Honorable Mention Essay Winner: 9-14 Age Group

“The Green Movement”

Colin Lualdi
The Learning Center for the Deaf
Framingham, MA

Going green... it is an interesting concept, or I would rather say, movement. It appeared quite recent, after the people in the world understood more about global warming. It is the same idea as the "peace out" trend of the 1970s, where the people got fed up with wars and fighting, but this trend is much better than the one from the 1970s. The "Green trend" is not only for fun. It is also popular because thousands of people like me wanted to save their home: our planet Earth. They care about the Earth as they work towards their goal of saving our home. They keep thinking, "Yes you can, yes we can" just like the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, said when he wanted to rescue America from its problems.

It can be very simple for me to go green because there are many small things that hurt the Earth; I just need to weed those out, one at a time. For example, I can simply shower for a shorter time, use fewer napkins, turn off things such as lights when not in use, use scrap paper, recycle, and reuse things! I also can turn off my computer when I am not using it because computers on standby mode still use sizable amounts of electricity while computers that are off use very little electricity. Going green is can be made simple. We just need to change some of our habits here and there. Also we should remember this important statement: Don't think, "go waste"; instead think "go green." Or rather, as I heard from a well-respected person, Walt Disney would put it as "Don't thiMk ‘go waste'; instead thiMk ‘go green.'" You may ask what does "thiMk" mean? As Walt Disney said, the M in "thiMk" is bigger than the N in "think" (M has 5 corners and is wider while N has only 4 corners and is narrower than M) so thiMk means "to think bigger." We all should apply this idea to "go green." We should think outside of the box for simple ideas on how to go green. After I thought up a bunch, I should put them to use to save our dear little planet!

As I become more motivated about going green, there are more things that I can do to help the Earth! Some ideas are using mechanical pencils or refillable pens instead of wooden or one-use ones. The latter is uneconomical because after you use them once, they cannot be reused and must be discarded. Mechanical pencils and refillable pens allows the users to keep the outer shell and use it for many times, refilling it when necessary. Another idea is to use reusable shopping bags made from sturdy cloth. They are better than plastic or paper bags which can break over a short period. When paper and plastic bags break, we dispose of them in landfills, which are harmful for our planet. The more we do to converse, the better it is!

When I am really determined to save our planet, there are some ambitious things I could do. When I am sixteen and is purchasing a car, I should buy compact, hybrid, fuel cell, or electric cars (fuel cell or electric cars are currently not yet available everywhere but there are some in California, USA). Although hybrids have really good MPG ratings, the process of making the batteries are not exactly green because it consumes a lot of energy. So the best choice for green transportation is public vehicles, car pools, bicycles, and walking. Driving cars is the least "green" choice a person like me could make. Second, I could buy a special central heating system called a "Geothermal Heat Pump" which uses very little electricity. It depends on a well full of well water which stays at the same temperature year round (around 47 F) and a small electric heat-pump unit. In the winter, the heat pump draws the well water and adds some heat, which raises the water temperature to comfortable temperatures. This water then heats up the house via pipes in the walls. In the summertime, the heat pump draws in the cool water and moves it around the house, letting the water absorb the heat and release it outside of the house when the heat pump puts it back in the well. A clever system like this should be found in every house! Sadly, it can be very expensive, so it may be difficult for many to obtain this technology.

There are countless ways to go green. It all takes a desire to save the Earth, some motivation, and creativeness. This is a very big challenge for all of us, like President Kennedy told the people of America to put a person on the moon. We achieved that challenge ten years later. We should do the same thing now. Plus, we should copy Neil Armstrong saying, "A small step for a man, a giant step for mankind" when he became the first man to stand on the moon. Everybody should do small green things to make a giant step for mankind. It is an important thing to save our planet for future generations. Those who think that others will get care of the planet or hope that they will not experience an environmental crisis are people who don't care that much for our Earth. I do not consider myself as one of those people. I care about our environment and I will use my best efforts and talents to help save it. The right thing is to think big and do green stuff. Just do it... it may be not challenging as you may think. Go green!