HOW IS CORONAVIRUS AFFECTING THE ENVIRONMENT?
BECAUSE IT MATTERS
How You Can Help
You can help! You can donate to the World Wildlife Fund, or a local organization near you. You can even make a fundraiser, like a bake sale or lemonade stand. Even young people can make a difference, for example, Greta Thunberg or Isra Hirsi. Look below for some organizations you can donate too, more information about Greta Thunberg, Isra Hirsi, and other young climate change activists, and some simple ways you can make a difference in your daily lifestyle.
everyone can make a difference
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is the world's leading conservation organization and its mission is to protect wildlife, and people near wildlife's, habitats.
Take the World Wildlife Fund's Pledge to Stop Wildlife Crime
Ecosia
Ecosia is an eco-friendly search engine that uses all of its profits, except reserves, to plant trees. Ecosia works a lot like Google. Ecosia is a good way to help the environment while you search the internet. Ecosia has planted 88,176,744 trees and counting!
Donate
Nonprofit organizations can always use your donations. You can also help spread the word about endangered animals, because many people are not very informed on the subject, and would try to help if they knew more about endangered animals and climate change.
Trash
If we don't properly dispose of trash, it can end up in the oceans and land, and can choke and kill animals and mess with plant's ecosystems. Don't litter, and if you see trash, pick it up. Also remember to properly recycle, because improperly recycled things are often just thrown away.
Lights
​Many times we don't need a light, but we turn it on anyway. If natural light from a window will suffice, use that, if not, turn the light on, and don't leave lights on when you're leaving your house, or even when you leave a room.
Clothes
Don't buy as many clothes, and use them longer. An average family in the U.S throws away about 30 kg of clothing per year. The fashion industry is a huge polluter, second to only the oil industry. It pollutes water, dumps chemicals and plastics in the ocean, and turns clothes into disposable cloth.
Plastics
Single use plastics are plastics that are used once and then thrown away, like straws and plastic bags. These plastics often end up in the ocean and can hurt animals and ecosystems. Instead of using plastic bags, use reusable bags and water bottles, and don't use straws at all.
Showers
The average shower in the U.S takes 17.2 gallons of water, and heating it takes a lot of energy. Take as quick a shower as you can, and if possible turn off the shower while you're soaping or when you don't need the water. A couple of minutes makes a difference.
Animal Products
Wear 'vegan' clothes. Animal clothing is often cruelly taken from animals, some farmed, and some endangered. Animals that live on farms before being killed for skin often live in inhumane, small cages. Poached animals may be injured in a trap for a while before being skinned, sometimes alive.
Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg is a Swedish 18-year-old climate activist. She protests on Fridays to ask for people to pay attention to climate change. Because of these Friday protests, she was invited to say a speech for the United Nations in New York. Instead of taking an airplane, because of carbon emissions, Greta took a more green boat, called the Malizia II. She said, "You say you love your children above all else, and yet you’re stealing their future in front of their very eyes."
Isra Hirsi
Isra Hirsi is a 18-year-old climate activist. She is the co-founder of the US Youth Climate Strike, a huge school strike for students worldwide. She is focused on creating more diversity in climate activism. She said, "All of these experiences taught me that it is so important to make sure that those that are disproportionately affected by climate change be at the forefront of the issue, advocating for ourselves and our communities."
Recommend an Animal
Is there an endangered animal that you think doesn't get enough attention? Do you not see your favorite animal on this site? Does nobody know about your favorite endangered animal? Do you know an animal that needs help?
sources cited
Isra Hirsi 2019 Brower Youth Awards. 2019. Performance by Isra Hirsi, Storyline Media, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_WRe-9ArNI
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Greta Thunberg Full Speech at UN Climate Change COP24 Conference. Performance by Greta Thunberg, Connect4Climate, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFkQSGyeCWg
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Hirsi, Isra. "Isra Hirsi, 16" ["The Climate Movement Needs More People Like Me"]. The International Congress of Youth Voices, www.internationalcongressofyouthvoices.com/isra-hirsi. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020.
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Barnard, Anne. "Greta Thunberg, Climate Activist, Arrives in N.Y. with a Message for Trump." The New York Times. The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/nyregion/greta-thunberg-new-york.html. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020. Originally published in The New York Times, 28 Aug. 2019.
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"Showers." Home Water Works, www.home-water-works.org/indoor-use/showers. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020.
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"Fashion's Environmental Impact." Sustain Your Style, www.sustainyourstyle.org/old-environmental-impacts. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020.
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"Animals Used for Clothing." People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/. Accessed 24 May 2020.
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*all pictures and videos used with permission, and/or taken from the sites above.