Air and Water Pollution on the North Shore

   Katherine and Gina researched this section. 

WATER POLLUTION ON THE NORTH SHORE

Recycling is a process where one object is melted down or converted into something new eg. old money notes are made into the green wheelie bins, and old coke bottles are made into eco-fleece sweatshirts. You can only recycle things with a 1 or 2 on the base, on the North Shore.

If you don't recycle things like toxic waste, garden waste, and general household waste,then you won't know what you're in for.

     QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

Q. Where does all the waste go to if you don't recycle?

A. If it is waste water,and the drain is not blocked,the water would go down the same drain line as the sewage, and it goes to the sewage treatment plant. It will then be treated and checked for bugs before it is released into the sea.

However this is not a problem if your drains are not blocked. But if they are,you and the entire community, will have a problem.Instead,it will run down the storm water drain line, and will come straight out into the sea. Eventually, you will be swimming in not only sea, but sewage as well.

Q. How can we prevent this?

A. Most causes for drains being blocked include: rubbish, garden waste, tree roots, and over used necessities. All of these, in fact can be reduced,reused or recycled.

If you have these trees and they are closer than three metres, you may end up having drain blockages, and once again you will end up swimming in something unpleasant.The following trees are some of the ones that have big roots that can block drains.

Banksia             Wattles                      Eucalyptus          Feijoa            Graveillea          Hibiscus

Q. Where should we wash our cars if we dont want to pollute the beaches?

A. It is best to wash your car at home on some grass where the soil absorbs the chemicals. If you wash your car on the concrete then all the excess water and soap and dirt will go to the nearest drain and run down and pollute it.

The main problem that the North Shore has is water pollution. The problems have become so great that the North Shore City Council has had to close a few beaches including Browns Bay, Mairangi Bay and many other beaches around the North Shore after big rainfall.  The drains have too much water and flood, with treated and untreated waste going to the beaches.

One of the places that sets a good example is Long Bay Regional Park which has dog-doo bins and a recycling centre aimed to teach people about recycling.

When people dispose of their dog-doo properly, it isn't washed into the beaches for us to swim in and it doesn't get onto children's shoes.

At Long Bay, people are encouraged to take their rubbish home to dispose of it, so that birds don't take it out of the bins and spread it around and the bins don't overflow on busy days.  If you take your rubbish home, you can recycle it at home.

Long Bay is also protected so people can't take shells or fish, so it will always be a lovely beach.

We think it would be good if  you could take your rubbish home and put it in the recycling bin if it is recyclable. Also if there were recycling bins at the beaches, especially by the shops, you could put your empty drink cans or bottles in them.

AIR POLLUTION 

 Luckily air pollution is not that big a problem in New Zealand . But in other places, people have not been looking after their countries and with high populations and lots of cars, pollution can be bad. For instance Hong Kong has approximately 5.627.000 people but is only the size of Lake Taupo. Because of the number of cars and their exhaust systems, it is very misty and smoggy, so the air is very dirty and they have a big problem with air pollution. Lot's of people in Campbells Bay drive big 4WD jeeps and they use lot's more petrol and make more pollution than ordinary cars. 

 Children in Campbells Bay could come to school on the WALKING BUS. This is where all the children walk in a group for safety, so they wait at their gate for the group to come along and all walk together.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.What is air pollution?

A.  Air pollution is when car exhaust or other fumes get mixed up with the air.It's not that bad until lots of people let their fumes go up and pollute the air.

Q.Why is air pollution bad?

A. Air pollution is bad for our enviroment because some of the gases let out into the air, may be poisonous and kill our trees, wildlife and may poison rivers.It may even be causing a gradual warming up of our planet which will destroy the ozone layer. It can also be poisonous to people, especially people with asthma.

Q.What is the Ozone-Layer?

A. The Ozone-Layer is a sheet of air surrounding the earth, protecting the harsh rays of sun from turning us into raisins or giving us VERY BAD skin-cancer.

Q.What can you do to help?

A. Recycling may help to stop air pollution. For instance if you have green garden waste instead of burning it, you can take it to a transfer station or if you have a lot of greenwaste, you could hire a green waste  bin to put it in, and people from the company that you hired the bin from will come when necessary and collect it.

Q. How does recycling help to stop air pollution?

A. Instead of having smoke from paper fires, you can recycle the paper and the paper can be made into more paper so two things happen.  There is new paper and no trees have to be cut down to make it.

                    CONCLUSION

In conclusion we would just like to say thankyou  for taking the time to read this and we hope that our message will get through and you will REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE to save New Zealand and the earth.

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