A big question that has crossed many people’s minds is how the climate is affecting the world we live in, and what they can do to help. A small step is to just be aware and know their personal impact. Now the real question is what we, as a community, can do to help.

Put the car away for a little while. It can be hard to do that sometimes, but if you can walk or ride a bike, that will help with the carbon levels in the atmosphere. According to science teacher Gareth Engler, it’s much cheaper and a good way to exercise. Engler is someone who, if you were to ask, would proudly say that he drives an electric car and that it saves him lots of money. Electric cars can be expensive, but something to keep in mind is that even if you can’t afford an electric car, there are many alternatives. Walking alone is something that lots of people do just for fun, take for instance hiking, going shopping, golfing, going to a museum. Also biking is very fun and will make your legs crazy strong too.

Invest in some metal water bottles. Be it cheap or expensive, they all do the same thing: they reduce the amount of plastic waste that we put out into our environment. About 14% of all litter comes from drink containers, according to the Plastic Oceans Program. That is a lot when you think of the amount of drinks that you buy everyday and just throw away. Some other things that are nice is that even around the halls there are several fountains where you conveniently fill up the water bottle.  Plus, you can really personalize them and make them your own.

Something that you can even do here at school is minimize your food waste. Simply taking what you need and finishing that without having tons of leftover food go in the trash really helps to keep our waste levels down, according to Kiwi Energy. A good thing to do if you can is pack a lunch because then if you don’t finish all your food, you can just save it for later.