| Dear
EarthTalk: We just started an environmental
club at our high school. What issues and activities do you
recommend we get involved with to make the most difference?
-- Kurt Perry, Cedar Park, TX
|
High
school students in EarthTeam's Restoration Program
plant native plants at the Strentzel Meadow site in
Martinez, California.
© EarthTeam |
Participating
in an environmental club is an excellent way for high school
students to learn about environmental issues while providing
measurable benefit to their community.
Given
their local focus, most clubs focus on issues close to home.
Many undertake hands-on activities like cleaning up local
riverbanks and beaches strewn with litter, restoring degraded
wildlife habitat and planting and managing a community organic
garden. Other worthy ideas include starting a recycling
program (or setting up a compost bin) on school grounds,
involving the school or community in measuring and lowering
their “carbon footprint,” organizing energy-
and emissions-saving carpools for students who drive, and
asking school officials to print all documents double-sided
(to save paper).
Another
way for an environmental club to get involved is to offer
assistance to a local green group already working on a project,
be it an effort to preserve a threatened parcel of open
space, promote bus ridership, get a wind turbine installed
in town or pressure a local polluter to clean up its act.
Polling club members on what issues matter most to them
is a good way to get started on picking projects and activities.
Several
national nonprofits also help environmental clubs find focus
areas and accomplish their goals. One of the leaders is
EarthTeam, formed in 2000 with the mission of “creating
a new generation of environmental leaders” by introducing
teens to inspiring environmental experiences. The group’s
website offers up extensive resources for starting an environmental
club, finding resources and getting going on various environmental
projects. The group also helps facilitate collaboration
among clubs.
Some
popular events among EarthTeam clubs include tree plantings,
river and beach clean-ups, visits to local wetlands and
nature preserves, and holding environmental awareness days
at schools. Movie nights are also popular. Showing a relevant
environmental documentary on the big screen in a school
auditorium or some other venue is a sure way to get a larger
membership base and stir up student interest. Some recent
releases that might stimulate discussion and ideas include:
The Cost of Cool, an in-depth look at the environmental
consequences of excessive consumerism, hosted by former
Baywatch star Alexandra Paul; A Crude Awakening, about the
impact of global oil dependency; and Al Gore’s An
Inconvenient Truth.
Another
great resource is Earth Tomorrow, a national network of
high school environmental clubs administered by the National
Wildlife Federation. Through the network, clubs gain access
to a wide range of resources on which they can base projects.
Examples include the Schoolyard Habitats How-to Guide, which
walks high schoolers through the steps involved in enhancing
wildlife habitat and ecological health on school grounds,
and the Science and Civics program, which shows students
how to use science, economics, the law and politics to address
a local conservation issue and implement an action plan.
Beyond these pre-packaged resources, Earth Tomorrow members
can tap each other for project ideas, help and general guidance
to help make their club experience as productive and rewarding
as possible.
CONTACTS:
Earth
Team; EarthTomorrow.
Dear
EarthTalk: My condo kitchen floor is vinyl,
installed back in 1979. I am told the vinyl contains asbestos.
Now it needs replacing. How do I safely remove the vinyl
and what are some green choices for a new floor?
-- Green Dreamer, via e-mail
|
Today,
the only money to be made from asbestos is by those
in the business of getting rid of it, and an entire
industry has sprung up specializing in safely removing
asbestos from both commercial and residential buildings.
© Getty Images |
Asbestos is a
naturally occurring mineral that can be used in a variety
of industrial applications due to its strong flexible fibers,
its resilience to heat and chemicals, and the fact that
it does not conduct electricity. From the late 1800s through
the 1970s, asbestos was used extensively in the U.S. and
elsewhere in everything from pipes and insulation to siding
and flooring, including vinyl tiles.
The problem with
asbestos is that its microscopic fibers can become airborne
when materials containing it get worn out, damaged or disturbed.
Inhaling these airborne fibers can lead to a variety of
health problems such as asbestosis (a chronic lung ailment
that can produce shortness of breath and permanent lung
damage) and a variety of cancers, including those of the
lung, larynx and gastrointestinal tract.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) effectively banned asbestos in 1989.
(The ban was later overturned in federal court as a result
of pressure from mining and construction interests, but
the damage to the substance’s reputation was too formidable
for industry to start using it widely again.) Today, the
only money to be made from asbestos is by those in the business
of getting rid of it, and an entire industry has sprung
up specializing in safely removing asbestos from both commercial
and residential buildings.
The EPA recommends
that homeowners who want to remove asbestos-containing materials
from their residences hire a licensed contractor to do the
dirty work, so as not to compromise family or personal health.
The EPA maintains an online listing of asbestos removal
specialists across the country, and homeowners can also
look in their local Yellow Pages under “asbestos abatement”
or “asbestos removal” to find local contractors
qualified to remove and dispose of the stuff safely and
completely.
Hiring such a
firm can cost thousands of dollars; so many do-it-yourselfers
still take it upon themselves to remove worn asbestos-containing
materials (tiles, siding, etc.) from their own homes. Anyone
willing to undertake such risks should make sure to get
a respirator and other safety equipment to protect against
inhaling airborne asbestos particles, and should seal off
work areas so the carcinogenic dust does not spread into
other areas of the building. The Flooring Lady website is
chock full of details on how to minimize risks and includes
strong reminders that such a task is not for the risk-averse.
As for what to
replace those worn vinyl tiles with, many greener choices
abound. Bamboo, cork, linoleum, and sustainably harvested
or reclaimed wood are all environmentally sound and widely
available flooring options. Some of these products are available
at the big box home improvement stores like Lowe’s
and Home Depot, but better selections can be found at online
green building supply stores like Ecohaus, Green Building
Supply and GreenFloors, among others.
CONTACTS:
U.S.
EPA Asbestos Information; The
Flooring Lady; Ecohaus;
Green
Building Supply; GreenFloors |
