Not For Me, Please! I choose to act green

Audio Transcript Auto-generated

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  Hello, everyone and welcome to Earth months Storytime Presented by

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  Riverside Public Utilities Today we're going to read Not for

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  me, please.

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  I choose to act green.

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  Not for me, please.

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  I choose to act Green Written by Maria Godsey and

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  illustrated by Christoph J.

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  Kellner. There once was a day when I did an

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  act green a time when I thought things would always

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  stay clean.

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  I didn't think twice of the choices I made, the

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  impact they had or the damage that stayed.

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  My actions were based on the ease brought to me

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  with never much thought to our air, land or sea.

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  It can be difficult to understand the effect of our

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  actions on the environment, especially when we don't see the

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  damage or long term effects caused.

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  However, with awareness, this can change.

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  Understanding the interconnectedness and adjusting our way of living in

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  a way that is friendly to our environment and sustainable

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  for our planet means to think and act green.

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  But my thoughts around this changed in a flash when

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  I noticed the damage caused by our trash.

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  The sight of it caused a reaction in me and

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  all I could say was not for me, please.

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  Over 260 million tons of waste are generated every year

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  in the United States.

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  Globally, over 220 million tons of plastic are produced each

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  year. All of this waste adds up and pollutes our

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  environment, even if we don't see it all the time.

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  Did you know that every piece of plastic ever created

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  still exists today, with the exception of plastic that has

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  been incinerated, our use of plastic has gotten so out

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  of control that it is estimated there will be more

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  plastic by weight in our oceans than fish by the

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  year 2050.

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  Wow, I could not continue to live as I did.

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  Surely I could help out because I'm a strong kid.

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  From there, I decided that I will take action and

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  protecting our planet became my new passion.

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  You too, can help out with this phrase that I

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  found. Just say not for me, please, and stand your

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  own ground.

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  It may take some practice, but I'll show you how

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  and why.

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  It's important for us to act now.

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  Let's look at a straw that comes with the shake

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  now imagine the trip.

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  The straw will soon take most often are straws are

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  made out of plastic, and after one use their thrown

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  in a basket from the basket, they head to the

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  dump or the sea and become something known as marine

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  debris. These each day more than 500 million plastic straws

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  are used and discarded in the United States alone.

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  There's a lot of straws for just one country.

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  This all creates waste that ends up in landfills and

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  our oceans.

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  Just for the convenience of having the strong Marine to

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  breeze is human created waste that was deliberately or accidentally

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  been released in the Lake, Sea, ocean or waterway in

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  2000 and six.

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  The United Nations Environment Programme estimated that there are 46,000

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  pieces of floating plastic in every square mile of ocean.

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  That's a lot of plastic pieces.

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  Our oceans are filled with all sorts of stuff that

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  hurt our sea creatures and make their lives rough.

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  Poor turtles and fish mistake trash for their meal.

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  Imagine the pain that their tummies must feel or worse.

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  They get tangled in our careless muck around fins, heads

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  and legs.

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  There are nothing but stuck.

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  Did you know about one truckload of trash thrown into

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  our waters every minute.

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  This trash is captured by ocean currents and collects with

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  an ocean.

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  Geier's or vortexes.

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  Some guy wires have become so full of trash that

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  they have been nicknamed garbage patches.

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  The Great Pacific garbage patch is now three times the

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  size of France.

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  The trash thrown in our ocean doesn't just float on

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  its surface After sunlight, photo degrades the floating pieces of

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  plastic into small pieces.

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  Aquatic life and seabirds mistake these fragments microplastics for food.

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  And in just them, this one little straw is not

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  worth the high cost.

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  Why use things that harm or cause a great loss?

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  Here's where I'd say not for me, please, when asked,

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  I don't need a straw that will simply be trashed.

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  We all have a choice.

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  Let's do our small part to refuse to cause harm

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  and decide to act smart.

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  Unfortunately, our sea life and birds are not the only

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  ones ingesting plastic.

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  When we eat fish that have eaten plastic, this two

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  goes into our body.

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  Additionally, plastic casts frequently be found been found in many

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  brands of bottled water.

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  Did you know that 93% of Americans aged six or

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  older test positive for B P A.

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  A plastic chemical.

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  Also, some of the compounds found in plastic have been

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  found to alter hormones or have other potential human health

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  effects. Just think through your actions and the cause and

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  effect of waste and pollution and careless neglect.

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  Let's choose to recycle, reduce and reuse.

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  And with my strong phrase, there's no way we lose.

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  Here's some examples to show what I mean and how

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  you can join me and begin to act green.

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  Reduce, reuse and recycle, also known as the three R's,

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  are the main ways to practice environmentally responsible consumer behavior

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  when we aim to reduce the amount of waste we

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  produce the consumption of new resources, reuse as many items

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  as possible before replacing them and recycle.

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  We take action to protect our environment and act green.

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  Do you see all this trash scattered around?

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  Why would anyone throw their stuff on the ground?

