Kiave Codianne

November 18 2015

Metals are created out in space where a star fuses hydrogen atoms to make helium atoms, this is

called nuclear fusion and is the energy source of a star. Medium-sized and massive stars only

make elements up to iron, after that a star will need to explode into a supernova to make

elements higher than that. This happens when those iron elements crash into each other and then

that star will become a neutron star and maybe crash into other neutron stars to create more

elements which then come to crash on Earth and other planets.

Metals are considered a limited resource because they are non-renewable, they do not renew fast

enough for extraction. The only way to attain metals is through the metals landing on Earth after

being made in a star and its not like we can just make more, especially because of the Law of

Conservation of Matter where atoms can never be created or destroyed, just changed by chemical

reactions. If we could stop being so wasteful with our metals they might last longer. In my

pledge I want to educate people so they can make the choice to buy less electronics and use the

ones they have for longer, prolonging the life of our metals.

The mining and refining of metals destroys ecosystems, uses a lot of energy, and pollutes the air.

My pledge will have a positive impact on all of these. Open-pit mining destroys the ecosystem

because a ginormous pit is dug into the ground, all around it and what used to be the top of it that

was once filled with trees and plants is then ruined. My pledge can help this problem because the

more people who try to buy less and reduce their electronic consumption the bigger the impact.
Every process in refining metals uses a lot of energy, for example, crushing, smelting, refining

and electrolysis. When people take my pledge they will hopefully not buy as many electronics so

we wont have to refine as many metals. Lastly, when smelting, air is polluted. Smoke and other

air pollutants (SO2, CO2, particulate matter, neurotoxins) end up in the sky and ruins our air.