Comments on: Question of the Week: What’s one scientific fact you learned as a youngster that still affects your environmental decisions as an adult?

By: Russ

Russ — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:20:19 +0000

Cigarette butts take a LONG time to degrade and they accumulate very quickly. Please dispose of your butts thoughtfully and don’t throw them out your car window like my sister does! Yes Madison I am talking about you!

By: Baz

Baz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:46:09 +0000

That you clean up the camping site when you leave. Plastic bags find their way to the sea and strangle the fish.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:17:09 +0000

When I was in elementary school I learned that it takes something like 500 years for a styrofoam cup to biodegrade. I still adamantly avoid using any styrofoam products and hate to open up a package filled with those packing peanuts.

By: Jaymee

Jaymee — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:21:24 +0000

Sorry to break this to you, but scientifically speaking, plants don’t “breathe” carbon dioxide. They breathe oxygen, and use it in much the same way we do, for cellular respiration. They take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis which produces the sugar that they burn with the oxygen in cellular respiration. Anyway, whatever inspires positive action is probably OK. I’m just an old science teacher …

By: Jaymee

Jaymee — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:19:13 +0000

And don’t forget Woodsy Owl! Give a hoot, don’t pollute! Help keep America … looking good. Hoot Hoot!

By: Mindy

Mindy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:02:48 +0000

Do not kill snakes just because you are afraid of them. Snakes are a part of the balance of nature–an interdependent web of existence. I think about that whenever people start messing with a population of specie because it becomes incompatible with human goals–like building homes or vacation homes in areas inhabited by mountain lions or bears or certain birds, plants or insects.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:29:46 +0000

I remember my mother constantly telling me “turn the light off when you leave a room”. Turning off the light is such a habit that has continued and stayed with me as an adult. It is just one of the minor things we can do to save energy. I hope this is a habit my little girl will pick up on as she grows up.

Also, seeing the pictures of animals covered in oil from the Exxon Oil spill in the 80′s and seeing birds being affected by the plastic 6-pack coke rings……

By: Clay Turner

Clay Turner — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:47:05 +0000

From the previous comment I would like to add that from images like these have led me in pursuing a career in environmental engineering. It is not only animals and plants that concern me but the life of humans as well.

By: Clay Turner

Clay Turner — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:42:05 +0000

I had heard and saw a video clip of an otter that had to be clean due to oil covering his body due to a previous spill.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:27:46 +0000

A picture from my early science class days of a bird covered in oil from a spill or choked by the soda six-pack plastic rings. I remember teachers stressing the importance of reusing, reducing, and recycling.