What
is a Green Building?
The
buildings in which we live, work, and play protect us from
nature's extremes, yet they also affect our health and environment
in countless ways. The design, construction, operation, maintenance,
and removal of buildings takes enormous amounts of energy,
water, and materials, and generates large quantities of waste,
air and water pollution.
Buildings also develop their own indoor environments, which
may present some serious health challenges. Where and how
they are built affects wildlife habitat while influencing
the overall quality of human life.
Some
of the Ways YOU Can Go Green
Helping the environment isn't just for grown-ups. We can all
help and there are loads of easy ways that we can do our part.
Below are some easy ways that you can "Go Green":
Turn
off lights when you leave a room. Become a "Steward of
the Light". Keep a record of how many times you monitor
and "save" the light.
Turn off water when you brush your teeth, using only the amount
you need to clean your mouth and toothbrush instead of leaving
the faucet running all the time.
Set the faucet at a slow stream when washing your hands. Even
better, turn it off while you lather up with soap, and turn
on a slow stream to rinse.
Help sort recycling items in the trash, paper, plastic, glass,
etc.
Volunteer to hang out the laundry to dry, instead of having
it dried in an electric dryer.
Unplug
electric items in your house before going to sleep. Of course,
leave your alarm clock plugged in so you can wake up in time
for school.
Use
cloth or paper bags when you have to "Bag it." Using
plastic shopping bags take nearly 1,000 years to decompose,
and yet each year 500 billion plastic bags are used around
the world.
Fun
online game: www.ran.org/fileadmin/materials/education/sally/
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