Shelley Brown Richmond Public Library

Digging up ‘green’ resources

Started in 1970 in the United States, Earth Day is now observed in more than 140 nations worldwide. There is a wealth of information on the Internet to help you learn about environmental issues. If you are looking for information on climate change, recycling, composting and other environmental issues, here are a few websites worth checking out.

Take the Ecological Footprint Quiz, www.earthday.net/Footprint/index.asp, to find out how much productive land and water is needed to support what you use. Just choose the country you live in, answer 15 questions, and find out how your use compares to others in your area, and what it would take to support life if everyone had the same consumption figures as you.

David Suzuki, a well-known Canadian scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster, is chair of the David Suzuki Foundation, which is a “science-based Canadian environmental organization working to protect thebalance of nature and quality of life.” The Foundation’s website, www.davidsuzuki.org/, includes information on issues including climate change, forests, oceans and sustainability. There is also a children’s page, www.davidsuzuki.org/kids/, which includes 10 things that kids can do to help protect nature.

Reducing the amount of waste your household produces can help to protect the environment. One way to reduce waste is by recycling. For information about recycling in Richmond, visit www.richmond.ca/services/recycling/about.htm.

The site includes answers to questions like what can be recycled and when the recycling pick-up dates are in your area. The site also includes information on the impact that the recycling program has had on garbage totals since its start in 1990.

Another way to reduce the amount of garbage ending up in landfills is to compost. “Composting for Kids,” aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/sustainable/slidesets/kidscompost/cover.html, is a slideshow that offers a simple introduction to composting, including how to set up a bin, as well as uses for the finished compost. The slides cover three different types of composting: traditional, trench and compost pockets. For more information about composting, visit the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s “Composting and Yard Trimmings” page, www.gvrd.bc.ca/recycling-and-garbage/composting.htm, which provides links to PDF files detailing the benefits of composting, how to set up a compost bin and an introduction to worm composting.

For information on what the Canadian government is doing about climate change, visit www.climatechange.gc.ca/english/. The One-Tonne Challenge, www.climatechange.gc.ca/onetonne/english/index.asp?pid=50, sponsored by the government of Canada, asks you to reduce your annual greenhouse gas emissions by one tonne.

This column and its links can be accessed from the web version of the Richmond Review, found on the Richmond Public Library home page at www.yourlibrary.ca. Free use Internet stations are available at all four branches of the library. Comments and suggestions for future columns may be e-mailed to column@yourlibrary.ca

This column and its links can be accessed from the Internet version of the Richmond Review, found on the Richmond Public Library's website at www.yourlibrary.ca.