G E M

1. G E M

2. Our planet is indeed gasping for breath right now, our harmful pollutions is indeed choking her slowly and continues to strip her with her ozone layer. It is time to give our timely response to this alarming state of the only Planet we live in, by doing our own share of protecting her with doing simple things that will surely stir big difference. For if not, we might be harming ourselves in the years ahead as well, for nature has its own destructive way of getting back at us humans, the signs of earth’s displeasure with inappropriate and harmful activities of humans are now seen and felt all across the globe like the global warming, climate change, acid rain, drought, flash floods and other forms of natural catastrophes. Here is an effort for making people interested by teaching some practical and small ways that could help our planet get a sigh of relief. Collective small efforts by those who are genuinely concerned with the earth’s welfare will inevitably help her by great leap and bounds.

3. STOP CUTTING TREES/PLANT MORE TREES • Trees act as filter of Carbon • Dioxide also prevent us from soil • erosion, flood and droughts. Deforestation is a major cause Of global warming and climate change. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its life time. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%.

4. POOL CAR Use public transportation whenever possible, carpool, shop locally, and ideally switch to a hybrid or energy-efficient car POLLUTE LESS Keep your tires inflated to improve gas Mileage by 3 percent. Every gallon you save also saves 20 pounds of CO2 emissions. SAVE FUEL Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.

5. BE PAPERLESS Make it a habit to think before you print: Could this be read or stored online instead?

6. Of those 100 trillion plastic bags, 1% are recycled. It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down.

7. USE COOL LIGHT (CFL) Turn off the lights when you aren’t using them and reduce your direct lighting energy use by 45 percent. Stop using heat-producing halogen lamps. Switch to cool light CFL.

8. Turn off he water while brushing your teeth and save 25 gallons of water a month. • Take shorter showers to reduce water waste. • Don’t leave your tap running! Only a dripping tap means you’re wasting 13 litres of water a day

9. SEGREGATE YOUR HOUSEHOLD WASTE INTO WET AND DRY. By segregating your household waste into wet and dry, you will help to keep your city/town/water bodies clean, besides saving a lot of scarce land for dumping purpose.

10. VEGETARIANISM • Vegetarian food helps to • Conserve fossil fuel. It takes • 78 calories of fossil fuel to • produce 1 calorie of Beef protein; 35 • calories for 1 calorie of pork; 22 calories for 1 of poultry; but just 1 calorie of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of soybeans. By eating plant foods instead of animal foods, I help conserve our non-renewable sources of energy.

11. USE SOLAR AND • WIND ENERGY Wind energy is a form of solar energy, and therefore, is renewable. Wind does not need to be produced, like ethanol does, so there will always be a constant supply of it. Solar energy is environmentally friendly. Compared to fossil fuel which release greenhouse gases, carcinogens and carbon dioxide, solar cells don’t release anything into the air. A solar electric system installed in at home could potentially eliminate 18 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the environment each year.

12. SWITCH TO BIO FUELS Bio-fuels are renewable sources of energy. The bio-fuels are mostly derived from plants. Unlike fossil fuels, bio-fuels can be made extremely fast, in a matter of days.

13. STOP INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION Industrial pollution is clearly one of the biggest contributors to our polluted landscape. It is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.

14. NO SMOKING Smoking harms Not just the smoker, but also family members, co-workers and others who breathe the smokers’ cigarette smoke.

15. FOLLOWING SONG ‘GO GREEN’ SUMMARISES EVERYTHING SAID ABOVE Go green, go green And make this neighborhood the very best it’s ever beenGo green, go green Gather everyone together let’s make a scene. Go green, go green It’s easier to go green when you’re a team Let’s get involved clean up the trashSeparate recycling out now don’t be rashWe can all be proud of our communityLet’s get in gear and take responsibility I can pack a lunch box every dayWith reusable containers no throwawaysI’ll bring shopping bags to the grocery storeTry not to use paper plates or towels anymore Where there is dirt plant grass and flowersHow about a shady tree that one day will towerPlease turn off the lights and don’t run water longYes get in gear and help me as I sing this song Last chorus then: Get your neighborhood to be a team

16. FINAL STATEMENT OF THE CBCI MEETING Catholic Bishops’ conference of India (CBCI) meeting held at Bangalore on Feb. 1-8, 2012 says the following on environmental issues: (Para No. 8.8) We stand for the protection of the environment. We are stewards of God’s Creation, and we must use our resources for the good of all, keeping in mind also our duty to future generations. Illegal mining, deforestation, some mega projects, pollution of water, air and land are destructive of ecology. We will resist such moves and encourage greater use of natural sources of energy, promote organic farming, encourage proper methods of waste management and other such initiatives.

17. Let’s work for a clean and green earth (See questions for group sharing in the next slide) This PowerPoint Presentation is prepared by GEM (Green Earth Movement) Team. Other GEM PowerPoint Presentations are: Zero Garbage, Solar Energy, Junk Food, Twenty Tips To Save Nature & Plastic – a boon or bane? These PPP CDs may be downloaded from our website: www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in – refer GEM section Or contact : gemenewsletter@gmail.com, panvelchurch@gmail.com

18. QUESTIONS FOR GROUP SHARING • 1. What do you mean by Green Passion? In this • connection what did you like in the above • PowerPoint Presentation? 2. If we have to pass on a livable earth to our future generations, every one must think green and live green. Explain.