Water Conservation A step to conserve water is the step to secure the future.

The most essential am ong all the natural resources on earth is water. A drop of water is worth more t han a sack of gold for the thirsty man. If each one of us make efforts to save w ater today , it will save us later. Water conservation is the most effective and environmentally sound method to fight global warming. Water conservation is wha t that can reduce the scarcity of water. It aims to improve the efficiency of us e of water, and reduce losses and waste. Tips to save water : Avoid leakage of water from the taps. Turn the tap off when not in use especially when you brush your teeth or wash cl othes. Rainwater harvesting is the another method to conserve water. The water supply should be limited in those areas which enjoys the unlimited wat er supplies. Check the leakage of water in the toilets. Also get check the hidden water leaks . Educate the mind of the people in the rural areas to save the water. Promote the conservation of water through media and wall posters. Never throw the water unnecessary on roads which can be used for gardening and c leaning. Avoid unnecessary flushing the toilets. Dispose off the tissues, cigarettes and other waste into the bin instead of toilets. Use minimum amount of water to bath. Water Waste restrictions. Improvement in the water distribution system. Water your lawn only when it is needed. Use a broom instead of hose to clean the sidewalks or to wash the car. Capture the water that is leaking and repair it as soon as possible. You can use washing machine to wash clothes that does not consume much water. Donot leave the tap running while washing the dishes in the kitchen. Install small shower heads to reduce the flow of water. Benefits to Conserve water : If you save water it can save your money bills. Reduction in interior water use cuts waste water flows, especially overflowing o f gutters which contaminates the environment. Environment benefits include eco system and habitat protection. Water conservation helps in improving the quality of your drinking water. Technical methods to conserve water : Rainwater Harvesting : Rainwater harvesting is the gathering and collection of water from the rooftop. The traditional method of rain water harvesting is the most effective and simple way to conserve the water. It means utilization of rain water for the domestic as well as agricultural purposes. There are three technical methods of rain wate r harvesting such as Catchment, Conveyance and storage. Historical Water Bodies : There are many traditional water bodies which have been in disuse for the longer time. These bodies can be reused as the recharging points. Ponds : Steps should be taken to avoid dumping of sewage into the village ponds. Efforts need to be made to deepen these ponds with the dragline machines. Garbage and o ther waste sholud not be dumped into the ponds. Batteries that are thrown away produce most of the heavy metals - dangerous subs tances like lead, arsenic, zinc, cadmium, copper, and mercury - that are found i

n household trash. These metals are toxic. They can be harmful to humans and wil dlife. When discarded batteries from our trash wind up in landfills, these dange rous metals can seep into the ground water and eventually into the food chain. S o, instead of throwing batteries in the trash, we should all take them to a toxi c waste disposal area, if at all possible. Don't leave lights on when no one is in the room. If you are going to be out of the room for more than five minutes, turn off the light. The rural people who constitute the bulk of Zimbabwe's 10.4 million population a re heavily dependent on the vegetation around them for fuelwood and for medicine . They are mainly subsistence farmers, and cannot afford alternative fuels, let alone the high prices of modern medicine. As a result vegetation is lost and env ironmental degradation takes place. Major steps have been taken towards conserving the environment in Zimbabwe. They include: discouraging cutting down indigenous trees and encouraging the local p eople to plant fast-growing exotic and indigenous trees for domestic use, the in auguration of a national tree planting day and the creation of nature reserves. Here are 10 steps you should consider. Don t feel guilty, if you can t do them all. Just try to do one more thing than you are presently doing and then one more aft er that. Insulate your home. Caulk and weatherstrip. Plant deciduous shade trees on the s outh and west sides of your home to block the sun in summer and allow it to warm your house in winter. Dress warmly and turn down the heat in winter. Make fuel efficiency a high priority when buying a car. Join a carpool or use th e bus. Walk or ride a bicycle when possible. Grow your own food and/or buy locally produced food. Eat organic and fewer proce ssed foods. Go vegetarian at least once a week. Meat makes less efficient use of land, water and energy and cows emit methane. Recycle. Separate wastes. Compost yard and food wastes. Use recycled products, e specially paper. Reduce or eliminate your use of disposable products. Buy quality and then make thi ngs last with regular maintenance. Rent or borrow items that you don t use often. Re-use envelopes, jars and scrap paper. Take your own bags to the grocery store. Check out garage sales and thrift stores for a chance to re-use someone else s th row-aways. non traditional ways Sustainable energy use is energy use that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their energy needs. Achi eving sustainable energy use requires that energy be Developed from renewable resources Produced by cleaner, more-efficient technologies Used more efficiently and with greater conservation Almost all of the cars and trucks we drive run on fuels derived from oil, which is non-renewable. While there is some debate as to how long this resource will l ast, we will eventually have to find new ways to power highway vehicles. Researchers are hard at work exploring new fuels and vehicle technologies: Hybrids, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are areas of intense research, along with efficient technologies for gasoline and diesel vehicles. Renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel can help offset petroleum use.

