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On April 22, more than 175 countries worldwide will celebrate Earth Day.
Earth Day was invented in the U.S. in 1970, when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson initiated a national day of action to raise awareness about resource consumption. The buzz word of the day was “ecology.”
Despite 41 years of studying the ecosystem, the world is in greater peril today than ever before. Though climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of our time, it also presents a great opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous world based on clean energy and environmentally friendly products.
This year’s Air Force Earth Day theme is “Conserve today! Secure tomorrow!”
The three Earth Day core issues are: recycling and waste reduction, conservation and biodiversity, and energy.
The garbage dumps and junkyards of the world are filling rapidly with goods that might have been reused, recycled or composted. Immediate action must be taken by everyone to reduce the amount of waste we produce.
A respectable 44 percent of the waste generated on Ramstein is recycled, but we can do much better with just a little more effort. Diversity is one of nature’s greatest gifts, but it is threatened around the world by human expansion and poor stewardship.
On Ramstein, an area of about 100 hectares consists of valuable biotopes (small areas with a distinct set of environmental conditions that support a particular ecological community of plants and animals). In addition, about 200 hectares of Ramstein is forest area — a “green lung.” The forest consumes greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and produces oxygen; it is an effective climate conditioner and air filter. Therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility to help conserve the biodiversity of the forests.
A few simple facts to remember: Americans account for roughly 5 percent of the world’s population yet consume about 25 percent of the world’s resources. Moreover, almost 50 percent of the energy we produce comes from coal, a “dirty” source of energy. The whole world must take action to develop renewable sources of energy, and America must lead the way by beginning a responsible transition from coal and oil to cleaner and renewable sources.
In this spirit, the U.S. Air Force has launched multiple programs to reduce energy and water consumption while increasing sustainability of its mission. AF goals are to reduce facility energy consumption 30 percent and reduce base water use 16 percent by 2015. Another goal is to increase use of renewable energy at annual targets by 7.5 percent by 2015 and 25 percent by 2025. But we need you to participate.
The fight for a clean environment is constant. Do your part and reduce your ecological footprint. You can start with a few simple steps, like changing your conventional light bulbs to energy saving bulbs, disconnecting your electronic devices from the power source instead of having them on standby, and washing your clothes at a lower temperature. Ask yourself, “Do I really need to buy a new car, a new cell phone or a new shirt?” More devoted conservers buy smaller cars instead of driving over-sized vehicles with space they rarely use, and environmentally conscientious people will reduce the quantity of consumer products they buy.
To get more tips on how to reduce your ecological footprint, call 06371-47-7712.
