Spring is generally associated with atime ofnew and renewed life. Flowers and tree blossoms spring up and out, birds remind us with their singing that they are back from the south, and the last bits of snow slowly melt away to reveal fast-growing grass. Buta few years from now, we may not want the snow to melt, because it may reveal only destruction and death.

Our Earth is quickly being destroyed and we are all to blame. By wasting food, water, oxygen, trees, and by supporting companies that waste our limited resources needlessly, we contribute to the continued plundering of our planet.

There are a few false ideas people have - about being environmentally conscious:

1. I don’t have time

2. Costs more money

3. How much can just one person do anyway?

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to throw used recyclable paper (newspapers, old notes, flyers, cereal boxes) into a box until you accumulate enough to take to a recycling depot, or, if there is a blue-box program in your area, to put it at the end of your lane once a week (and it takes very minimal effort to pick up a phone and see where you can take it, or have it picked up).

It doesn’t take any time at all to say toa check-out person, ‘‘I don’t need a bag for this’, especially if it’s just a can of beans or something.

If you’ve waited for a long time at a check-out counter in a grocery store, and you want a little revenge, try throwing home-made or bought canvas grocery bags at the check-out person. Most aren’t used to packing groceries in anything other than these flimsy little plastic things, and it really stresses some of them out. It doesn’t cost anything to not litter, not smoke, carpool

and not use air-conditioners unless absolutely necessary (like a sweltering day

in Miami). In fact, most of these measures will save you money.

One person can do a lot. Try saving all your newspapers and flyers for a whole year and then look at the huge pile and just imagine how many trees you'll be saving when you recycle them instead of throwing them out.

Trees beautify our land, but they also Provide natural habitats for various animals,

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Notices

Henry Banks and Sons Gold Medal

This medal is awarded to a graduating Student who has demonstrated to an Outstanding degree qualities of scholarship

It IS easy being green

Some simple enviro-tips By Patricia MacDonald

protect the soil and filter out many harmful substances from the air. Plant and re-plant trees so our children can breathe in the © future.

Becoming environmentally aware can be a chain reaction. By showing our children, our friends and neighbours by example that it most often takes minimal cost, time and effort to improve the world around us, we

unknowingly educate those around us.

A few more tips:

~- Keep bottles of drinking water in the refrigerator so you don’t have to run the water to get it cold.

- Reduce water use in your toilet by about 20% by placing two weighted two-litre plastic bottles filled with water in your toilet tank.

JRA

and leadership within the University community. Recommendations for this award may be made by any member of the University community to the awards Committee by 8 April. Winners of the Governer’s General Medals will not be eligible for this award.

Community of West Royalty Award

This award of $200 is available to a student graduating this year ‘‘who has excelled in the area of community services.’’ Examples of this type of service might be:

Grapnic ( pyssev

Big Brothers/Big sisters PEI Literacy Council

Church Groups

Political Parties

Application forms are available at the Registrar’s Office and must be submitted no later than 4 pm on Friday, 8 April 1994.

Department of Justice Canada offers scholarships for

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-Make sure you or your landlady/landlord has all leaks fixed properly.

- Never flush garbage of any kind down the toilet. Cleaning products, cigarette butts, paper tissues, plastic tampon holders, condoms and the like can cause problems at sewage treatment plants. ae

- Wash only full loads of laundry, use the shortest cycle possible and use cold or warm water rather than hot. Fa

- Use baking soda instead of Comet or Ajax to clean bathrooms and kitchens. Baking soda is completely natural, dirt cheap and scours like Comet does. You may have to use it a little more often, but the water you use to wash it away is never polluted. - Recycle and reuse everything you can, buy recyclable products and products packaged in recyclable containers whenever possible and use non-hazardous household cleaning products.

Recycling and reusing materials, combined with composting, greatly reduces the amount of garbage we take to our dumps. We are running out of space. Also, don’t throw batteries into the garbage. They contain very hazardous chemicals (ie. Mercury) that can leak into the soil. Most scrap yards accept batteries.

This year there is a group of Business Administration students just about to complete a policy project on natural cleaning products. The two products this group is focusing on are a furniture polish and an all-purpose cleaner made from all- natural materials and packaged in recyclable containers. One reason why this group chose natural cleaning products for their project was because they didn’t understand why so many companies manufacture dangerous household products that pollute the water and soil, when there are so many naturally safe alternative. Obviously, we need cleaning products, but it is rarely necessary to use toxic products, especially in everyday home use. on

There are many seemingly simple things anyone can do to help the environment. Too many people are too lazy to do » anything. Our forests, rivers, oceans and atmosphere need to become a priority, now. Remember, time is also a limited resource.

For more information, please contact Environment Canada and the PEI Dept. of the Environment. oe

aboriginal students

The Department of Justice Canada is pleased to announce that three-year: scholarships will be made available to Metis and Non-Status students who wish to attend law school beginning in the 1994 -95 school year.

The Department of Justice Canada is accepting applications for the 1994 summer pre-law program until April 1, 1994 and applications for the three-year law school scholarships until June 1, 1994. For more information contact, Student Services.