Taking care of and giving back to the environment is very important to me. There are many ways in which I do this.
The first way is through recycling. I recycle all of my used paper. I also make sure to recycle all other recyclable materials including certain kinds of plastic, metal pop cans, and glass. Though it may seem like a small thing, recycling is really beneficial to the environment. According to the University of Southern Indiana, the average American uses seven entire trees a year in paper. That amounts to approximately 2 billion trees a year! So much landfill space and resources including trees, oil, energy, and water are saved by recycling.
The second way I give back to the environment in my own way is by planting trees and plants. Every year, I plant flowers and other plants in a garden. Though it has a small impact, it still reduces some of the excess carbon dioxide in the air and replaces it with oxygen. Currently, I am not able to do this on a very big scale. Hopefully in the future, I can plant many more trees and create a bigger impact in reducing pollutants in the environment.
Another fun way to take care of the environment is actually just to travel and visit parks. The US National Park System preserves a lot of nature and wildlife. By visiting the parks, and paying to enter, you are contributing towards keeping nature clean and preserved. I have visited several local, state, and national parks in the past, from the local Lakeshore Park in Novi to the state Kensington Metro Park to Rocky Mountain National Park, Redwood National Park, and Acadia National Park.
