Happy Earth Day 2015!
"Protect the Earth, it's the only one we've got!"
CREATURE COMFORTS
The "creature comforts" are Food, Water, and Shelter. These are the elements of life that are necessary for survival. The creature comforts are much less difficult to obtain when there is clean air, water, and earth. Earth Day is a reminder that human survival on Planet Earth is dependent on the quality of the environment. There are many things individuals can do to help improve the state of the environment and create a better, cleaner, and more pleasant world for all.
YUCK
Clark County GIS assists our partners with compliance with Environmental Regulations. Mapping lets the local government agencies operate, maintain and plan systems that keep Winchester a clean, safe, and pleasant community for residents and visitors. Some of the systems that CCGIS maps are sanitary sewer, storm sewer, solid waste routes, and streams. These systems are important to understand to keep pollution from stinking up the streets and making us sick. Just do a search for "China Pollution". This search will lead you to many articles showing the result of irresponsible management of waste. It's not pretty.
WMU KEEPS POLLUTION UNDER CONTROL
Winchester Municipal Utilities is a public utility that is responsible for water, sanitary sewer, and solid waste for the City of Winchester, Kentucky. These are huge responsibilities. If the water is not treated, people can become sick and even die. If the sanitary sewer system does not work correctly, then there can be overflows, and raw sewage can end up in the streets, yards, and homes of residents. YUCK! WMU has spent millions of dollars on projects, in the last 10 years, to insure that the residents of Clark County have the best possible sanitary sewer system.
Solid waste collection insures that the majority of the trash that is created is disposed of in the best ways available. WMU has even started a "single stream" recycling program. This allows WMU customers to place recyclable materials in a seperate bin to be collected, recycled, and reused. There is much work to be done, educating people about litter and recycling, but WMU is doing a great job of reaching out to the public about these issues. You will still see a McDonald's bag in the middle of the road, but it's not because people don't have the opportunity to learn better habits.
THE CITY OF WINCHESTER KEEPS THE WATERS CLEAN
The City of Winchester must apply for a permit to allow stormwater to enter the "streams of the United States of America". This means there must be local rules and regulations to support the cleanest possible runoff from Winchester's streets, parking lots, fields, and hillsides. This requires an enormous amount of time and resources. However, the permit keeps the waterways clean and livable for fish and other aquatic life, and keeps the water clean and drinkable for people downstram.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
There are many things that an individual can do to improve the quality of the environment, and therefore the quality of life for all. Here are 3 ideas to get you started "protecting The Earth":
1) Educate Yourself
There are many websites out there discussing the environment, and how water, air, and earth interact with humans, and vice versa. The EPA website is a good place to start. They have many resources about water and air quality.
http://www.epa.gov/
2) Reduce Your Impact
If everyone in Clark County, Kentucky reduced their solid waste by 1 pound per day, then that would reduce the amount of trash by 13,051,670 pounds per year! THAT'S ALOT OF GARBAGE!
Oh, yeah: DON'T LITTER!
GO THE EXTRA MILE: if you see a piece of paper, or a bit of trash, floating nearby, it won't kill you to pick it up and place it in a proper trash can.
3) Walk or Bike
There is a direct link between gasoline vehicle use and air pollution. If you could walk or ride a bicycle, then you could help reduce the impact of Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, and other pollutants on the environment. These pollutants directly impact the respiratory systems of humans, and can be very harmful to individuals with asthma, COPD, and other breathing problems.
So, this Earth Day, start some good habits by reducing your use of air, water, and earth. This may be hard at first, but if you make recycling, education, and conservation a habit, they become easier and easier.
Happy Earth Day from Clark County GIS
