Meet the Family

We want to introduce you to the Green Family. They have been nice enough to let us record their conversations during dinner. Every evening their family discusses a wide variety of subjects from planting trees to reducing waste. For them, taking care of the environment is very important.

Mom

She is a botanist (studies plants) and works at the local nursery. Mom encourages the children to learn more about environmental conservation and energy efficiency. When she has free time, she likes to garden.

Dad

The company he works for is now involved in forest conservation activities as a part of their commitment to giving back to the community. He thinks this is great because his favorite weekend activities are hiking and fishing.

Summer

Brady’s big sister. She has influenced Brady’s interest in environment. When she grows up her dream is to become a climatologist and study the effects of climate change on the earth. She loves to read and go to the beach with her friends.

Brady

He participated in Solar Academy class and now he is more interested in what he can do to save the earth. His favorite subject in school is science and his favorite thing to do on the weekend is play with his dog, Eco.

Eco

He is the family dog and loves to go walk with Brady. His favorite activity is running around in the local wilderness park and smelling all the many different things in the nature. He cares about the children very much.

Let’s cheer for Tuvalu!

Oh, I feel so sad…

What’s wrong? Something happened to Eco?

What happened? Why are you so down??

I feel bad about people in Tuvalu!

Tuvalu? Is that one of the small island countries in the Pacific?

Yes. I saw it on TV. The documentary was about how Tuvalu is sinking under the ocean because of the effect of climate change. If the climate change continues as it has, Tuvalu would be the first county that will sink under water.

Oh, no! I can’t believe that a country can actually sink… is that because the ocean is rising?

Yes and it’s very serious now. The country’s is a little island. Its coastline is already starting to erode very fast. During the high tide, sea water seeps through the ground, so homes and streets flood easily. Their fresh groundwater is also contaminated with the seawater, so they can’t use it for drinking and growing crops. Life of the people in Tuvalu is devastated now and no one will be able to live on the island in the near future. It’s so sad…

I feel you. It’s really tough to see that.

Dad, can you tell us more about Tuvalu?

Tuvalu is located in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, near Australia. Tuvalu consists of 9 islands made of coral reefs, and the ground is only about 4 to 6 feet above the sea level. At it's highest point it is only 15 ft. above sea level. It’s a small country with a land of 10 square miles. About 1,700 households, 9,600 people, live there. Facing this severe problem, the government of Tuvalu has decided to move the entire population on the island and abandon their country.

It’s so sad that their country disappears from the map.

There is anything we can do to stop it?

We can help by contributing to the prevention of climate change.

We have to tackle this problem as a citizen of the Earth!

That’ right. Let me tell you one good thing that happened in Tuvalu. It’s a happy story that might light up your feelings.

What is it??

Tuvalu has a large solar system now!

Wow! That’ awesome!

Government of Tuvalu has announced that they also want to contribute to the prevention of climate change. Japanese utility company, Kansai Denryoku, has responded to the request and they provided the solar system for the soccer stadium in Tuvalu’s capital, Funafuti.

Solar system in the soccer stadium? That’s really cool.

Tuvalu’s main electric source has been diesel generator in the past, and this is their first renewable energy generation system.

How big is the system?

Generation capacity is 40 kilowatts. The system can power up to 50 households. Not only that, the electric generation from solar can reduce the CO2 emission by 50 tons annually.

I’m sure that the Earth is also happy!

People in Tuvalu are not giving up. They are fighting with the climate change, too.

That’s great news! I feel a little better now.

And I pledge fight climate change with them!

Let’s do some research and find out more ways we can reduce climate change and help the people of Tuvalu.

Yes!

I’m glad that Brady feels better now. For more information on Tuvalu’s solar system, visit http://www.e8.org/index.jsp?numPage=121&numFiche=235 See you next time!

home