Other fossil fuels such as coal, shale oil, tar sands, and natural gas are anoth er possibility. Pave as little as possible. Use gravel or other porous surface for driveways and garden paths. Collect rainwater and graywater for gardening use. Water with a d rip system or soaker hoses. Get involved in community tree planting, in protecting local watershed areas and /or donate money to environmental organizations. Support electoral candidates, who have a responsible environmental platform. Let those in office know of your concerns and consider running for office yourself. Spend more time in your garden and in natural areas. Rejoice in the beauty of th e Earth. Pass on your environmental ethic to children. There are many reasons we are looking towards alternative energy sources. With m any countries, and US cities, signing the Kyoto Treaty, efforts to reduce pollut ants and greenhouse gases are a primary focus in today's culture. Alternative, o r renewable energy, sources show significant promise in helping to reduce the am ount of toxins that are by-products of energy use. Not only do they protect agai nst harmful by-products, but using alternative energy helps to preserve many of the natural resources that we currently use as sources of energy. To understand how alternative energy use can help preserve the delicate ecologic al balance of the planet, and help us conserve the non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels, it is important to know what types of alternative energy is o ut there. Wind Power Wind energy harnesses the power of the wind to propel the blades of wind turbine s. The rotation of turbine blades is converted into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. In the older windmills, wind energy was used to turn mechanical machinery to do physical work, like crushing grain or pumping water. Wind towers are usually built together on wind farms. Now, electrical currents a re harnessed by large scale wind farms that are used by national electrical grid s as well as small individual turbines used for providing electricity to isolate d locations or individual homes. In 2005, worldwide capacity of wind-powered gen erators was 58,982 megawatts, their production making up less than 1 of world-wi de electricity use. Pros Wind power produces no pollution that can contaminate the environment, Since no chemical processes take place, like in the burning of fossil fuels, in wind powe r generation, there are no harmful by-products left over. Since wind generation is a renewable source of energy, we will never run out of it. Farming and grazing can still take place on land occupied by wind turbines which can help in the production of biofuels. Wind farms can be built off-shore. Cons Wind power is intermittent. Consistent wind is needed for continuous power gener ation. If wind speed decreases, the turbine lingers and less electricity is gene rated. Large wind farms can have a negative effect on the scenery.

Solar Power Solar energy is used commonly for heating, cooking, the production of electricit y, and even in the desalination of seawater. solar power works by trapping the s un's rays into solar cells where this sunlight is then converted into electricit y. Additionally, solar power uses sunlight that hits solar thermal panels to con vert sunlight to heat water or air. Other methods include using sunlight that hi ts parabolic mirrors to heat water (producing steam), or simply opening a rooms blinds or window shades to allow entering sunlight to passively heat a room. Pros Solar power is a renewable resource. As long as the Sun exists, its energy will reach Earth. Solar power generation releases no water or air pollution, because there is no c hemical reaction from the combustion of fuels. Solar energy can be used very efficiently for practical uses such as heating and lighting. The benefits of solar power are seen frequently to heat pools, spas, and water t anks all over. Cons Solar power does not produce energy if the sun is not shining. Nighttime and clo udy days seriously limit the amount of energy produced. Solar power stations can be very expensive to build. Geothermal Energy Literally, geothermal means, "earth heat." Geothermal energy harnesses the heat energy present underneath the Earth. Hot rocks under the ground heat water to pr oduce steam. When holes are drilled in the region, the steam that shoots up is p urified and is used to drive turbines, which power electric generators. Pros If done correctly, geothermal energy produces no harmful by-products. Once a geothermal plant is build, it is generally self-sufficient energy wise. Geothermal power plants are generally small and have little effect on the natura l landscape. Cons If done incorrectly, geothermal energy can produce pollutants. Improper drilling into the earth can release hazardous minerals and gases. Geothermal sites are prone to running out of steam. Resource depletion is an economic term referring to the exhaustion of raw materi als within a region. Resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources. (See also Mineral resource classification.) Use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considere d to be resource depletion. Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference to the farming, fishing, m ining, and fossil fuels.[1 Minerals and oil Materials removed from the Earth are needed to provide humans with food, clothin g, and housing and to continually upgrade the standard of living. Some of the ma terials needed are renewable resources, such as agricultural and forestry produc ts, while others are nonrenewable, such as minerals. The USGS reported in Materi als Flow and Sustainability (1998) that the number of renewable resources is dec reasing, meanwhile there is an increasing demand for nonrenewable resources. Sin ce 1900 the use of construction materials such as stone, sand, and gravel, has s

