By Nature Foundation St. Maarten
This week’s edition of The Kids Herald is inspired by September, a month full of environmental events:
* World Clean-up Day: September 17.
* World Water Monitoring Day: September 18.
* World Car-free Day: September 22.
* World Environmental Health Day: September 26.
International environmental days are special theme days where people worldwide focus on environmental issues. On most of these days, people should do something for the environment. For example, to sacrifice driving by choosing to walk to the store nearby instead of taking the car; or to forego the use of plastic bags by carrying a reusable bag for grocery shopping.
On Saturday, September 17, lots of people (over 60 million!) from 191 countries around the globe came together to do clean-up activities in their area. Many organizations, businesses and community members organized clean-ups. Unfortunately, because of Tropical Storm Fiona, the clean-ups in our corner of the world were postponed or cancelled, but you can look out for new dates and come out to help clean our island.
Just like doing a big clean-up in your room or in your backyard from time to time, it is just as important that we do the same on our island. Besides being an eyesore, litter can disrupt the ecosystem of your environment because it can attract many different insects and rodents and can carry diseases. This can become harmful to animals or children, who might pick up dirty trash, step on it, or even ingest it.
Maintaining a clean environment reduces pollution, preserves our biosphere, protects endangered species, and helps preserve the earth’s natural resources. The cleanliness of your community represents the mind-set and attitude of the people living there. In the next edition, we will go deeper into waste and pollution on our island.
Definitions:
- To sacrifice: to give up something that is important to you for something else.
- Ingest: to take into your body, for example by eating or drinking something.
- Pollution: the process of making air, water, or the ground dirty.
- Biosphere: the part of the world in which life can exist.
- Natural resources: Anything that is found in nature and that can be used by living things, for example, water for drinking, plants for medicine, and eggs to eat.
In photo: Cay Bay clean-up with volunteers on August 12.
