Q&A for How to Help Save the Environment

As an individual, there are lots of things you can do, starting with not littering or polluting. Dispose of everything properly, and even better, reduce your waste so that there is less to return to the landfill. Compost your food scraps and other compostables, to return nutrients to the soils. Lobby to have cleaner waters and air in your part of the world and make submissions whenever new projects are proposed that might cause more destruction of nature. Think before assuming that all human activities are either necessary or have to be done as they currently are -- think about a cleaner future and what it would take to get us there. That is a positive thing to do, not a scary thing at all.

You are part of the environment and your very well-being depends on the healthiness and well-being of the environment around you. Your food, your air, your water and your sense of overall well-being is all sourced from nature. Since the era of industrialisation, human beings have assumed that the planet is something to tame and control, to be outside of and apart from. As a result, many practices from factories and chemicals on the farm, to cars and mass manufacturing have left scars on the environment that we now have an obligation to heal and restore.

That is a big question with no single, easy answer! On the one hand, it's about restoring or encouraging natural processes so that the ecosystems function healthily but without assuming we can control those processes -- rather, we need to learn to live with them. It's also about restoring habitats, so that animal and plant species can survive in a healthy way. On the other hand, the phrase actually implies "save human beings" because if we don't respond effectively to such as issues as climate change, degraded ecosystems and other environment challenges, the survival of the human species is at risk. The definition really depends on which angle you're coming at it from but it might help to realize that if we muck things up so much that we cannot survive, the equilibrium will be restored without us.

It is important to care for you environment because the future could look bleak, like in Dr. Seuss' story, "The Lorax."

There are lots of advantages to helping save the environment! Doing your part to help means that you are working to ensure there are enough high-quality resources for yourself and future generations. And typically when you are doing things to save the environment (like using less water, for instance) you are also saving money--which can be a huge advantage for many people! There aren't really any disadvantages to saving the environment, other than that some options require you to be more mindful of your choices (like which products you buy at the grocery store) and/or may take a little more of your time (like recycling a cereal box vs. throwing it away).

A country could possibly put a higher tax on things that are harmful to the environment, such as meat, dairy, plastic bags, etc. to slow down the purchasing of these items. Or, a country/state/city could set up recycling locations around the area.

The top reason why trees are cut down in the rainforest is for grazing land for cattle. That cattle is then later killed to be sold. You can save trees by not eating meat or dairy, or you can use products that contain recycled paper.

The recycling process is more expensive than the process of making new paper. Helping the environment is often more effortful and expensive than not bothering, which is why many people (and companies) don't bother. You will often find that environmentally friendly products costs a little more. It's up to you to decide whether that's worth investing in.

It would be awesome if everyone could, but no. That's your personal decision.

Call or write your state representatives and ask them to support the environment by holding companies and organizations accountable for their actions. They can do this through the policies they create and the ones they support. Joining an organization that helps the environment can help get you on the right track as well, as they are usually very active in this area.

Yes, there would be a difference in the state of our environment if everyone were to dedicate themselves to saving it for a full 10 years.

Join a beach, park or river cleanup group in your area, or check out geocaching.com. There, they have something called a CITO, or cache in trash out. Basically, this is a planned get together for people to clean up trash! You can host your own or find one near your ZIP code.

Though worms such as earthworms are mainly used in the making of compost, their droppings alone serve as a natural fertilizer. So why not kill two birds with one stone?

Organizing a carpool will help reduce the amount of pollution put into the air, which will help improve the quality of the air you breathe, which can help keep your lungs healthy. Beyond this, you can save money by splitting the costs associated with gas, tolls, parking, etc. and also have someone to keep you company while driving.

Use the rinse-hold setting on the dishwasher, if it has one, rather than rinsing dishes under the tap. When washing dishes by hand, do not rinse them under a running tap. Use washing liquid sparingly, as this will reduce the amount of rinsing required when washing dishes by hand. Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. Fix your leaks.

At school, you can start an environmental club. Spread the word among your friends and classmates on ways to help the environment. Perhaps you could also have a fundraiser and donate the proceeds to an environmental non-profit agency. You can also promote environmental-friendly habits, like the simple act of picking up trash. At home you can tell your family about the methods in this article. By getting your whole family on board, you will have a greater effect on the environment while also making your lifestyle healthier and possibly even less expensive.

Buy organic food and don't use pesticides/herbicides in your garden. Plant bee-friendly plants in your garden.

Planting flowers helps the environment. All plants, not just trees, take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

It is an active version of recycle. Instead of the old passive model of "reduce, reuse, recycle", which seeks merely to reduce or erase our negative impact on the environment through waste, upcylcing means adding value to object we would usually recycle or throw away. For example, some individuals create art out of cans or other waste and therefore create something of much higher value than the original object.

By doing a lot of little things. Just by turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or shaving, you can save more than 200 gallons of water per month. Recycle. Turn off the lights when leaving a room. Use both sides of the paper when printing and copying. Walk or bike instead of driving. Take short showers, and drink tap water instead of bottled water.

Yes, it does help. The electricity they are using comes entirely from solar energy plants, and as they grow, additional solar plants will be built. In addition to that, they also plants trees, which remove CO2 from the atmosphere. And yes, it's great that you recycle.

It's often considered to be the natural world around us: the air, the water, the soil. Some people also define it to include man-made additions to the natural world.

You can: a) ask them to pick it up and dispose of it properly; b) do it yourself; or c) call the authorities and report littering.

Teach them about the importance of saving the earth. Tell them that if we don’t help the earth, not only will the animals and the environment suffer, humans will suffer, too.

The point is not to be part of the problem. Let people know how important it is to save the Earth. Be a good example. Give others the chance to look up to you and follow in your footsteps. They may be looking for encouragement and the opportunity to do so.

By following the steps in this article. This article walks through many steps on how to save species like the red panda.

Plan ahead of time and decide how much you're really going to eat. If you have food left over, eat that the next day instead of cooking another meal.

Work together with other like-minded people, whether or not they have money.

A small percentage of bovine flatulence consists of methane gas. Methane is known to be a greenhouse gas capable of trapping heat in our atmosphere.

Yes. If you can include suggestions on how to accomplish that, your Senator would probably appreciate it.