CONTENTS The Battle to Save Earth 4 Eat Up 8 Compost Your Waste 12 Take Your Own Bags 16 Say No to Straws 20 Avoid Problem Packaging 24 Eco Activity Make Juice Carton Seed Starters 28 Glossary 30 Read More 31 Learn More Online 31 Index 32 W
THE BATTLE TO SAVE EARTH Have you ever tossed your leftover salad in the trash Or been shocked by how many cans bottles and wrappers your family goes through You're not the only one Wasted food and tossed packaging are a big part of global pollution But you can do your part in the fight against waste It's easier than you think to become a waste warrior The Three Problems with Waste Heaps of Garbage Most of our household garbage is thrown into landfills But when waste breaks down in landfills it can harm our environment Plastic can leak harmful things into the soil and air Waste in landfills lets off methane gas as it breaks down On top of that the waste in landfills just sits there stored for a future generation to deal with That is why waste warriors avoid creating waste Our waste piles up in landfills
Wasted Resources Sometimes we put too much pasta on our plate and have to toss the extra We might leave fruit on the counter and it starts to get moldy Then we have to buy more food to replace the food we didn't even eat But growing food uses our planet's limited natural resources Polluted Planet We create pollution when we burn fossil fuels such as coal and oil Fossil fuels to power the factories that put beans in are burned to power this cans or make bags to hold our chips Then canning factory we burn more fossil fuels as we transport our food by truck or airplane around the world When fossil fuels are burned they release carbon dioxide and other gases that trap the sun's heat around Earth This causes temperatures to rise and these hotter temperatures affect the planet creating global climate change When we throw away pizza we are trashing tomatoes that used water to grow