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  Not for me, please, is what I choose to say

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  and pick up the litter to throw it away.

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  I choose to be mindful and sort through my trash,

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  recycling things like plastic or glass.

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  These can be turned into something brand new, like clothing,

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  park benches or even a shoe.

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  Recycling is the process of converting waste into new usable

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  materials and objects.

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  When we recycle, we reduce the need to consume Earth's

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  natural resources through mining and forestry.

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  Recycling helps ensure sustainable use of our limited resources.

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  There are many things that can be recycled metal, plastic,

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  glass, aluminum and paper.

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  It's important to be cautious that the items we buy

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  it, our materials that can be recycled and not just

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  up in a landfill.

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  Contact your local recycling center to find out what can

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  be recycled in your area.

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  Look at these lights that someone left on in the

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  room that is empty, with everyone gone the same for

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  computers, games and TVs.

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  Why keep these things on for no one to see?

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  Not for me, please.

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  I use what I need and power things off whenever

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  I leave.

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  I know that it's easy for one to forget, but

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  do it enough in a habit you'll see when you

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  consume less power and energy, you decrease the demands and

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  therefore emissions from power plants to generate electricity.

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  Most power plants burn coal, crude oil or other fossil

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  fuels. This method of creating energy is relatively inexpensive but

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  causes significant air pollution and contributes to climate change.

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  If we all turn off two lights in our home

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  for an hour every day, we could save more than

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  five million kilowatt hours of electricity nationwide each year.

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  The amount of coal it takes to produce that much

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  electricity could fill up the Empire State Building almost three

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  times. Do you see this faucet in the water that

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  flows? How much has been wasted?

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  It's so hard to know just running the water when

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  it's not in use.

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  It's careless and wasteful.

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  There's just no excuse.

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  Not for me, please.

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  I avoid wasteful drips while brushing or cleaning my small

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  finger tips.

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  We're lucky to have clean water to drink, not the

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  kind that is harmful, dirty or stinks.

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  According to water dot org, less than 1% of the

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  water on the Earth is readily available for human use.

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  Salt can be removed from the seawater, but this process

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  is expensive.

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  Water conservation is a sustainable way to make the most

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  of the fresh water that we do have.

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  Did you know a five minute shower uses more than

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  a person in a developing country uses in a day.

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  Sadly, one in nine people worldwide do not have access

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  to safe and clean drinking water.

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  This lack of clean water kills Children at a rate

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  equivalent to a jet crashing every four hours.

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  Do you bring food to school that's packed at your

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  home after lunch?

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  How much trash has been thrown from plastic baggies?

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  Two small boxes of juice.

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  It's scary, the trash just one meal can produce.

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  Not for me, please.

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  I watch what I bring.

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  Use food containers and avoid plastic things.

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  I bring my own bottle.

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  I wash and reuse.

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  No need to contribute to plastic abuse.

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  It has been estimated that an average a school age

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  child using a disposable lunch daily generates £67 of waste

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  per school year.

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  That equates to £18,760 of lunch waste for just one

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  average size elementary school just by changing.

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  And what and how you pack your lunch can drastically

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  reduce water waste.

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  On average, Americans use about 50 billion water bottles every

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  year, and only 23% of these plastic water bottles are

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  recycled just in the United States, 1.5 million barrels of

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  oil are used annually in the production of plastic bottles.

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  If that oil was not used to make these bottles,

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  it could fuel 100,000 cars for a whole year.

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  Even while shopping.

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  I see so much waste plastic grocery bags found all

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  over the place.

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  And why are there so many things plastic wrapped?

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  Most of these plastic will only be scrapped.

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  Not for me, please.

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  I've had enough.

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  I use my cloth bags when I pack up my

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  stuff. I also take care of what goes in my

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  cart. Choosing less packaging and plastic is smart.

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  Every year, Americans throw away over 140 billion food and

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  drink containers and bottles more than 30% of our waste

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  to simply packaging material alone.

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  Plastic bags are created using fossil fuels and require vast

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  amounts of water and and an energy to manufacture and

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  ship. Plastic bags are used on average for 12 minutes,

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  but remain in landfill, oceans and other places for thousands

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  of years.

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  Have you been on a picnic when the sky was

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  bright blue?

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  Do you remember the cups, plates and forks that you

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  used. There are probably plastic and only used once, but

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  decomposing takes years, not just a few months.

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  Not for me, please.

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  I'll join the band against single use plastic because I'm

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  not a fan.

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  All that I need can come from my home.

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  Let's avoid needless spies and reuse what we own.

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  Our world is connected with resources shared.

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  We almost pitch, pitch in and give nature are care.

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  Let's pass on these things that don't make much sense

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  or benefit us that our planet's expense the options are

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  endless. If you make the right choice, think the three

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  R's and use your strong voice.

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  So how will you choose next time when you're out,

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  will you think differently and take a new route?

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  You are free to borrow my little phrase and say,

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  Not for me, please.

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  In all of your days, B and