This week I read two articles on Yahoo! that brought up good points about how, even with the threat of global warming and other climate changes, many people still aren’t paying attention.

They aren’t paying attention to the fact that using five plastic water bottles a day is harmful to the planet. If people aren’t comfortable drinking tap water there are plenty of options. There are plenty of products available to filter the water. There are filters for the faucet, filters for reusable water bottles and filtered water pitchers. Water can come out of a sink and be safe to drink.

A chef in Australia recently started charging for water that isn’t in a bottle. He bought a filter system that not only cleans but also chills and carbonates that water. This water is more like mineral water that his customers would pay for by the bottle.

He has received mixed reviews but by doing this he is bringing awareness to the fact that people will pay a lot more for bottled water but they won’t pay for the same thing if it doesn’t come in a bottle. Besides being more cost effective it reduces the amount of waste.

I understand that sometimes bottled water out of a vending machine is the only option. That’s fine, but that bottle should be recycled and not thrown in the trash. The simplest things can make a big difference.

The other article I read was on the issue of the ocean and how life in the oceans has the serious potential of going extinct in the next generation.

According to the article there are two main reasons for such an outcome. One being over-fishing and the other is a build up of carbon dioxide.

Over-fishing is the easiest one to be fixed. The article states that 60 percent of known extinction of fish in the ocean is due to over-fishing.

Changes in policies on fishing could immediately help with the issue of over-fishing.

The rise of carbon dioxide is being blamed on the use of fossil fuels. The fuels are being absorbed into the ocean causing such issues as acidification, a decrease in the pH level, and anoxia, which is a decrease in the oxygen level.

If there wasn’t reason enough before there is now to push for wind or solar power. These are cleaner and safer ways to fuel things compared to using fossil fuels. Using fossil fuels may be easier but when it comes down to doing something because it’s easy or because it could save the planet, saving the planet wins.

As of now it’s not possible for everyone to have an electric car or solar powered houses but down the road hopefully it will be. Once these technologies are perfected the goal of using little to no fossil fuels will be more capable.

Until that time comes people should consider driving less to save gas and reduce pollution, use fewer plastic bottles, push for policy changes and anything else they feel would be beneficial.

If every person changes the way they do things even just slightly it could make a difference. Even if all they do is buy a water filter and stop using plastic bottled water they are making a change.

Audrey Sawyer is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-7942 or at