We spoke to 13 Chicago-area kids about the current state of the environment in the city and how they expect things to go in the future.
We spoke to 13 Chicago-area kids about the current state of the environment and how they expect things to go in the future.
Most adults are worried about things like pollution, globalwarming and depleting the world’s limited resources. It shouldn’tcome as any surprise to hear that kids are concerned about the verysame issues. What can Chicago kids do to protect our environmentand conserve resources at home and school? What examples ofpollution do they see around Chicago in their day-to-day lives? Dothey think that our environmental issues will be better or worsewhen they are adults?
We reached out to 13 Chicago area kids to share their thoughtson everything from water conservation to endangered animals toMother Earth (who is that lady anyway?).
Global warming is God’s Earth getting hotter. Walk, ride orroller skate instead of driving.Maya
Global warming is when the garbage that’s been thrown on the groundand in a landfill and all of the other stuff that’s bad for theEarth makes carbon dioxide that overheats the sun. I think thatonce a week we should all go outside and pick up stuff you see.That would help stop global warming. Madeleine
Global warming is the world getting hotter. Ice caps are melting.Weather is going crazy. I know that some factories turn out carbondioxide by using machinery so we could stop plants like that. Also,we could plant more trees to create more oxygen. Wendy
Global warming is the destruction of the ozone layer, which leadsto more of the sun’s harmful UV rays reaching the Earth’s surface.To stop this, we can stop using things like old appliances andaerosol cans.Jacob
What is global warming and what do you think we can do about it?
Yes, it is important to recycle because less garbage goes to thedump. I recycle cans, paper and glass. I recycle at school and athome. Maya
At home, we recycle paper and cardboard and plastic and glass, andsometimes wood. At school, we recycle paper. I’m on StudentCouncil, and we ran a recycling campaign for school this year: Garythe Garbage Can Says `Don’t Put Any More inMe!’Wendy
If we didn’t recycle paper or cardboard, more trees would have tobe cut down. Trees clean some of the air pollution out of the airand if there were no trees, then more people would haveasthma.Savannah
If you leave your garbage on the floor, dolphins and whales willdie.Alexis I think it is important to recycle because it turns old trash into useful objects.Jacob
Do you think it is important to recycle? What do you recycle at home or school?
Once on the bus ride to school, I decided to count how manypieces of litter I could see and the answer was about 240pieces!Savannah
The most common ways I see people polluting are driving andlittering.Jacob People throwing garbage on the ground.Liam There are lots of factories in Chicago that put out smoke that pollutes the environment in Chicago.Drake I see trash in the water in Lake Michigan.Wendy
Can you give us an example of how you see people polluting here in Chicago?
Mother Nature is known for makingnature.Dylan
People refer to a lady that controls all our nature and weather.She’s the one that makes certain stuff happen onEarth.Madeleine
I think it means she helps us not pollute and recycle instead. Shereminds us what and what not to do.Olivia
She is an imaginary mother who is in charge of nature and canchange the weather. When she is angry, she makesthunderstorms.Liza
I think that Mother Nature is the supplier and supporter of allworldly life. Her job would be to keep the Earth in as idealcondition as possible.Jacob
Mother Nature means respect nature and the whole Earth and be kindto bugs.Nikolas
What do you think Mother Nature means?
Clean it so we can reuse it.Maya
If you are playing a basketball game, don’t just throw away yourplastic water bottles. Save it for later. Or better yet, bring onefrom home!Madeleine
When I wash my hands, I always get soap, wet it and then turn itoff. Then I scrub so I don’t waste any more water by letting thewater run. Also, when I have water to drink, I try to drink it allso we don’t have to waste it by dumping it down thedrain.Savannah
Take shorter showers.Liza Turn the water off when brushing your teeth.Liam
What can we do to conserve our water?
I think it could be worse because people aren’t caring about theEarth. Dylan
I think better because people are starting to realize that it isgetting warmer in the winter and the summers are extremelycold.Madeleine
I think that it will be worse, because if people don’t stoppolluting, then more and more pollution will be there. I don’tthink people will stop.Savannah
I think it will be better because people are not polluting theEarth as much and know moreabout how to take better care ofour environment.Sebastian
I sadly think that the world will be in worse shape than it is nowwhen I am an adult. I admire the people who are working towards abetter planet, but I just don’t think that there are enough ofthem.Jacob
It will be better because kids like me willhelp.Nikolas
Do you think that our environment will be better or worse when you are an adult?
Don’t throw stuff on the ocean and don’tlitter.Liam
Find a cleaner energy and make more products with humans instead ofmachines; we pollute less when we run them.Drake
Throw things away you don't need and recycle the things that canhelp change the environment.Olivia We can grow more plants like flowers and trees and drive fewer cars.Maya
We can recycle by reusing things that we have in our home. Paper,boxes, all sorts of things. Reuse paper that only has something onone side.Madeleine
When spring comes, we can plant trees. We should try to recycleeverything. We should try to save water and we should use lesselectricity.Savannah
What else do you think we can be doing to protect our environment?
