EarthPlex - Climate Platform for Teens

An Environmental Dilemma: Fireworks By Jules Amorosi, age 17 I have always cared about the environment. I do what I can to lower my impact on climate change, pollution, and water usage. I make an effort to carpool. I avoid single-use plastics. I try to take shorter showers. And I get upset when I read about the huge issues facing our environment today. Over the summer, my environmental awareness increased drastically. My mind continued to be clouded with environmental thoughts and worries while I was on a trip to the beach. On the fourth of July, a few friends and I walked down to the bay to watch the annual fireworks show. We brought a picnic blanket and found a spot in the middle of the grassy field. The chatter and excitement of all the people surrounding us filled the vast space and heightened my anticipation for the show.  My friends and I waited among the crowd for the show to begin. I imagined how the town had likely prepped for weeks for this spectacle, saving up money...

Why Arbor Day is so Important Today is one of the most important environmental holidays: Arbor Day. Everybody should be informed about the importance of this holiday and why trees are necessary to sustain life on Earth.  For you: We Need Trees What is Arbor Day? Arbor Day is a holiday when people are encouraged to plant trees. It's observed on the last Friday of April and has been celebrated since the 1870s . Millions of trees have been planted on Arbor Days. Why it's Important Global warming is caused when too much carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere. That causes our planet to heat. Humans and human activity increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. How do we combat this? Trees. Not only do trees absorb carbon dioxide; they also create oxygen which humans and animals need to breathe. Also, trees provide us with food and boost the economy . How to celebrate Planting trees is the greatest way to celebrate Arbor Day. Every tree planted has monumental impacts on our plane...

  The Climate Change News of 2020 | Earth Rewind ⏱2.5 minute read 2020 was a crazy year; life changed as we know it, and the world will forever be altered. Even though the coronavirus pandemic took over the news, the climate change threat has grown. This post will highlight the challenges and the progress from this year.  Wildfires 2020 began with a bang. The 2020 Australian wildfires were one of the first omens that this would be a bad year. Australia experienced unprecedented fires that ravaged parts of the beautiful country. Later in the year, another season of California wildfires began. They seem to worsen each year. The forest fires displaced citizens and weakened our economy, with a lot more damage in store. These wildfires are caused by global warming and a lack of forest management. For you: Climate Emergency: Wildfires  Reduced Emissions 2020 brought a nasty recession which caused millions of people to lose their jobs. Because industry slowed, emissions did as w...

The Environmental Impact of Christmas ⏱ 2 minute read Christmas is the most famous holiday in the United States, and probably even throughout the globe. According to Google Trends, Christmas has been searched more than other popular holidays year-after-year in the United States. Christmas began as a religious holiday to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Even though the holiday is still a high holiday for the Christian faith, it has largely turned into a commercial holiday. Christmas season begins on Black Friday, a day infamous for overconsumption. Recommended:  The Environmental Impact of Black Friday Christmas Trees Each year, millions of Christmas trees are sold. There are two types of Christmas trees; the first is the artificial tree that is usually made from plastic, and the other type is the real tree. We need trees  to balance the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and surprisingly, real Christmas trees support forest growth. The Nature Conservancy s...

What is The Environmental Impact of Back Friday? Thanksgiving is arguably the most famous American holiday. Americans have a large feast with their families and stuff themselves with turkey and other delicacies. This post is not about Thanksgiving - though we plan on posting about it in the future - it's about the holiday the next day: Black Friday. Americans have celebrated Black Friday for decades now, and the tradition has spread across the globe.  What is Black Friday? Black Friday is about consumerism. Stores lower their prices which is followed by mobs of shoppers wanting to buy as much as they can. The holiday is infamous for fights emerging over discounted products. Black Friday represents consumerism in the western world; today, Americans buy more material goods than ever before even though they are proven not to make Americans happier. Corporations have created new holidays to increase consumer spending as well. These include Prime Day and Cyber Monday. Many people make l...

Alter Eco Dark Chocolate Bar Review  Halloween is approaching, and families are buying candy to give out to trick-or-treaters. I don't know if Halloween will be anything like it's been in the past because 2020 has been quite a year. There are a few issues with candy - specifically chocolate. First, it's quite unhealthy (newsflash), and second, it is not very good for the earth. Most chocolate bars require unfair treatment of cows, and we have explored the environmental impact of breeding cows in a few of our posts .  That's where alter eco comes in. They state that their mission is "to pioneer a full circle approach to eating, farming, and doing business – and to inspire others to do the same." As a certified B Corporation, they prioritize giving back to the world, and their tree planting efforts make up for more than their carbon emissions, according to alter eco's website . In addition,  their chocolate is made from clean ingredients, and it comes in co...

  Should You Fast to Help the Environment?  Today marks a high holiday for the Jewish faith: Yom Kippur, and many Jewish people will fast for twenty-five hours. As a Jew myself, I have fasted for the last couple of Yom Kippurs, and I am fasting on this day too. Yom Kippur is a day to apologize to God for their sins. It doesn't matter whether or not you observe Yom Kippur; exploring the environmental impact of fasting applies to a lot of people. There are two different types of fasts we will explore. The first is a traditional fast, or not eating or drinking for a long time period (e.g. Yom Kippur), and the second is intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is generally defined as fasting on and off for short periods of time. A common example of intermittent fasting is eating during an eight-hour window of the day, and fasting for the remaining sixteen hours. Apart from religious reasons, people tend to fast for health reasons. People who fast tend to eat less than those who ...