Green Holiday

Part 1. Introduction

Why is the Grinch Green?

(Use what you know about the Grinch and what you know about “green” behaviors to solve this riddle.)

Answer: The Grinch tries to stop consumption of holiday products and it is the consumption of resources that damages the environment.

Part 2. The Assignment

For each of the topic areas covered this semester,

  1. Identify two holiday behaviors that cause damage to the environment in that topic area.
  2. For each behavior, explain, in detail, how this behavior causes damage to the environment.

Topic Areas

  1. Biodiversity
  2. Toxicology and Human Health
  3. Freshwater Resources
  4. Climate Change
  5. Waste Management

In order to connect the holiday behavior to the harm you must understand the full life cycle of a product. This life cycle includes

  1. Extraction
  2. Processing
  3. Transportation (Both of the raw materials to the factory, the finished product to the store and then to your home and then to the landfill, recycling center or incinerator)
  4. Use
  5. Disposal

Example: Using paper plates for holiday dinners impacts the trees in the forest that are used for making paper. Those trees provided habitat so removing the trees for making paper will reduce the biodiversity in that forest. With less biodiversity, the ecosystem is less stable and that makes the ecosystem services (Like lumber production) less stable.

Part 3. Personal Connection

  • Identify 10 ways you can reduce your impact on the environment.
  • For each way describe, in detail, HOW it reduces DAMAGE to the environment.
  • You must provide evidence (a picture, a written statement, or other verifiable evidence) that you actually attempted or implemented your idea.
  • (If you need ideas, a search of the internet will provide a source of many ideas)
  • Reflection on what you got out of this assignment.

Part 4. What you should turn in

  1. Answer to Grinch Riddle
  2. List of two behaviors for each topic area that harm the environment (be sure that you completely describe the connection between the behavior and the environmental damage)
  3. List of 10 ways you tried to reduce your holiday impact on the environment
  4. For each effort, describe, in detail, HOW it reduces DAMAGE to the environment.
  5. Evidence for each of your 10 efforts to reduce the environmental impact.
  6. Reflection (How did your efforts go? Describe any insights you discovered.