One Part In A Million
July 15, 2009
Did you know that one gallon of oil can contaminate one million gallons of water? It’s true. It’s staggering to think how just a little bit of certain pollutants can cause significant environmental problems.
Sometimes it’s tough to visualize the relationship between one and a million. The State of Hawaii has about a million people, so it’s like one person among everyone in the state. Even that’s a bit tough to wrap your mind around though. So let’s consider another analogy that might be a bit easier to visualize.
Imagine putting a dime down in the middle of a football field. The area under that dime would represent one part in a million compared to the entire area of the field – including the end zones.
Let’s try another analogy using volume rather than area. Imagine an M&M candy represents a single particle. What would one part in a million look like using plain M&Ms? Well, it would be like one M&M in a million M&Ms which is a cube of M&Ms measuring three feet by three feet by three feet. That’s one M&M in a cube of M&Ms weighing more than a ton!
The point here is that often a little pollution goes a long way. Let’s all pitch in to keep our oceans clean. Dispose of used motor oil properly using an absorbent oil change box. Don’t over fertilize your yard and clean up pet waste. There’s something that every one of us can do to reduce pollution in our streams and ocean.
|
