Earth Day Essay Contest & Program
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To celebrate Earth Day 2012, the school hosted an essay contest with the themes “How do I make a difference in the environment? How am I an environmental steward?” Students from Kindergarten to 8th grade participated. Judges determined winners from each grade. Winners were recognized at the Earth Day program. Some of the winning essays are below.
Kindergarten and 1stgrade students entertained the school with songs to teach the message of recycling, reducing, and taking care of the Earth. Environmental Leadership elective students performed skits and showed PowerPoint presentations to educate children and parents.
How Do I Make a Difference in the Environment?
by John (5th grade)
There are many ways to make a difference in the environment and every little bit helps. I help my family recycle. We recycle plastic, aluminum and other metal cans. We place these items in the recycle bin and they are picked up every Tuesday. We also recycle paper. There is a special box in our kitchen where I put old graded papers, empty cereal boxes, cardboard and any other papers that used to get thrown away. I help my Dad throw the old papers in the recycle bins at school. It is important to keep all of these things out of the dump.
I also helped my Dad load the car up with old electronics, paint cans, insecticide and paper that needed to be shredded. We took it to the Pearland Recycle Center. We also have a small box where we put old batteries. These will go to the Pearland Recycle Center, too.
I don’t litter. Littering destroys the earth, so I am careful not to throw any trash on the ground. For the last two years, I have helped during the Keep Pearland Beautiful day by picking up trash along St. Helen’s stretch of road along Pearland Parkway. I have fun with my friends walking along the street and dragging interesting things out of the creek.
It is important to conserve water, but sometimes that is hard for me to do. I try to take shorter showers. I learned this at Camp Kappe where we only had 10 minutes to take our shower.
Saving energy is another way that I try to make a difference. It is a habit of mine turn out lights when I leave a room. I also turn off my electronics when I am not using them.
Even for only being 11 years old, there are a lot of things that I do to make a difference in the environment.
We can make a difference!
by Joseph (8th grade)
I am a steward to the environment in many ways. I recycle at home. I help pick up trash during “Keep Pearland Beautiful” (KPB) and as a Boy Scout on camp-outs. Lastly, I am steward to the environment by being part of the environmental leadership elective, trying to lead the school to green future.
I recycle at home most every day. Whether plastic, cardboard, or glass, my family puts it into our recycling bin, which often overflows with recyclables. It is also my responsibility to take the trash and recycle out to the street every Friday. Not only do I recycle, but I also compost much materials. Old garden waste and kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps are sent to my compost bin to make healthy fertile soil for my family’s garden.
I make it a habit to try to go to every KPB to help pick up trash. There we not only collect trash, but we count things such as cigarette butts. At Boy Scout camp-outs my fellow scouts and I do our part to help our troop to “Leave No Trace” by picking our trash up, disposing of our cleaning water properly, and trying to leave the site cleaner than we found it.
In the school’s environmental leadership elective, we try not just to educate ourselves about the environment, but also to help it providing it services and educating others in the school about environmental issues. Our elective tries to recycle paper in our school every Wednesday. We also took a field trip this year to Galveston Island to help replant native grasses to restore sand dunes there. For Earth Day, our class will be making presentations about environmental issues and topics.
I am a steward to the environment is many ways. I recycle, pick up trash, and participate in helping the earth by providing service and educating others. Our Earth natural environment is becoming increasingly rare but with the help of people everywhere we can help save it. Our school may be small but we can make a big difference in the world.
I Make a Difference in My Environment
by Grace (4th grade)
I make a difference in my environment by conserving energy, by conserving water, by not polluting our Earth, by recycling, and by repurposing food waste. It is not hard to make a difference in my environment.
First of all, I conserve energy. I turn off the light when I leave a room and shut down my computer when I am done using it. My family uses energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs in every room of our house. I turn off the television when I am finished watching it. Instead of keeping the television on for background noise, I use a smaller device that uses less energy. Before I open my refrigerator, I make sure I know what I need to take out so that I don’t open and close the refrigerator door too many times. When I am finished with the refrigerator, I make sure the door is closed so that the cold air does not come out.
Second of all, I conserve water. I take quick showers and make sure I close the faucet when I am done. When I brush my teeth, I turn off the water until I need it. A rain barrel is an easy way to capture rain water for plants instead of getting water from the garden hose.
Thirdly, I do not pollute the environment. I do not litter and try to pick up litter when I see it. My family also uses environmentally-friendly cleaning products that are gentle to our Earth. We also use lawn fertilizers that do not harm the environment.
Fourthly, I recycle as many items as possible. For example, I recycle batteries, paint, plastic, cardboard, and paper. We donate unwanted clothes to charity and bring reusable shopping bags to the store.
Finally, I repurpose food waste. I reuse food by putting kitchen waste like fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells, and coffee grounds in the school’s compost bin. A compost bin results in less trash and a healthier environment. It is very easy to love our Earth!
How do I Make a Difference in the Environment
by Alexandra (6th grade)
Nature is beautiful and I want to keep it that way, as a matter of fact, we should all want to keep it that way. That is why every day I look at my surroundings and I think of ways to make it better.
At home my family and I recycle paper, plastics, glass, and cans and we are very good at it. We don’t want these items to end up in the landfills. We want to make sure that they are recycled and put back in use. The more paper that gets recycled, the less amount of trees need to be chopped down, and that makes a huge impact on the environment.
Other things that I do include conserving water. I do this by taking showers that are not too long, I don’t run the dishwasher or the washing machine unless they are full, I even have a watering can and other buckets that I use to collect rain water which I later use to water the plants. In addition to that, I had my dad buy and install low flow showers heads and they have made a difference.
Conserving electricity is a must if you want to protect the environment. I always make sure that I turn off all the lights that are not being used, and I turn off the computer when I have finished using it. I even encouraged my parents to change all the light bulbs to fluorescent. They are energy efficient and are definitely better for the environment.
At home I wear lightweight clothing during the summer months, so we do not have to lower the temperature to stay comfortable. In the winter months, I dress warmer so we don’t have to raise the temperature. After a while you get use to it and you don’t even notice.
Small changes, like the ones I mentioned, are not difficult and make a very big difference in the environment. We all should want to live in a clean, healthy, and beautiful world and we should all take care of it. Look around and you will see how many things you can change to achieve this. We are all responsible!