How to help:

• Lights out!  Turning lights off when you're not in the room can save a lot of energy.

• Putting the kettle on.  Britons drink an amazing 60.2 billion cups of tea a day according to The Tea Council.  That's a lot of tea, and a lot of electricity too!  That's why it's important to boil only as much water as you need in your kettle. 

• Brrrr  The fridge is an important part of the kitchen, it keeps food fresh, cool and healthy!  But it takes a lot of energy to keep cool, so help it by not leaving the fridge door open or putting hot things inside.

to affect our planet – впливати на нашу планету

to do their bit for – внести свій внесок, виконувати своє зобов’язання

to power a light bulb – приводити в дію лампочку

radiant energy [΄reidiәnt] – промениста енергія

to enable vegetables – робити придатними овочі

remote control – віддалений контроль

2. Pollution is caused when harmful or poisonous substances are released or found in the air, rivers, seas, animals, plants or even our bodies.  Now, we live on a strong planet with plants, animals and humans.

Did you know? Pollution is one of the main causes of asthma, which affects 1.1 million children in the UK.

The livestock we rear for meat emit more greenhouse gas than all the world’s transport!  The greenhouse gas that livestock produce is called methane.  Methane, together with other greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide contribute to global warming by acting like a blanket surrounding the whole planet, trapping the sun’s heat within the atmosphere and causing global temperatures to rise.

Chemical waste from factories and sewage works can also cause pollution that can get into our rivers and seas, which soon carry the harmful particles for miles.  Litter is considered pollution as it can cause harm to wildlife and disrupt rivers, streams, seas and other habitats.  Harmful chemicals can also be found in many household and garden items, from plastics to cleaning products, weedkillers and sprays.

But all is not lost. We can learn a few tips to help protect the environment and its future:

How to help:

• Don’t drop litter! Birds and animals can mistake litter for food.  Litter can end up in rivers and block drains, or in the sea and be eaten by fish.  Also, some litter will stay around for thousands of years!

• On your bike!  Instead of taking the car get your bicycle.

• Pleasing products.  Many household cleaning products contain harmful chemicals which are washed down the drain.  Encourage your parents to buy eco-friendly products or even make your own from natural substances like vinegar and lemon juice.

harmful or poisonous substances – шкідливі і отруйні речовини

to be released - бути викинутим

to be found – бути знайденим

livestock [ ΄laivstok]- худоба

to rear for meat – розводити для м’яса

methane [ ΄mi:Өein] - метан

carbon [ ΄ka:bәn] dioxide [dai ΄oks(a)id] – двоокис вуглецю

to contribute to – призводити до

to act like a blanket – діяти, як простирадло

surrounding the whole planet – оточуючи усю планету

trapping the sun’s heat – що ловлять сонячне тепло

sewage [ ΄s(j)u:id3] – сточні води, нечистоти

harmful particles – шкідливі частинки

to disrupt rivers, streams, seas and other habitats – руйнувати річки, струмки, моря і інші місця розповсюдження (природне середовище)

weedkillers – винищувачі бур’яну

to drop litter – упускати папери

to be washed down the drain – бути змитим у водовідвід(водосток)

vinegar [ ΄vinigә] and lemon juice – оцет і лимонний сік

3. Food. We can’t live without it!  With more than 7 billion people on earth the demand for food has never been bigger.  In the UK alone they spend about £182 billion pounds a year keeping fed and watered.  That’s a lot of food!  

The first question is - where is all this food coming from?  Our food comes from all over the world - your green beans might come from Egypt, coffee maybe from Africa, perhaps your bananas have travelled from Ecuador and apples flew across the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand.  All of these ‘food miles’ amounts to a lot of transport and transport means fuel and fuel means pollution.

What else does food need to grow?  Water and good soil!  Plants and trees that give us fruit need to eat too you know.  Some countries and farms add pesticides and insecticides to food to keep away pests and insects.  These chemicals can sometimes be harmful to wildlife and their habitats and sometimes to humans too. 

Here in the west we eat 7 times more than people in poorer countries.  We eat a lot of meat and dairy food.  What do these foods have in common?  Meat and dairy food both come from animals, and animals also need food and water.  And as we saw above, they also fart a lot!  Livestock farts produce a greenhouse gas called methane and all this amounts to 20% of the world’s climate-changing gases.