EARTH RULES - EARTH R U L E S

Earth Rules Survey - Taken 1996, a mere blink ago.

Survey Results

Who Took This Survey?

310 people took the Earth Rules survey. The average age of survey respondents was 13 with the majority of people being between the ages of 12 and 14. Regardless of your age you can make a difference! You can ask your parents to carpool with your classmates or you can start recycling at home.

The people who responded to this survey were from all over the world. The majority of respondents were from the United States of America but there were many other countries represented. After the United States, the nine most represented countries were: England, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Wales, Germany, New Zealand, and Kuwait. So as you can see, people taking this survey came from all over the world. A majority of people identified their home as being fairly urban with town being the most popular choice, followed by suburbs, and then big cities.

Don't Just Worry About The Issues, Do Something!!!

We asked the question: How worried are you about the future of our environment? 102 people responded that they were very worried about the future. 180 people said that they are a little worried about it. 27 people replied that they are not worried at all. That means that 91% of the 310 people who responded are somewhat worried about the future of our environment.

We then asked, Are you involved in any environmental projects or activities? 99 people responded yes and 211 responded no. Let's break this down....so 91% of the people that took this survey are concerned about the environment, but only 32% are doing something about it. Imagine the impact that the other 61% of concerned people could make!

Survey Says: You Care About Your Environment. Now What??

Here are ideas about how people think we can improve our environmental situation:
26% recycle
16% Join a local organization
12% Do something by yourself like pick up litter on the weekends
12% Form a new organization with your friends
11% Join an existing global organization
4% Plant trees
3% Post flyers to make others aware
3% Conserving water at home
2% Write to the Newspaper

As you can see, there are lots of activities that can be done to help the environment.

When asked if you thought your generation could make a difference in the earth's environment for generations to come, 60% of you said yes. 35% are unsure while only 4% said no, they didn't think that they could make a difference. 86% reported having discussed the future of the environment in school.

Best Ways To Help

The Biggest Threats To Our Environment

We asked you what you thought were the biggest threats to our environment. Global warming seems to be the greatest concern, followed by air pollution from cars. Other concerns include smoking, deforestation, air pollution from businesses, and littering.

Speaking of littering, we asked if you'd ever been in trouble for littering or leaving the water running. It was a close call between the 46% who have and the 56% who haven't. Everyone has done it and you're not a horrible person if you have. The past is the past and you can't change it, bu what you can impact is the future. If you accidentally drop some litter, pick it up. If you walk out of a room with the water or the light on, be more aware and shut it off.

Good news. 74% of you responded that if a friend littered, you would not. Apparently, peer pressure wouldn't get the better of most of the people!

The key for the corresponding graph is as follows:
-aircars = air pollution from cars
-airwork =air pollution from businesses
-waterppl = water pollution from people
-waterwork = water pollution from businesses
-landfill = landfills
-defrst = deforestation
-norecyc = people not recycling
-smoking = smoking
-litter = littering
-fire = wildfires
-glwarm = global warming
-other = other threat

Biggest Threats

People Speakout!

If you were able to solve one environmental problem, what would you focus on and why?

Here are some responses to this question:

"I would stop the destruction of the rainforests and other wild animal habitats. Stopping the destruction of animal habitats would further scientific development and help endangered species."

"I would focus on air pollution because if we did more to help the current global warming situation then there would be no 'major' threat to all life on earth."

I would try to promote the use of battery powered cars because they do not put out the poisonous fuels that regular cars do. This would cut down on the destruction of our ozone layer."

"I would focus on Global Warming because that's the most destructive issue which will occur very soon. Icebergs will melt and water levels will rise. I wish I knew how to solve it!"

"I would focus on the ocean. The ocean is a beautiful thing and we take it for granted. The creatures that live in the ocean don't deserve to be persecuted by boats, rubbish and oil. Just because they can't talk to us doesn't mean they aren't suffering. We wouldn't like it if other people came and dumped all their rubbish and oil over our home right?"

"I would stop forests from being cut down as these are animals' natural habitats and just because they do not have a voice to tell us that they don't want that to happen, doesn't mean that it doesn't matter. It kills them. So basically we are murdering these animals."

"I would focus on endangered animals because once they're gone, they can't come back. Already there are millions of animals that we have lost to pollution, building new structures that we don't need as much, when we have vacant buildings that have been sitting untouched for years, and many other major things. Plus, a lot of different animals have played a major part in our history. They helped us survive, and in a lot of cases kept us safe from different dangers."

Water Doesn't Grow On Trees, Does It??

We asked respondents to what extent they agree with this quote:
"For many of us, water simply flows from a faucet, and we think little about it beyond this point of contact. We have lost a sense of respect for the wild river, for the complex workings of a wetland, for the intricate web of life that water supports."

There was overwhelming agreement with this quote seeing as 51% strongly agreed and 29% agreed. This means that 80% of our respondents agreed with this quote at least somewhat and truly know that our resources are finite.

Worries For The Next 20 Years

Lastly, we asked our respondents what they believe will be the top issues concerning our environment over the next 20 years. Here are the top 5 concerns:

-Global Warming: 27%
-Energy Crisis (oil, gas shortage): 22%
-Air pollution: 13%
-Other: 8%
-Endangered species: 5%

Now What?

These are your concerns. Now what are you going to do about it? We know you hear this all the time, but young people are the future! We hope that this survey has helped narrow your concerns and worries down...now it is time for you to decide how to act. You could ask your parents to carpool more or make sure your family recycles everything they can. Another option could be helping conserve trees by reducing how much paper you use. Every little bit helps and you as an individual you CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!

Please remember that all web-based polls are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the respondents to participate in the surveys.