Status 4/23/13

Hi, it's us, the Admins.

Just wanted to say sorry for not getting those Earth Day articles up. Silvia was celebrating her Birthday, and Shea is on a trip.
Hopefully, we are all becoming environmentally conscious enough so that Earth Day isn't really different from any other day.

Have a great day!

Sincerely, the Admins,
Silvia and Shea

Earth/Birth Day

Heyyy everybody! It's Earth Day! That means that by the end of today, we'll have Earth Day articles! Plant a tree(Please do)! Do fun, Earth-Friendly activities! Collect rainwater!

It also happens to be Silvia's Birthday! :)

(If I, Silvia, post this, will it seem vain? xD)

Status 3/24/13

Heyyyy readers...Wow. We have been totally inactive on ES Blog, huh? Sorry about that.. We'll get some more articles up soon, we promise.
Silvia has a note for you. Here ya go:
Heyo, just wanted to add some things here: 1. The new Legends of the Flight chapter is going great, it'll be posted soon.
2. I have a few surprises for you people...Hope you like them. Expect something new in a few weeks.
3. The Rescue Dog article is what I'm currently working on. It wouldn't take more than 3 days to write out, but unfortunately, I will be without internet for a while. Sorry, don't worry, I'll be active again soon.
So, that's all, folks!

Thanks for reading! Please stay tuned.

Sincerely, the Administrators,
Shea and Silvia

Snowy wilderness

Dear readers,
As I am typing this, it is snowing outside, in my state, Arizona. I just came back in after having some snowy fun outside. It is perfect packing snow, and about 1 1/2 cm. thick so far. I made a snowball, and just put the snowball in the freezer.
While I was outside, I had time to muse on how global warming was affecting the planet, and how, if we don't act quickly, this unusual phenomenon could never happen again. In the arctic regions, right now, it is snowing there, too. But in there, it's different. The snow there is nessasary for their survival. It's not a pesky nuisance people shovel off the sidewalk, or a wonderful flurry people and animals play in. It's Life.
 As I threw a snowball into the air, I thought about how global warming affects our planet.
I urge you dear reader, please, please contribute to the prevention of further global warming. It's already here, and we need to stop it. 

I took a warm bubble bath halfway through writing this. The soap bubbles reminded me of snow. But the bubbles thrive in warm water, while the snow thrives in the cold.

I have a book with a wonderful poem about the winter. Unfortunately, it would be a copyright violation to post it here.
I hope you find your own poem in the snow, sand, or sky, wherever you are.
Sincerely,
Silvia Phenora

Valentine's Day is over, but the fight for the Earth is not!

Heyo, it's after Valentine's Day, and here are some quick tips on how you can help be more green!

1. You know those flowers you got that person you spent Valentine's Day with? Compost them when they die. If you haven't bought cut flowers, how about potted ones? An avid gardener will love a bulb that can be planted outside later, and regrown year after year!
Houseplants make the home cleaner, unlike fake plants, which collect dust.

2. Those envelopes that the cards come in. Recycle them. If you aren't the type to save cards, recycle those, too. Please don't just throw them away if they are recyclable.
Oh, and recycle the empty box of chocolates, too, please.

3. This one can be applied to any day. Do you need to get something at a nearby store? Go for a walk with your sweetheart, or bike. Don't drive if you can walk or bicycle.

4. Next year, buy recycled paper cards, or make your own cards out of homemade recycled paper!

5. Show your love for the Earth by planting a tree with someone you know. Remember, any day can be Earth Day!

Hope you liked the earth-friendly tips, Go Green as well as red this year!

Water, water, water.....

Water, everywhere. Pools, streams, creeks, ponds, lakes, seas, rain, puddles...water can be found all over, even in the driest deserts. And without it, we couldn't survive.

So why waste it? We all need water. It is totally pointless to waste water, and wasting does harm. That tiny trickle that kept coming out of the faucet because you were too lazy to turn it off completely? Yeah, according to USGS website, that wastes(no joke) an entire gallon of water in one day. And that is assuming the faucet does 20 drips per minute, on a 1/4 millimeter faucet. Yours may drip much more. Shocked yet? How about this quote from the EPA's website:
'Leaks can account for, on average, 10,000 gallons of water wasted in the home every year, which is enough to fill a backyard swimming pool.'

And another quote from the EPA: '10 percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day.'

So now it's quite apparent that leaks that go unfixed are huge water wasters. Let's now look at the statistics for water wasted for other reasons, like in the shower. If you want to take a long soak, a bath may actually be less wasteful. It may seem worst at first glance, gallons of water in the tub, but believe me, if you know how much water goes down the drain during hour-long showers..Before deciding to take a bath or shower, look realistically at how long you will be in there. Are you washing up to go to work in 20 minutes? OK, then, take a shower. 
Are you going to spend an hour in there because you need to relax? Seriously consider that bath.

Need more? How about..The garden hose? No playing with it while watering. The garden hose is one of the biggest water consumers. A singe hose can waste more than six gallons per minute. Gah. That's more than you need to drink in 24 DAYS. Yikes.
And here's one more EPA quote: 'Each person uses 80 to 100 gallons of water per day, on average.' Note that that is for an American Household. 



So. Seen enough? Good. Now, how can you reduce your waste of water?

1. Take shorter showers.

2. Have leaks fixed professionally. Yes, professionally. Even if you think you can do it, don't. You may think it's fixed, but there's a chance that it's not fixed, and you don't realize it until it's wasted another half gallon.

3. Don't play with that hose too much. It uses up water fast, especially while on a strong setting.

4. Use the public pool. Believe it or not, using your own pool uses more water.

5. Just be overall water-concious while doing "everyday" things. Before doing a load of laundry, stop and think about whether you could wait until there is more laundry. Doing small loads wastes more than large loads. But don't use this as an excuse to slack off.

And when you use the washing machine. Think about how much water your washing machine uses, and wash the dishes by hand if you can do it without using a ton of water.

Remember: Statistics are general facts. Don't lose sight of the amount you hurt our environment, and what you can do to stop it.

We have got to Save this planet now. This is the time for action. You're not alone. If we all work together, we can fix the harm we've done.

Vegetable Oil Cars? By Shea Montgumery

How great is a car that runs on vegetable oil? Well it may seem like a good idea, you know a car that doesn't hurt the planet buy producing harmful exaust.  Think again.  While the car it self may not be harmful to the evironment, but it needs some way of getting the vegetable oil.  See the flaw in this brilliant plan yet? No? Let me enlighten you.  The big vehicles used to collect the ingredients for vegetable oil use a ton fuel! Because most people do not use vegetable oil cars more fuel is wasted by the large farming vehicles than is made up for by the earth friendly cars.