We are the World, We are the Children, 8th Grade
Students are the future of our world. What are their thoughts on shopping, the environment, and health? How are these topics interconnected? What are their habits at home? Can they improve these habits? Can they lead simpler lives? These are the questions they considered while writing their compositions.
I have selected certain excerpts from their compositions to avoid repetition. If you wish to read the complete works, click the link at the bottom of the page.
Let us listen to the voices of the young and support them in making the world a better place to live!
Alenka Nikšič
Shopping is central to our lives because we are not used to gaining food, clothes and more in other ways than shopping. Most people would struggle to get essential things.
A good life for health and the environment is living on a farm. I personally would need some time to get used to it but I would.
Žan Tkalec, 8.a
Like my family we try to grow some food for ourselves but that’s at a maximum of 15% of food that we all eat.
If I was an adult I could decide that I wouldn’t drive cars and eat meat or I could grow all the food myself, but will I have the time or motivation…maybe. Growing your own food is eco-friendly and it can sometimes even taste better. Not only it’s cheaper over time but it’s also relaxing at times to me.
There are many kinds of lifestyles that are good to your health and the environment but every human has a different lifestyle. It would be better for everyone to get rid of some bad habits but it can be hard and very tricky but sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn’t and you/I can or could live that kind of life.
Karmen Caserman, 8.a
In our family, we normally buy locally produced food at the market and from farmers. But we also have to go to the shop, because you can’t buy all important things at local markets. In the shop we normally buy food from our country or naturally produced one. When I was younger we went to the local kids clothes shop. Everything we bought was made there. Now we buy clothes of high quality. For cleaners we shop at eco shop. We usually choose eco cleaners, but sometimes we must buy stronger ones.
Things that are better for environment are normally better for health, too.
For environment it is better to live simple life, like our grand-grandparents did. But we can’t live that life. I think most of us can’t live that life, because we normally choose easy way, even if it isn’t the right one.
Brigita Kočevar, 8.c
I surely could improve my habits, because simple life is mostly better in many ways. I could start producing more food of my own which would be better for my health and it would use less plastic and less gases would be in the air from less transportation. I could eat and drink less sugar and junk food, which would generate much less waste and fumes in the air. I could also make a place for a compost to throw away any vegetables that I couldn’t eat. An important thing could be electricity. First I could install solar panels, which would save me money and cost for production, because a lot of electricity is bought from other countries or produced in a non-green way which pollutes the world a lot.
If you walk to school or go by bike…you could benefit the environment with less gases in the air and you would also exercise which is good for you. If you don’t smoke, drink…, and do anything bad for your body by consuming bad stuff, you could generate much less waste, save money, stop supporting companies that think only about profit and you could also become healthier. In all different aspects, the more simple life we live, the better it is for us and for the environment. Even though it’s not easy to live and to keep living that lifestyle it pays off and you could feel good about yourself and also save our planet. I personally can live such life, with some bad things, because it’s hard to do everything right. But it’s hard and it takes a lot of will and dedication to live it.
Maj Frank, 8.c
My family and I, we buy local food that isn’t processed. We don’t buy organic, because organic food is much more expensive and my family has a bit lower budget for food when we are buying it. We mostly buy aggressive cleaners and the ones that contain chemicals, because the eco-friendly cleaners do not remove the stains and grease very well. When my family buys clothes, we make sure to buy what we need. We buy high quality clothes that last longer, so we don’t throw them away that quickly. When I grow up out of my clothes I give them to my cousin, so he can wear them.
We grow vegetables and fruit in the garden. My mom and I take care of it very well. We grow lettuce, carrots, cabbage, spring onions, onions, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, chillies, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, figs, raspberries, cranberries and cucumbers.
I think the only thing I could fix about myself, to be nicer to the environment, is to buy organic food and less junk food.
Matevž Likar, 8.c
In our world lots of people don’t seem to care about anything or anyone but themselves. We’re constantly searching for what we can take from nature instead of what we can give back. Our actions matter. Our actions can be as small as our weekly shopping, and can make a huge difference. Shopping can be considered a hobby, where you buy things you like or want, but shopping is also a responsibility. It’s better if we shop for the things that we need and not for the things that we want. That way we won’t be wasteful and we’ll save money as well as the environment.
