Exam 17: Overpopulation, Misuse of the Environment, and Family Planning

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​People need to realize that bigger is not necessarily better. They need to focus on preserving and conserving their resources rather than consuming them. The move toward conserving resources can be put into action in a variety of ways. Garbage can be used as fuel for running mills to make recycled paper. Water in communities can be purified again and again so that it can continually be reused without being discharged into a river, lake, or ocean. Homes can be better insulated to conserve heat. Smaller cars can be driven at more energy-efficient speeds. People can ride trains and buses instead of cars. Newspapers, aluminum (especially cans), tin, cardboard, magazines, plastic, paper, and glass can be recycled to reduce the amount of solid-waste materials. Recycling a 4-foot stack of newspapers saves a 40-foot pine tree. Aluminum recycling saves 95% of the energy needed to make new cans from raw materials. Using recycled glass to make new glass reduces the amount of air and water pollution by 50% to 60% compared to producing glass from silica.  
People in the Unites States appear to be increasingly aware that everyone has a responsibility to preserve the environment. There is a continued interest in Earth Day, which was founded on April 22, 1970, and is recognized annually. The pesticide DDT has been banned. Since 1970 the following progress has been made in the United States. Sulfur dioxide emissions have been cut substantially. Auto emissions have been cleaned up dramatically, as catalytic converters have substantially cut the release into the air of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. Lead has been removed from gasoline. Overall lead levels in the average American's blood have dropped by one-third since 1976.