An Energy Audit For FREE Can Allow YOU To Plant A Tree
By Charlotte Pototsky, member of the SSC Zero Waste and Youth Committee, with a few edits from SSC Founder, Dr. Ricky Stern
We have a problem: It is estimated that everyday we lose approximately 200,000 acres of land to forest fires. And now, with more than 50% of the world's forests burned to ashes, ecosystems, people, animals, and everything else in existence can feel the lack of clean air available. Furthermore, research estimates that 15.3 billion trees are intentionally cut down every day to be used for human benefit (immediate gratification without concern for the future). We have been engaged in deforestation due to the demand of land for agriculture, unsustainable forest management, mining, infrastructure projects, and of course, paper products. (Toilet paper alone wipes out 27,000 trees a day!) Deforestation, the process of clearing a vast amount of trees regularly, has been occurring for centuries and causes about 10% of global warming alone. (Not to mention, we often replace these trees with cows, and other methane/carbon producing animals, making global warming much worse!) In more recent times, it has become much more detrimental.
We have a solution: We can all do our part to reduce our use and demand for paper products in our daily lives. We can all choose to eat foods that grow ON trees rather than foods that cut them down. We can even recycle as a last resort. But even with the changes we can make as individuals, the problem is much larger than a few people using no paper products. And often that is not ideal or realistic. Paper, cardboard, and toilet paper are big parts of our lives in this day and age.The solution is planting trees. And YOU can help make this achievable!
What YOU can do now! The Sharon High School Environmental Club (SHSEC) is holding a fundraiser to earn money for tree planting. We are partnering with HomeWorks Energy to make it simple and easy for you to help us! HomeWorks Energy is providing FREE home energy audits (either remotely or in person) to anyone who wants to monitor their energy usage. When you sign up with this link and get the free home energy audit, the SHSEC will receive $50! Each tree will cost about $250 and of course we want to plant as many as possible. We would really appreciate your support! If you would like to give a contribution to the SHSEC without getting the audit, you can write a check to the Sharon High School and include “Environmental Club” in the memo line. However, we at SHS and SSC strongly suggest getting the energy audit as it helps reduce our town’s carbon footprint. Planting trees helps out, but having more energy efficient houses makes this a win-win situation! If you want to check out other articles about the SHSEC, click on this link or this link! As always, please feel free to share your thoughts on clean energy or how you live sustainably. Here are three ways to make your viewpoints known and keep the conversation going:
Join SSC meetings (listed on our Events page)
Check out this list for more fun facts about deforestation.
Visit or comment on my personal blog or my YouTube channel