What can we do to protect the environment?
Conservation is saving or protecting the environment for the future. Here are some ways that the environment can be carefully used so that it is not destroyed.
Sustainable Forestry
Sustainable forestry involves managing forests so that wood can be cut down within the forest without destroying the ecosystem of the forest. This usually involves select cutting, cutting small areas at a time, and/or leaving strips of forest for animals to move through. The forest is replanted after it is harvested so that there will be timber to be harvested in the future as well. Visit the website linked below for a brief overview of sustainable forestry.
Sustainable Agriculture
The way we farm needs to be sustainable for people that live in the future to have enough food to eat. Protecting the soil and water as well as avoiding the development and spread of plant and animal disease is very important. The video below shows some of the features of a sustainable farm in North Carolina. When you watch the video look for ways the farm avoids buying stuff from outside the farm but instead uses services from the animals to replace chemicals and fertilizers.
Conserving Water
Water is one of our most important natural resources. We can't survive for more than a few days without it. It might surprise you to know that most water in our country is used for agriculture and industry rather than for drinking.
Water conservation is about more than using less water. It is about protecting water from pollution and contamination. People in developing countries have a lot of water contamination issues because many places do not have sewage treatment. The website below provides a short overview of several reasons to save water.
Water conservation is about more than using less water. It is about protecting water from pollution and contamination. People in developing countries have a lot of water contamination issues because many places do not have sewage treatment. The website below provides a short overview of several reasons to save water.
While you may think water pollution is only a problem in other countries, it is closer than you may think. Clean air regulations require coal plants to remove ash from the smoke leaving coal-burning power plants. The coal ash then has to be stored somewhere. Sometimes spills release coal ash into rivers such as the one that happened in North Carolina in 2014. Information about this spill is shown in the video below.