oared. The large-scale exploitation of minerals began in the Industrial Revoluti on around 1760 in England and has grown rapidly ever since. Today s economy is lar gely based on fossil fuels, minerals and oil. The value increases because of the large demand, but the supply is decreasing. This has resulted in more efforts t o drill and search other territories. The environment is being abused and this d epletion of resources is one way of showing the affects. Mining still pollutes t he environment, only on a larger scale. The US government has produced the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 in order to regulate certain aspects of mining but it is truly up to the i ndividual states to regulate it. [edit]Oil in the Arctic Oil has become one of the top resources used in America. Drilling for oil has be come a major issue. America is more abundant in coal but the effects on the atmo sphere are far worse than oil. Geologists consider northern Alaska to be the las t, untouched oil field in North America. Environmental experts are worried that oil and gas development will seriously harm the area. In 2002 the USGS assessed the NPRA and found a significantly greater supply of petroleum (5,900,000 barrel s (938,000 m3) to 13,200,000,000 barrels (2.10109 m3)) than previously estimated. Only up to 5,600,000,000 barrels (890,000,000 m3) of this petroleum are technic ally and economically recoverable at existing market prices. The USGS suspects t hat there may be as much as 83.2 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas in the same area. Transportation of this gas to markets would require a new pip eline. There is already a pipeline system in place for oil the Trans-Alaska Pipeli ne System (TAPS), which lies between the NPRA and the Arctic National Wildlife R efuge (ANWR). The ANWR is a 19-million-acre (77,000 km2) area of wilderness alon g the Alaska-Canada border. It, too, is being considered for oil exploration, a move strongly opposed by environmentalists. The future of the refuge lies in the hands of the federal government. The administration of George H. W. Bush made d rilling there a major foundation of the national energy policy. Under the Clinto n administration oil and mineral development was prohibited within the wildlife refuge. In April 2002, following heated debate; the U.S. Senate killed a proposa l by the administration of George W. Bush to let oil companies drill in ANWR. Rep ublicans raised the issue again in the fall of 2003, citing the need for the nat ion to reduce its dependence on oil imported from the Middle East.[2] [edit]Deforestation Deforestation is the clearing of natural forests by logging or burning of trees and plants in a forested area.[3] As a result of deforestation, presently about one half of the forests that once covered the Earth have been destroyed.[4] It o ccurs for many different reasons, and it has several negative implications on th e atmosphere and the quality of the land in and surrounding the forest. Some examples of natural resources include the following: Air, wind and atmosphere Animals Coal, fossil fuels, rock and mineral resources Forestry Ranges and pasture Soils Water, oceans, lakes, groundwater and rivers [3] Solar power . Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undi sturbed by mankind, in a natural form On the basis of origin, resources may be divided into: Biotic Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere, such as forests and the ir products, animals, birds and their products, fish and other marine organisms. Mineral fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category bec ause they are formed from decayed organic matter. Abiotic Abiotic resources include non-living things. Examples include land, wate

r, air and minerals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver etc. With respect to renewability, natural resources can be categorized as follows: Renewable resources are ones that can be replenished or reproduced easily. Some of them, like sunlight, air, wind, etc., are continuously available and their qu antity is not affected by human consumption. Many renewable resources can be dep leted by human use, but may also be replenished, thus maintaining a flow. Some o f these, like agricultural crops, take a short time for renewal; others, like wa ter, take a comparatively longer time, while still others, like forests, take ev en longer. Non-renewable resources are formed over very long geological periods. Minerals a nd fossil fuels are included in this category. Since their rate of formation is extremely slow, they cannot be replenished once they get depleted. Of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them.[1] But coal and petroleum c annot be recycled.[2]