118 Chapter 5 Community and Environmental Responsibilities
the land. Always keep the environment clean and dispose of your waste
properly. Think of ways to make others want to stop littering and do
their part, too.
Waste from product packaging takes up a lot of space in landfi lls.
You can lessen the environmental impact of packaging by following the
slogan reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce the amount of packaging material
you bring home by choosing products with minimal packaging. For
instance, select unpackaged fruits and vegetables instead of produce
sold on foam trays wrapped in plastic. Reuse empty product containers
whenever possible. Use rechargeable batteries. Recycle as many product
containers as possible. Glass, metal, paperboard, and many plastics can
be recycled into other materials.
Learn how your community handles waste. Enlist the support
of your parents and other adults to insist that local leaders use
safe practices at all times. Join community groups that address
environmental issues or help clean up problems. Write your legislators to
express your views on pending environmental legislation. Much can be
done to control pollution if each person makes an effort.
Make Responsible Decisions
Making responsible decisions regarding the environment can be
challenging. For instance, one source says using plastic bags will save
the trees used to make paper bags. Another source says paper bags will
save the fossil fuels used to make plastic bags. Reusing your own cloth
bags is the best choice here.
Many consumers end up making environmental tradeoffs. In other
words, they exchange one resource to save another resource. As a
citizen, you have a duty to carefully evaluate your choices to the best
of your ability.
Seek out environmental
information from reputable
sources. Begin with information
from the EPA and the sources
linked to its website. The Agency’s
information is thoughtfully
composed and reviewed by many
experts. When some disagree with
its opinion, consider whether they
have something to gain personally
by holding other views.
Math Connection
Determining Quantities
Kristen read that Americans create an
average of 4.4 pounds of trash daily. She wants
to know how much trash her class of 24 students
creates in a year. She can do this by multiplying the average
number of pounds by the number of students.
4.4 pounds × 24 students = 105.6 pounds per day
Then she would multiply the daily number of pounds by
the number of days in a year (365).
105.6 pounds per day × 365 days = 38,544 pounds per year
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aver