The earth has been around for 4.543 billion years, while humans have only been around for about 200,000 years. Only in the past 300 years or so have we been truly destroying the earth. With the boom of population more humans require more land, water and simply more of everything. We have to clear through forests in order to plant crops, supply animals with a place to graze and give us the wood and raw materials that we need. Technology has also had a negative impact on the planet. Vehicles emissions, toxic waste and carbon emissions are all by-products of our inventions. Global warming has only begun thanks to the recent generations. According to TheWorldCounts, “27% of our coral reefs have been destroyed. If the rate continues, remaining 60% will be gone in 30 years. Every year, we extract an estimated 55 billion tons of fossil energy, minerals, metals and bio mass from the Earth. The world has already lost 80% of its forests and we’re continually losing them at a rate of 375 km squared per day!” No one believed that earth’s supply was could run out. Little did we know that it is currently being depleted as we speak.

Earth day has recently passed and it is an important day to many people. Lately there have been petitions to make earth day a national holiday. The North Face is a company that is launching a global effort in to make it a national holiday. There are holidays for important people in our history and to honor certain events. However, we lack an official day to celebrate the planet that supports our life. Almost all of the people I interviewed said that they agree that earth day should be a national holiday. The only people that disagreed said that they believe the earth would not benefit from this. They thought that it should be a holiday if people go out and do things to help the earth with the time off. They should help clean up garbage and protect wildlife. This would help in making earth day beneficial.

Our earth continues to be ravaged by pollution and climate change. There is a plethora of things people can do to fix this, but someone needs to step up and take the lead. Freshman Lucy Bentsen says that the reason the earth continues to get destroyed is “probably because people refuse to look at the facts and don’t realize what they are doing so they keep doing it. If everyone tries to be environmentally friendly and change their energy sources then the earth could benefit.” Senior Elodie Hutson says that the earth is being harmed due to “our marginal social cost being over our marginal social benefit. Most of our costs for society are cheap for the producer but ends up hurting the environment. To help the environment, people can make more sustainable products that are better for the environment.” If people begin to actually look at the damage that is occurring and stop just saying they will do something and rather get up and do it, then the earth is going to change for the better.

Even though it is hard to make big strides in reducing pollution to the earth, people are still making an effort to help. Certain companies such as Starbucks, Hyatt, Hilton, Alaska Airlines, Royal Caribbean, Marriot UK and American Airlines are no longer using plastic straws. Canada itself is ditching plastic straws entirely, and switching to paper straws to help save the environment. All of the people that were interviewed supported the use of paper straws over plastic straws and with  Bentsen saying, “Sure gotta save the turtles,” in response to being asked if she supports getting rid of the item. People are also aiming to use reusable bags over plastic ones to reduce pollution. According to Douglas Lober on ReuseThisBag, “A plastic bag can take from 15 to 1,000 years to break down, depending on environment. In a landfill, kept away from the environment that would help them biodegrade more easily, paper bags don’t do much better. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, but they can break down through photo degradation.” Once again, all of the people interviewed agreed that resuable bags should be used over plastic bags. The students that were interviewed also said that they enjoy doing different small things that help benefit the earth. Bentsen said that she uses reusable water bottles and tries to use reusable containers. Junior Jeremy Stretz said that he recycles. Freshman Nick Imler said that when he goes to the store he uses reusable bags and at lunch he uses reusable containers. Hutson uses a reusable coffee cup and sophomore Michelle Kane uses plastic Tupperware for food.

A lot of people enjoy the environment and what is has to offer. There are places filled with nature that bring joy to the faces of many. There are certain animals that are endangered that people will fight to protect. Kane said that her favorite place to enjoy nature is Winthrop, Washington, and that her favorite animal that is endangered is a turtle. She said that to help the turtles we should not pollute the oceans by recycling and disposing of waste properly. Imler said that his favorite place to enjoy nature is his cabin and that his favorite animal that is endangered is a polar bear. He also said that to protect the polars bears people should donate money in an effort to save them. There are many more people that love the outdoors and are saddened by the fact that some of their favored animal are in danger of extinction.

The earth is a delicate place. While one may think that it can survive anything, its biggest threat is not natural disasters. but us. Humans are destroying the earth at incomprehensible speeds and before long, there will be nothing left for us to take. People need to take a moment to stop and actually put words into action and save the planet.