To the Editor:

Our planet gives us so much: air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, and more. What do you love about Earth?

We need to take care of it because there is no “Planet B”.

Let’s talk about climate change again. First of all, what is climate change? People have been contributing CO2 for a long time. First, the earth was able to deal with it, but we have caught up — climate change first started to be a problem in 1890. By that time people had been emitting greenhouse gasses for 100 years.

There are three non-emitting ways for us to get power:

1. Solar — you probably know what that is, big [photovoltaic] panels collect and convert sunlight.

2. Wind — Big windmills catch wind and send the energy to a big generator.

3. Hydro — water generates power as it flows downstream and we use dams to maximize this energy.

Have you ever heard the term “greenwashed?” It means a company that sells non-earth-friendly products that make them look like they are, so caring people will buy their products. Try and pay attention next time you go to the store and buy only true green products.

Here are some examples:

1. A local shop that lets you bring your own containers for foods like flour and dried fruit, and food items each have a label telling you where it comes from.

Greenwashed or true green? True green — these people actually care about the planet

2. A plastic bottle has a picture of a mountain on it.

Greenwashed or true green? If it’s in plastic it’s greenwashed.

3. A shoe company claims it plants a tree for every pair made, but on their website, you can’t find information on how many trees they’ve planted.

Greenwashed or true green? See, it’s easy to figure out!

Please take care of our planet.

Clare Danner (Age 10)

Newtown