Signs of Sustainability: Sustainability, its effects, and how you can help

We were scrolling on social media like any teenagers would be, and we came across this video of a ridiculously cute manatee swimming with its little calf. Sadly, the cuteness didn’t last. We swiped and the next thing that came up was a devastating video of how polluted our oceans are. Over 100 million Marine life is lost every year due to perishing ecosystems and the increasing acidity of the ocean. Ocean Acidification is caused by the carbon dioxide that we release into the atmosphere. Most of this carbon dioxide is caused by burning fossil fuels. At the end of the day, we are the reason behind it all. So how do we decrease the amount of fossil fuels we are burning? How do we even decrease the number of marine life that are being killed each year rather than have it go above 100 million? 

Step one: decreasing your pollution. I know it sounds annoying and you’ve probably heard it so many times before but keeping our oceans and planet clean is vital. Oceans are extremely polluted and overconsumption is contributing to it. A large majority of our sea life is dying because they are getting caught in plastic, suffocating from grocery bags, and swallowing clothes. Climate change has been affecting the ocean since the 1970s yet people are just getting word of it. They don’t notice Global warming until they feel the temperature go up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit this past summer. That’s when they think, “Shoot, climate change is real”. People didn’t realize our planet was getting warmer when marine life and other animals were in distress. So don’t waste your money on new clothes every year for them to get thrown out and end up in the sea. Don’t go to the grocery store empty-handed, bring a reusable bag with you – or you could just keep one in the car! 

The ocean is beautiful and admirable but that’s not the only reason why we need to save it. Without the ocean and marine biodiversity humans will not thrive and neither will our planet. 

That brings us to our club. Lansing High School has its very own Sustainability club made up of compassionate students who care about their planet. Us high schoolers want to help our community find ways to make a change. We started off by cleaning up our school courtyard which was entangled in weeds. To collect more support from fellow students outside of the club, we had a very successful smoothie day. We spread awareness and had a boost in participation. To eliminate some of our school’s plastic use we donated a HUGE amount of silverware – more than 200 pieces! – to be used in our high school cafeteria. On Earth Day, our club braved the rain to have a very wet but productive campus cleanup. To end the year we built bluebird houses to protect the amazing creatures and started preparing for next year by learning about the Non-Pipes alternative program with the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Stay tuned! 

We are planning to kick off the new school year with a Lansing Community Sustainability fair at Myers Park! All are welcome to join our fun filled afternoon by the lake on September 21st from 11 am to 3pm. Food and drinks will be provided and there will be plenty of activities to participate in so don’t miss out! We would love our whole community to get involved in helping our planet grow. As a community we are responsible for encouraging sustainability and kindness towards our environment. 

Small things make such a huge difference in our world and some people just need help seeing that. Here are some examples for you to try: 

Bring your favorite mug to the coffee shop rather than wasting a single use cup. Wash and reuse silverware or even bamboo cutlery- they fit pretty well in a dishwasher! Take only what food you need and finish whatever is left on your plate before rinsing it off. You can stop buying plastic straws at the store and order a pack of metal ones off of Amazon. Try turning off your lights when you leave your house and shutting the water off fully so you’re not wasting it. Text a friend to carpool if you’re both going to the same place. 

If you try doing any of these at least once a day, I can guarantee you that these subtle changes could make your carbon footprint half as long as it was before. 

Violet Dean and Midula Lejeune are both class of 2027 at Lansing High School and we wrote this on behalf of the Lansing High School Sustainability Club. The Signs of Sustainability column is organized by Sustainable Finger Lakes.