How To Help Save Toads and Frogs
How To Help Save Toads and Frogs
Do you want to help toads in some way, but don’t know how? Here are some tips to help get you started! First we have some exciting ideas from toadilytoads.com and then from our Toadily For Kids correspondant, Karlie!
Tips from Toadily Toads
Never before in the history of the world has the planet been in so much trouble. Scientists have been warning people since the 1960s that all the pollution people make will hurt the Earth but sadly, too many people never listened until now. Even now, lots of people still don't listen. The kids today will inherit a different Earth than the generations before and kid's today will have to deal with the mistakes of the past.
So what can one kid do about global climate change? LOTS! That's right. Kids have more power than they think or that adults think they have. Kids today can be the ones who change the world for the better, and what better time to start than now?
Doing the simple things on this page can really make a difference. Teaching your friends, parents and others to do the things on this page will make an even bigger difference! And none of this stuff is hard.
1. Always turn off unused lights, TVs and other stuff that uses electricity. Basically, if you have to plug it in to make it work, and you are not using it, turn it off. Unbelievable amounts of energy can be saved that way. Too many people leave lights and TVs and other things on without thought. Don't be one of them.
2. Ask your parents to replace as many lightbulbs as they can with energy efficient bulbs. One kind of light bulb is called "Compact Flourecent" and the other is called "halogen". Compact flourescent bulbs are very safe to use. But if you break one, always have an adult clean it up the right way by following this advice on this page. Using energy efficient bulbs make a BIG difference in how much bad stuff goes into the air!
3. Always recycle aluminum, paper and glass. Some experts think plastic doesn't recycle so well, but everybody agrees that aluminum (like soda cans), recycles really well and its cheaper to recycle it than to go to the mines and get more aluminum. Glass and paper also recycle well. If you can, choose glass bottles and jars over plastic. That isn't always possible, but when it is, just think of all the plastic that you won't be using.
4. Generally speaking, kids have more time on their hands than adults, so why not use a little of that spare time to do a good thing? One thing you can do is organize a garbage clean up. It only takes one adult to supervise and help. Get neighborhood kids or your scout troop or other group to help make it happen. Wearing thick rubber gloves, of course! NEVER touch trash with your bare hands!!!! Did you know that when ordinary people like you and I go clean up the sides of roads and sidewalks, other people are less likely to throw garbage on it? But when the roads or sidewalks are full of trash, people will throw more down. Not only is the garbage ugly to look at, it is dangerous to wildlife and the Earth.
5. Set up a lemonade stand in the summer or a hot apple cider or hot coco stand in the fall and winter. Charge $1 per cup and donate most of the money you make to a good place like the National Wildlife Federation or some other organization that helps the Earth and animals. You only need the help of one adult. You will need a table, chairs, several packs of cups (preferably the kind made from recycled materials) and whatever you are selling. Be sure to offer napkins, too, preferably the recycled paper kind. Put a sign on your table reminding people to please throw their cup and napkin away in a garbage can and not on the ground. If you do this project throughout a whole season, save up all the money and send it in at once. You would really be helping the planet not only by your donation to the Earth friendly organization, but by making all the people who see what you are doing think about it. Lots of people will think you're special and that you are doing a great thing and maybe they will think twice about litering or leaving lights on that night! And, the donation written to the organization you choose is a tax write off for your parents!
6. Many companies are becoming more aware of the amount of packaging their products have and are trying to reduce it. The company that makes Bratz dolls for example has started selling dolls with less packaging. Write to companies and if they're using less packaging, thank them, but if they are not, tell them you think they should use much less! Don't be afraid to write. Companies really do like getting letters from customers and the voice of one person counts for many since most people won't bother to write at all. Why is packaging such a big deal? Well, first, it costs more money to sell something if it has lots of packaging. Second, most of the packaging is usually a sharp plastic that not only will lay in a landfill without breaking down for a long time, it can cut you. The company address is almost always on the item's box or if not, do a search on the internet for the company's address.
Those are just a few ideas to get you started and we will be adding more soon. Now, here are some from our Toadily For Kids correspondant, Karlie!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don’t eat a candy bar and then throw the wrapper on the side of the road! Basically, don’t litter. Toads may get tangled up in the garbage, swim in the garbage filled rivers, and they may be born funny because of this. A toad may have 3 or 5 legs, 3 eyes, or may not even develop all the way. The toad may just have stubby little legs and its tadpole tail. Nature works in mysterious way. You never know.
It’s like trying to help stop pollution, actually.
Don’t waste things. Maybe we wouldn’t have so much garbage if we didn’t waste all our food! Try to finish as much food as you can, and try not to throw it away. Refrigerate your food. Just don’t waste ALL of it. Don’t stuff yourself until your sick either. Like I said, refrigerate it if you can.
You can also ask your parents if you can make a compost pile! If you do make a compost pile, you can add rotting food, grass clippings, and pretty much everything you want to throw out, except meat, plastics and metals and things like that. Then on the top you won't be able to notice compost, but if you scrape the top back with a shovel or anything like that, you can see the stuff underneath turning white. Basically, they are slowly burning away. They’re white because it’s ashes! That’s what a compost pile does to things you throw in there. You can then use compost to fertilize your garden or lawn!
There’s also biodiesel that your parents can use instead of gas for their car. Biodiesel is good for the environment. If you get your parents to use biodiesel, your helping toads and many other animals. Gas is causing global warming. Global warming is hurting animals that need to be cooler, just like the toad. The toad needs to be cooler, and since global warming is making it too warm, toads and other animals are dying from the heat. Biodiesel helps global warming stop or at least slow it down. You can read about how easy it is to make biodiesel fuel on the internet.
Recycle please! Reuse cans, paper or plastic bags, and get creative with them! Use cans to make chimes for your mother. Take string, make a hole in the bottom of the cans, stick the string through the hole in the can, tie a knot at the end of the string so the can doesn’t slip off, tie the other end of the string to a piece of wood, and viola! Reuse things, and put them to good use!
Well, if you have other good ideas to help toads, use them! You can tell us about your ideas on the toadilytoads.com forum for Kids if you’d like.
To go to the toadilytoads.com forum for Kids, click here.