to do to help the earth, here's one: Don't Buy Bottled Water!

Sesame Street Saves Water

This is a cute video with a good message - don't waste water!

They Say it Better than I Can

So, here are some interesting quotes about environmentalism. :)

"It wasn't the Exxon Valdez captain's driving that caused the Alaskan oil spill.  It was yours."  -Greenpeace advertisement, New York Times, 25 February 1990

 "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

“I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?”- Robert Redford 

“Trying to save ecosystems has more to do with changing egosystems.”  -Don Rittner

And good slogans (they really make you think!)

Trees don't grow on money either

When you refuse to reuse it’s our Earth you abuse

Modern technology owes ecology an apology.

It’s only good until the last drop, then what?

May the Forest be with you

For more environmental slogans, visit http://www.thinkslogans.com/slogans/environmental-slogans/