Five Questions with… Elin Kelsey

Happy Earth Day, blog readers!

In the April issue of OWL, we challenged you to come up with questions about the environment for Elin Kelsey for a chance to win her latest book, Not Your Typical Book About the Environment. Well, you answered the challenge — big-time! We received a ton of questions, and Elin drew five of them from the pile.

Read on for her answers!

Q: If we continue the way we are, will the hole in the ozone layer become so big that there is no ozone layer? If so, how soon?
— Emily

Elin: The really good news, Emily, is that the ozone hole is healing! In fact, the steps that world governments took together to ban CFCs — the chemicals largely responsible for damaging of the ozone layer — are considered by many to be one of the great examples of countries working together to help the environment.

Atmospheric ozone protects us from cancer-causing UV radiation. Human-made chemicals, like some aerosol sprays and refrigerator coolants, chemically react with ozone to create new compounds that don’t block out radiation — that’s what they mean by a “thinning” ozone layer. But thanks to international bans on ozone-depleting chemicals that began about 20 years ago, the ozone situation is looking much more hopeful.

Q: When global warming gets really bad, does that mean it will get really hot or really cold? I saw this movie and due to global warming the Earth got so cold that no one could live here anymore, so why it is called global warming?
— Mara

Elin: With 2010 bringing snow to Florida and not enough to the Canadian Olympics, lots of people are asking the same question you are, Mara. The wonderful and perplexing thing about life on Earth is that it is all connected, often in ways that we can’t see or directly experience. We can’t “see” a build-up of greenhouse gases in the air — like the CO2 produced when we burn gasoline to power cars. Yet because so much CO2, methane, and other gases are now concentrated in the atmosphere, it traps more of the heat from the sun, and makes the Earth warmer. That’s how the name“global warming” came to be.

However, most scientists now use the term “climate change” instead of global warming, because as the world gets warmer, it’s not just the temperature that’s changing. Winds and ocean currents move heat around the globe in ways that cool some areas, warm others, and change the amount of rain and snowfall. I guess that movie was more science fiction than fact!

Q: How does the little bit of energy that you save make a big difference?
— Kaitlyn

Elin: Whenever I get discouraged about the huge size of environmental problems, I look at the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) on my desk and smile. What if everyone on Earth switched, like I did, from “ordinary” incandescent light bulbs to more energy-efficient CFLs? Well, I’m happy to report, we may be lucky enough to find out. In 2007, Australia became the first country on Earth to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs. Canada has pledged to do the same thing by 2012. More than 40 countries have pledged to follow suit.

Millions of people each committing to make small changes to the lighting in their homes makes a mighty fine impact on the environment. If every home in the United States replaces even one light bulb with a CFL, it will save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars. If everyone on Earth joins in, we will cut the global lighting demand for electricity almost in half.

Q: How would you rank Canada (on a scale of 1 to 5) being eco-friendly, and how are we eco about the environment?
— Colleen

Elin: Ranking is always a tricky business because it depends on what you choose to rank and what evidence you use to justify your scores. Yale and Columbia Universities created an Environmental Performance Index that ranks how well 163 countries do on indicators related to the environment. Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, and Sweden received full marks. But on a scale of 1 to 5, they’d only give Canada a 3.

One of the reasons our score is lower is because Canadians have a BIG ecological footprint. We use more than our share of the Earth’s resources to heat our homes, grow our food, make our stuff, and so on. According to Mathis Wackernagel, the co-originator of the ecological footprint concept, the best way to get your footprint down to the right size is:

1. Gauge what you really need versus what you think you want;
2. Learn to be happy with what you have rather than trying to get more stuff; and
3. Focus on the big items — like how energy efficient your home is, how you get to school, how often your family drives places — rather than worrying about every small, individual action you take.

Canadians are, happily, quite “eco” when it comes to our feelings. Recent polls show that most Canadians care a lot about the environment and are willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly home. We love wildlife so much, we put animals on our money!

Q: What have people done and are going to do to help the environment?
— Mike

Elin: People working together and demanding changes have resulted in laws to protect endangered species; bans on whale hunting; international teams of scientists working together to combat climate change; and the creation of huge new protected areas on land and in the oceans. Governments of countries in the European Union (EU) are leading the way in recycling old computers, cell phones and other electronic gadgets. That’s a vital step because every year, humans create 20 to 50 million tonnes of “e-waste” that contain lead, cadmium, mercury, and other toxic chemicals.

There are endless choices about how you and I and everyone else can create a happy life for ourselves and millions of other species. Ride a bike. Share stuff. Play outside. Eat less meat. Be silly. Play more. Choose an issue and commit to changing it, even if it’s just a little. Recycle cell phones. Keep playing. Reduce. Reimagine. Rejoice!

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Cool, huh? But there’s more! Elin pulled out five questions for answering, and we pulled out one to determine the winner of our contest. And the winner is… Ally I.! Congratulations, Ally I., you’ve won a copy of Not Your Typical Book About the Environment.

And that’s it, OWL readers. Many, many thanks to Elin for participating in this special Earth Day post. One way we can thank her is by answering a special question she has for us. What makes you feel hopeful about the environment? Post a comment below with your thoughts!

Talk to you soon.

Craig, owlblog@owlkids.com