3个小细节，带你加入世界环保大军

也许你每天都能看到“环保从你我做起，从身边小事做起”这样的标语，也许你从未把这样的话放在心上。但其实改变就是一点点发生的，每个人都尽一份力，世界就会有大不同。别再怀疑自己的能量啦!快读读下面的环保小贴士，加入我们的环保大军吧!

As adolescents, having a meaningful impact on the world can seem like an impossible and daunting task for the simple fact of being kids. Changing the world does not only mean finding a cure for cancer, eliminating poverty, or finding the origin of humanity, but recycling a piece of paper as well. Going Green is a practical way that adolescents can have a real, meaningful influence in the world. There are numerous options of how individuals can change their lifestyles to be more eco-consciou s. What follows are three simple ways young adolescents can go green and change the world.

1. Recycle

According to a Wire & Twine online article, 63 million newspapers go out to street vendors , local paper boys, or newspaper dispensers every day and of those 44 million are thrown away; recycling the Sunday newspaper alone we could save half a million trees a week.

The age of technology constantly creates new phones, iPods, or new computers coming out. Many will stand in line for hours if not days to get their hands on the new piece of technology, but what happens with the old ones once they are replaced? Nothing, according to Earth911 about 75% of the old devices sit in the back of a drawer collecting dust. By taking them to the local stores that collect them they go to people with disabilities, war veterans, and shelters for battered women which in turn removes them from landfills where the phones explode because of the lead and lithium-ion the phones contain .

2. Go vegetarian one day a week

Instead of breaking down the pros and cons of the vegetarian lifestyle into a long boring paragraph, here are some astonishing facts on going vegetarian for only one day. According to Noam Mohr, a physicist at the New York University Polytechnic Institute, the United States would save 100 billion gallons of water which is enough to supply all homes in New England for about 4 months.

The United States would save 70 million gallons of gas which is enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined and still have some to spare. The United States could prevent 3 million tons of soil erosion, 4.5 million tons of animal excrement, and about 7 tons of ammonia emissions. The Environmental Defense concludes with the most interesting fact: if the entire population omits one meal of chicken, the amount of carbon dioxide accumulated would be the same amount if more than half a million cars were taken off U.S. roads.

When Apache Junction High School senior, Kehli Nowak remarked on what she thought about the facts and if she could try going vegetarian one day a week she responded, “After taking into consideration these baffling facts, I would be willing to try vegetarianism one day a week. Giving up just one day of eating meat is worth the benefits it could bring.”

3. Ditch bottled water

Most drink bottled water because of the common conception that bottled water is healthier than regular tap water; turns out, 25% of bottled water comes from regular tap water and all that is done extra is it going through a filter. Tap water has higher regulations from the FDA than bottled water does. Companies do not need to list where they got the water from, how they purify the water, or what chemicals their plastic water bottles contain. Plastic bottles do not get recycled 90% of the time which results in 1.5 million tons of plastic in landfills which take thousands of years to decompose. Not only are you drinking the same water as the one in your house but also paying extra. The average 24-pack of bottled water cost $3.97 at the local Wal-Mart and a reusable water bottle cost between $4.99-$7.99; just imagine how much money could be saved if reusable water bottles replaced plastic water bottles.

Senior, Nicole Steen said, “I myself have always used bottled water and then recycled it after I was done using it. After considering that bottle water and tap water has little to no differences I will try and “ditch bottled water” and begin using reusable water bottles.”

Changing the world for a positive has to start somewhere and while it may be hard and at times it may seem as if the small changes that are being done are not impacting the world keep in mind what Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

作为青少年，你会觉得自己不过是个孩子，对世界难以产生什么深远影响。但改变世界可不仅仅指找到战胜癌症的良方、帮助人们脱贫或找到人类起源，回收废纸也可以改变世界。想用自己的力量让世界变得更美好吗?支持环保事业是个可行的方法。每个人都能通过多种方法让自己的生活方式更环保。青少年可以试试下面这三种简单的方法支持环保，改变世界。

1.回收废物

Wire & Twine网上的一篇文章指出，每天有6300万份报纸通过街边报摊、报童或报纸投递员送出，其中有4400万份被丢弃;每周仅靠回收周末版报纸就能少砍50万棵树。

科技时代里手机、平板电脑或电脑不断推陈出新。许多人为了尝试新技术不惜排队等上数小时甚至数天时间去购买，但有了新设备以后旧设备该如何处理呢?根据Earth911的调查，75%的旧设备被人们丢在一边渐渐遗忘。如果把这些旧设备送到当地的回收商店，那些残障人士、退伍老兵和受虐妇女的手里，如若不然这些人就不得不跑到因铅和锂泄露爆炸产生的废墟中寻找这些废旧设备。

2. 每周吃一天素

这里我不会大段冗述吃素好坏与否，我会告诉大家一些关于每周吃一天素的惊人数据。纽约大学理工学院的物理学家诺姆•莫尔指出，如果每周吃素一天，全美国能节约1000亿加仑水，这些水足够新英格兰地区所有居民使用四个月。还能节约7000万加仑天然气，这些能源足够加拿大和墨西哥所有汽车使用，并且还有剩余。还能减少300万吨水土流失、450万吨动物粪便和约7吨氨气排放。美国环保协会例举出最有意思的数据：如果所有美国人少吃一顿鸡肉的话，减少的二氧化碳排放量相当于美国公路上50万辆汽车停驶所减少的二氧化碳排放量。

阿帕切联合高中高年级学生科莉•诺瓦克表达了自己对这些数据的看法并就自己能否每周吃一天素做出了如下回应：“看到这些令人惊讶的数据后，我愿意每周吃一天素。这个举动带来的益处值得我这样做。”

3. 少喝瓶装水

大多数人选择瓶装饮用水是因为他们觉得喝这样的水比喝自来水健康，而事实却并非如此，25%的瓶装水来源于自来水，只不过被过滤了一下而已。美国食品药品管理局对自来水的要求比瓶装水更高。瓶装水公司无需标明瓶装水的水源地、过滤方法和塑料瓶化学品含量。90%的塑料瓶未被回收，变成150万吨塑料填埋到地下，而土地分解这些塑料需要上千年。瓶装水与自来水无异，价格却更高。普通的一箱24瓶装的瓶装水在沃尔玛卖3.97美元，便携水壶的价格在4.99美元-7.99美元之间;算算如果你自备便携水壶放弃瓶装水能省下多少钱吧。

高年级学生妮可•史蒂恩说：“我以前常喝瓶装水，喝完了会回收塑料瓶。后来发现瓶装水和自来水没什么区别，我就再也不喝瓶装水了，而是自备水壶。”

我们必须尽自己一份力让世界变得更美好。这并非易事，你可能会偶尔气馁，那就想想玛格丽特•米德说过的那句话吧：“不要怀疑那些有想法有决心的人们改变世界的能力;事实上，改变世界的恰恰就是这样的人们。”