The Athlete Who Refuses To Fly

Did you know that 100,000 flights take off and land each day around the world? Air travel has shrunk our world, allowing people to travel from any corner of the world to another. However, we know now that aviation is responsible for three to four percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations expects this number to multiply three times by 2050 due to the increasing demand. For this reason, Innes FitzGerald, a long-distance runner from the UK, has taken a stand. Her next race was scheduled to be in Australia, but Innes declined, stating, “The reality of the travel fills me with deep...

Dumpster Divers Shame Companies!

Think back to the last time you went to a store. Did you ever wonder how many of the items would be unsold, collecting dust on the shelves? Many corporations claim to donate and recycle some of those unsold products to reduce waste. Stores like CVS have publicly announced their wish to help the environment by reusing and recycling 50% of unsold merchandise. To find out the truth about this waste, Anna Sacks, a dumpster diver on TikTok (@thetrashwalker), decided to go through trash near large stores. She was shocked to find makeup, accessories, food, and clothes thrown away in perfect...

¡Los peces león están tomando el control!

¡Cuidado, los peces león se están haciendo cargo! Con un colorido exterior de rayas rojas, blancas y negras y espinas dorsales que causan picaduras dolorosas, los peces león están ahuyentando a otras especies de peces en el mar Mediterráneo. En el Líbano, el pez león, una especie no autóctona, se ha convertido en un plato cada vez más común en restaurantes y tiendas. Son, junto con otros como el pez globo del Mar Rojo, conocidos como especies invasoras, organismos que no son originarios de un área en particular. Según Reuters, "el invasivo [pez león] desova cada cuatro días y puede poner...

Part 1: Water In Our Daily Lives

We live on Planet Earth, but should we call it Planet Water? A view from space shows blue oceans covering more of the planet than land. Water is also found in the air and clouds, in rivers, and deep underground. However, most of Earth’s water is salty and undrinkable. Only 2.5% of all water is freshwater and most of that is locked up in glaciers or found deep underground. In fact, less than 1% of freshwater is available to people and animals. This precious water travels through the water cycle— raining down from clouds, flowing in rivers and the ocean, or seeping into the ground to emerge...

Part 2: The Problem With Water

Most of us are used to clean water flowing right into our homes. We drink it, shower with it, and use it to flush the toilets. We water our plants with it. Have you ever wondered where this water comes from? Or where it goes? Or what might happen if we don’t have enough? If you live in a city or a town, the water may be delivered to your home from a nearby river or lake, or from large pumps that pull it out of the ground (groundwater). Perhaps it was piped from hundreds of miles away, over mountains and through valleys. If you live in the country, you probably have your own small well and a...

Part 3: Reusing Greywater

Imagine a warm shower: water flows off your shoulders and down the drain. What happens to this water next? In most homes, it’s piped away to a sewer treatment plant or a septic system, where the water is cleaned and then discharged. Standard plumbing systems mix all the water together, from toilets, showers, sinks and washing machines. There are new and better systems that keep cleaner sources of wastewater separate so they can easily be reused. What is Greywater? Greywater refers to water from sinks, showers, baths, and washing machines. Basically, it’s all the water used in the home, except...

Part 4: Harvesting Rainwater

What do you like to do on a rainy day - sit inside and listen to the pitter-patter on the roof or splash outside and feel the cold drops on your face? We all depend on rain. It fills rivers and lakes, soaks into the ground, sustains our crops, and keeps the land alive and beautiful. In the past, people got their water from rain, wells, or nearby rivers. Now, many of us live in places where water is piped in, sometimes from far away. Removing so much water from nature and sending it to great distances harms the living things that also need that water. As climate change heats up the planet and...

Part 6: Saving Stormwater

When it’s raining, have you ever thought about how much water falls from the sky? Or where it goes once it lands on the ground? Just one inch of rainfall holds a lot of water - if it falls on a football field, that is enough water to fill up a large swimming pool. And most places get lots more than one inch of rain! Before we had cities and pavement, rain would land on meadows and forests and slowly sink into the ground. The plants, roots, and healthy soil acted like a giant sponge, soaking up rain and slowly filtering it into the ground. This groundwater was a giant reserve of water. Over...

Part 7: Recycling Wastewater

Would you believe it if I told you your shower water once passed through a dinosaur? All the water on Earth has been here since the beginning. It cycles endlessly through the water cycle: from liquid rain to water vapor in the air, to solid ice and snow. The water in our homes may have been frozen in a glacier, flowed in the Amazon River, or even drunk by a T-Rex! In nature, water is cleaned when it’s filtered through soil or plants. Or, when water evaporates all the pollutants are left behind and pure water molecules float into the air. People have created another method to recycle water...

Part 8: Surprising Sources Of Water

Large buildings contain some surprising sources of water. In the past, they were considered a nuisance and dumped out. Now, these waters are gaining value and being reused. In large buildings, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system produces water as a byproduct. It is called air conditioning condensate water . You can observe condensation in action by putting out a glass of ice water on a hot day. The cold surface of the glass draws moisture out of the air, causing drops of water to condense on the outside of the glass. Air conditioning systems in large buildings can...

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