Within the past 50 years air quality in North Carolina has degraded. According to the National Park Service “Air pollution is shrinking scenic views, damaging plants, and degrading high elevation streams and soils in the Great Smoky Mountains.” As a resident in North Carolina I enjoy taking trips to the mountains. I’ve never been to the Great Smoky Mountains, but I have been to Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain, which are both part of the Sauratown Mountains. I enjoy the lake on the top of Hanging Rock and all the beautiful waterfalls I see while walking through the trails. I enjoy the view at the top of Pilot mountain, and I enjoy cooking on their grills.
I am very concerned about the air quality my children and I breath. I do what I can to participate in keeping our air quality not only healthy for my family, and for the health of others, but also healthy for the outside environment. It is important to take care of our environment inside and outside the home. I feel everything we do on this earth participates in whether or not we live in a healthy environment. There are so many things we can do to live a better and healthier life. Such as recycle, purchase from companies that care for the environment, drive less, carpool, sign petitions that help the environment, purchase products that are environmentally friendly, and educate ourselves on the environment.
Sad to say North Carolina ranks 8th in the country when it comes to high levels of toxic pollution by coal fired power plants. Monitoring air pollution in North Carolina isn’t getting any better when state lawmakers are trying to cut the number of air quality monitors around the state. According to Newsobserver.com “Environmentalists are concerned that cutting back on monitors is a step toward dirtier air”. This concerns me greatly. Dirty air is not good for anybody, but it is especially harsh with those who have breathing problems. Half of North Carolina ranges from 500 ft to 6,684 ft above sea level. I live in Winston Salem, NC where we are 912 feet above sea level. The higher altitude a person is the thinner is the air. The thinner the air the less oxygen there is to breathe. When pollutants enter our atmosphere not only is it dirty, but it takes away from the oxygen we breathe. I have a son who has Osler Weber Rendu disease. Due to this disease he now has Hypoxia. His arteries and veins have connected in his lungs, and this causes his blue blood cells to combine with his red blood cells. The blue blood cells are what provides oxygen. His oxygen level ranges from 74% to 84%. Him being healthy rests on many factors and one of them is the cleanliness of our air inside and outside of our home.
As I said earlier I do what I can to take care of the health of my family. I care for the environment inside and outside my home. I sign petitions such as the one on the North Carolina Conservation Network, I recycle, and I buy products that have no toxins in them. I shop with a company whose products are concentrated. Because they are an environmentally friendly company they have saved over 166 million pounds of plastic, reduced 37 million pounds of greenhouse gases, and saved over 34 million gallons of gasoline. Their products are not only better for the environment, but healthier for my home. I feel like my home is safer and healthier for my children when I use their products, and I feel like I am helping the environment. I have to honestly say since I have been using these products my son’s oxygen level has gone up. I have removed the chemicals out of my home. One thing I do is educate people on how to “go green”. If you would like to learn more about the company I shop with, and how you can help the environment at the same time visit www.gogreenwebcast.com/Uneedit.
