Contents Troubling Times The Green Living Movement Why Is Green Good Energy Choices Energy to Burn 10 14 Living Green The Four Rs 16 18 20 22 Eating Green Compost and Grow Shrinking Your Footprint It s Not Always Easy Being Green Step into Action Power Up 24 26 28 Glossary 30 Learning More Fern Index 32
Troubling Times Humans are using more resources than Earth has to offer Resources are the sources of a country's wealth such as minerals and land Our increasing demand for resources has exceeded what our planet can provide So what exactly does this mean Humans are cutting down trees faster than they can be regrown We harvest more fish than oceans can replenish or replace We send more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels than forests and oceans can absorb or take in In fact it would take approximately one and a half Earths just to keep up with the rate at which we are currently using resources The amount of land and natural resources needed to produce the goods and services we use to support our lifestyles is called our ecological footprint This measure can be for an individual a region or the entire world population Not everyone is using the world's resources equally Some are using more than others Average ecological footprints are larger in some areas than others This graph shows how many planets would be needed if everyone on Earth had the same footprint as the average residents of the countries listed below Number of Earths Needed South Africa Argentina Slovakia South Korea United States Qatar
Supporting Life As We Know It Human activities have the ability to drive change on a global scale With the current pace of climate change there is a real possibility that we will irreversibly change life on Earth The quality of life on Earth depends on our actions The key is sustainability or the ability to conserve resources and use them efficiently Everything we need for our survival and well being depends either directly or indirectly on the natural environment We cannot keep using more resources than the planet can supply in the long term Three billion people rely on fish and other seafood for protein We used to think the supply was endless We now know this is simply not true FAST FORWARD Scientists have calculated the amount of Earth's resources the global population can use each year based on the amount of resources Earth is able to renew each year Every year since the 1960s we have used more resources than the planet can replace Earth Overshoot Day marks the precise day each year when this overuse of resources begins In 1970 that day was December 23 in 2000 it was October 4 and in 2015 it was August 13 We keep borrowing from the next year's resources but eventually there will be nothing left to borrow What date do you think Earth Overshoot Day will be in 2030 Does that date Concern you Give reasons for your answer S
