Yes! YOU can save the Planet.

Who can save the Planet? You! Yes! YOU can save the Planet! We always think politicians should do something, but as Michael Jackson's song says "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change!".

 

The Majestic of the Plastic Bag

Have you ever thought about a plastic bag's life? This video is very interesting. Watch it and in case you have problems for understanding, you can read the trascript. But pleaseeeeee, make an effort!



The Majestic Plastic Bag – A Mockumentary

The open plains of the asphalt jungle, home to many creatures, great and small ... and the pupping ground for one of the most clever and illustrious creatures: the plastic bag. Today we explore the cycle of life for this curious creature the plastic bag on its migration to its home, the Pacific Ocean.

Once released into the wild, the plastic bag is unsure of itself. It falters at first, but soon with some help from the wind, the bag will be airborne. This flight will be its first in its long journey towards its final destination: the garbage patch in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Using the wind to guide it, the plastic bag moves across the city through the air.

A city park. This park may at first seem an idyllic place for the plastic bag, but danger lurks round every corner. Here it will encounter many enemies, including one of the most dangerous: park services. Poor little fellow– looks like his journey ends here.

Meanwhile, our little bag has encountered one of nature’s most deadly killers: the teacup yorkie. Once the yorkie has locked onto its victim, there’s very little hope of survival. But using its superior size and deft manoeuvring, our bag manages to escape the yorkie’s talons and flee for its life.

Over the course of its miraculous migration, the plastic bag will cover vast distances through neighbourhoods, across parks and down city streets. It is now nightfall, and our highly advanced night-vision cameras have managed to capture for the first time in history a plastic bag in pitch black. Phenomenal.

The vast cement rivers in California, home to literally dozens of animals. Many plastic bags will not make it out of here, the reeds and branches will see to that.

As at home in water as it is on land, or in the air, the bag’s natural buoyancy makes it an excellent swimmer. It’s close now, and it can feel it. At last the bag has reached the gateway to the open sea. Careful to avoid the mouths of hungry sea-life that feed on the helpless plastic, the bag will travel hundreds of miles to join the thriving community of plastic known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Garbage Patch is a veritable plastic oasis, where millions of tons of plastic garbage remain trapped by the currents. It is said to be twice the size of Texas. Never actually biodegrading, here the plastic bag can live indefinitely, peacefully co-existing with billions of other petroleum species before breaking into ever-tinier plastic pieces, thus completing the plastic cycle of life.

Transcript courtesy of Shaune Peebles.

Change the world

Read the dialogue and answer the questions.

Kate: Mum, are we enviromentally-friendly?
Sue: I don't thinks so. It's not very important anyway.
Kate: But if everyone tried, it would make a big difference. And we could also save money.
Sue: Really? How?
Kate: We could save energy if we used energy-saving light bulbs...
Sue: But they're more expensive than normal ones!
Kate: Yes. But they don't break for a long time. You could save $20 a year.
Sue: Oh, that sounds like a good idea, then.
Kate: And we could save water too. If we didn't take baths -if we showered- we would only use a quarter of the water needed for a bath. And we should reuse shopping bags too, then we wouldn't need to get a new bag every time we went to the supermarket.
Sue: Well, now that you mention supermarkets, please take this bag. If you don't go and buy some sausages, we won't have any lunch today!

1. Are Kate's family environmentally-friendly at the moment?
2. Why are energy-saving light bulbs more economical than normal ones?
3. What saves more water -having a shower or having a bath?
4. How can we recycle shopping bags?

Our impact on the environment

Worried about your impact on the environment? Here you are lots of easy things we can do to save the environment:

http://www.panda.org/how_you_can_help/greenliving/