youth play an important role in alleviate the Global Warming

People talk about climate change and global warming all the time, but a surprising amount of people still don't quite know what those terms really mean. Here's a quick, simple, jargon-free explanation of both of them for you:
Climate Change

Climate change is the term for the way the Earth's climate is slowly changing and getting warmer. When we talk about climate change and its effects, we mean that its about to get a lot warmer around here. This may seem like a good thing to us (especially during winter!) but there are the consequences to think about. If it gets warmer on this planet, then the ice caps in the Arctic will start to melt, and all of this sudden extra water in our oceans means that the sea level will rise. So what is the result of this? People may have to move away from coastlines to prevent being flooded, it might ruin crops, and hundreds of animals who thrive in the cold conditions will suddenly have nowhere to go. I bet you see why we want to stop climate change from happening now, don't you?
Global Warming

Global warming is the term for the Earth becoming too hot, a bit like climate change. As the rays from the sun travel to Earth, they sort of reflect off the huge cloud of gas surrounding our world like a protective bubble. This stops the rays from being trapped inside, heating up the planet. So there isn't any problem, right? Wrong! Now that so much gas from factories, cars and planes is being pumped into the atmosphere, it's getting thicker. This means the rays aren't reflected anymore; they're being absorbed into the Earth. This is causing temperatures to rise on Earth, which will in the long run cause climate change. Not a happy thought, is it?
Obviously, we’re going to need all the help we can get with saving our planet. (Ha!) If you too want to help, there are many ways of doing so:
· Going to local protests
· Joining a local eco-group
· Changing your lifestyle (Turning off light switches, recycling, etc...)
· Spreading the word! Tell you family, friends, neighbours, ANYONE!
We are challenging everyone to take these three simple steps to reduce your environmental impact. They're not hard and they will even save you money!
1. Replace all your light bulbs with low energy bulbs. 2. Only boil as much water as you need. 3. Recycle your paper and cardboard.

Energy Saving Ideas at home
Simple things make a difference
- Turning down your thermostat by 1ºC could cut heating bills by 10% per year, saving up to £40
- Turn lights off when out of the room, even for short times
- Replace light bulbs with energy efficient ones.
- Only boil as much water as you need in the kettle – but make sure to cover the heating elements.
- Open curtains and blinds as much as possible to let in natural light
- Close curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows
- Do not leave appliances on standby
- When charging batteries or mobile phones, unplug the charger when finished
- Unplug appliances when going on holiday; they may still be using energy
- When not using your computer, turn off the monitor. The monitor alone uses 60% of the energy needed for your computer.
- Unplug appliances that are not used often, they may still draw energy when turned off.
- Ensure you’re washing a full load in the washing machine, and if not, use the half-load or economy setting
- Using just a rinse cycle does not need warm water, using cold is just as effective.
- Tumble dryers are not necessary, a clothes horse inside or a clothes line outside in the summer will do the job just as effectively – saving you up to £40 per year
- Using a dishwasher, make sure it’s a full load and use a low temperature.
- Do not pre-rinse dishes, just scrape off food and put them in the dishwasher.
- Avoid putting warm food straight in the fridge, instead let it cool down first to save energy.
- An overfull fridge blocks air circulation and is less effective; conversely, a full freezer performs better than an empty one.
- A dripping hot water tap wastes 95 litres of water per month, costing 7kWh in one month.
A little effort makes a lot of difference
- Defrost your freezer regularly to keep it running efficiently.
- Turn down the thermostat at night or when away; it isn’t required during those times.
- Buy a laptop instead of a desktop computer, they run off a lower wattage so save more energy
- Using a shower rather than a bath saves two-thirds the energy and water
- Draught-proofing windows can save up to £20 per year
- Bigger steps reap even bigger rewards
- Purchase ‘Energy Saving’ appliances – from lightbulbs to dishwashers to loft insulation and draught proofing
- Uninsulated homes lose 26% energy through the roof; insulating the roof can save up to £160 and 1 tonne of CO 2 per year
- Insulating wall cavities can save up to £120 and 1 tonne of CO 2 per year
A condensing boiler will save around a third on your heating bill

On the move
- Drive less - where possible walk, cycle, take public transport or lift share.
- Tune Up - properly inflated tyres can save 3% of your fuel consumption
- Limit your speed - fuel consumption goes up rapidly whenever you drive over 60mph and is dreadful over 80mph. Reducing your motorway cruising speed by 5 mph will make a big difference. -When you replace your car check the fuel consumption of different models. Gas guzzlers are set to be taxed to the hilt over the next few years. -Buying a more economical car could easily save you thousands of pounds in road duty and fuel costs over the next few years.
-The cars of the future are now here. Hybrid cars (part electric, part petrol) are now convenient, efficient and more affordable. Because they contain a standard petrol engine, you don't need to worry about the battery running out or a lack of power. The car will run electrically at lower speeds and then the petrol engine will kick in when you need to go faster or if the battery needs charging.

Use Cleaner Energy
Switch to a Green Energy Tariff in 5 minutes and it might not cost anymore!
The burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity produces about 30% of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions.* It takes about five minutes to change your electricity supplier to one that supports renewable energy and it might not cost you anymore. There are a number of "Green" electricity suppliers in the UK. One example is Eccentricity who generate electricity using Wind Turbines. They claim to match the standard electricity price of your main local supplier. This means that if you are still on the standard tariff of your main local supplier you can switch to Ecotricity at no extra cost. (If you have previously switched to a better deal, you might find that Ecotricity is a little more expensive.).

Getting serious - Generate your own renewable energy at home:
Micro generation (where you generate small amounts of power close to where it's needed) is becoming increasingly affordable and economic.
By installing a solar panel or wind turbine you can start to generate your own electricity, replacing use of that generated from fossil fuels. Some schemes even let you sell any excess back to the national grid.
Small wind turbines or domestic solar panels are no longer the preserve of politicians or Hollywood celebrities.

Offset Your Carbon Emissions
What is Carbon Offsetting?
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the gas produced by burning fossil fuels and is thought to be the major cause of global warming. The best way to tackle this is to reduce the carbon dioxide we produce as far as possible. Inevitably we won't be able to eradicate carbon emissions totally so carbon offsetting is the next best thing. This is where we pay for projects to reduce carbon dioxide somewhere else to compensate for the carbon dioxide we have produced. In this way we become 'carbon neutral.' Examples of such projects are replacing light bulbs in a developing country with low energy ones (to reduce their carbon emissions) or to plant trees to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Reduce Waste and Recycling
Recycle as much of your waste as possible. Think about what you put into an ordinary bin. Make it easy to recycle - keep small containers or bags in convenient places in your home to collect items to recycle. The recycling can mostly be collected by the council, or take it to the recycling bins at most supermarkets; you don’t even need to make a special trip for it!
Reuse or repair something instead of throwing it away.
Borrow or rent something instead of buying new stuff, or consider buying used items. Recycling includes buying recycled items - in fact it's one the most important parts of the recycling process. Look for products that contain the largest amounts of "post-consumer waste."
A compost bin in the garden can be used to dispose of uncooked food waste; and the resulting product can be used on the garden plants.

Stop using disposable plastic bags. Take re-usable shopping bags with you.
At the supermarket: avoid products with ridiculous amounts of packaging. If you have the time, send an email to their customer care department to complain about it - if enough people boycott these products, the companies will change