In my family we are very aware of what we buy. When shopping for food, we always check if the goods we consider buying are organic, local and not processed, since it benefits the environment as well as our health. My mom and I are quite into fashion. We value our clothes and its material. Even though we like to shop for clothes, we always check if the fabric is worth the price and if it is plant based. I also wear a lot of my mom’s old clothes, so we are not being wasteful and we are reusing still good material. Shopping for cleaners can be hard to benefit the environment. Cleaners usually have a lot of unfriendly chemicals. We try to buy mostly eco-friendly cleaners.
I care about my health and the environment. If I were an adult, I would organise swap meeting for clothes. I have already been to some and I think It’s the perfect idea for reusing material while not spending money. I already have a lot of clothes and I never throw them away. Clothes that are too small and don’t fit me any more always end up in someone else’s closet. I like to give them to people that can’t afford such nice things. As for my health I would buy mostly organic and local food.
Shopping to benefit the environment and our health is not so different. Local food is healthier and doesn’t require transport that harms the nature. Organic and not processed food also benefits both. It’s better to live a simple life. We don’t waste a lot of food with, for example, producing our own food and having less possessions.
Hana Krasnik Smolič, 8.b
I think I can say that our family is pretty friendly for the environment. We have a farm and we produce meat because of bulls and cows. For eggs we have our chickens, and we have our own field to grow potatoes and other vegetables. Usually we buy just tomatoes and milk at the grocer’s. For clothes we usually look at the price and materials, that clothes are made of. My mom sometimes uses cleaners made from natural materials or apple vinegar. Sometimes these cleaners don’t help, so my mom sometimes uses chemicals that are not friendly to the environment.
If I decided, I would grow more vegetables and more fruits at home. But here is the problem. We live near the forest and often deer, foxes and badgers come out and eat some fruits and vegetables, so we need high fence. But we need to pay a lot of money for the fence, because they’re really getting expensive.
Filip Petrič, 8.a
Me and my family, we don’t clean a lot but if we do we also use cleaners. We mostly use natural cleaners, but if we need something stronger we also buy unnatural cleaners made from chemicals because they are stronger than natural cleaners but also not environmentally friendly. So if we talk about clothes and food it is different. About clothes we try to buy them from natural materials but we also hike, ride bikes, play different sports with ball and all the different sports. We can say that we work out a lot, so we also need clothes for sporting that aren’t from natural materials. And with food there are a lot of different options in stores but we mostly pick organic and not processed food because we also care about our health. I also like the way that we shop for our food and clothes because it’s healthy and environmentally friendly except the clothes for sporting.
So when I grow up I will have the same system for shopping like my family shops now. And probably I will buy second hand clothes so they don’t end up in the trash, and also I could save a lot of money. Also with food, I will keep buying organic food, because farmers don’t use chemicals for killing warms and bugs that eat crops but they use natural sprays to keep them away from crops. Also if I have enough space I will plant my own food, most likely fruits and some lettuce, tomatoes or something like that.
And I forgot to mention about organic food. It is a little bit expensive but at the end of the day you don’t buy it that much so you will throw it away. You just buy the amount that you know you will eat to the last bite.
Ruben Škorič, 8.b
For eggs, we don’t buy them in the store, but we go to a local farmer and get them. And we also reuse the cardboard boxes for eggs.
If we want to help the environment we should first focus on the packaging. If you buy something in a can, you can recycle it, but if you buy something that is wrapped in multiple layers of plastic there is less chance it will go to the recycling.
If you want to live environment friendly life it is not going to be easy.
You can save the water from the rain and water your plants and garden with it. These are just some ways you can live a more environment friendly life. I couldn’t live that life. I’m not used to most of these things and I think it would be too challenging for me. But I try to do healthy and eco-friendly things like I walk instead of asking my parents to drive me, I wear natural fabrics and shoes that are long lasting, so I don’t have to always buy new ones.
Mila Jerič, 8.b
When I grow up I will reuse things. Like boxes, jars, clothes… I will have a house that will have three trashes, and I will recycle the trash. I will have a compost that is very good for the environment. I want to help the world.
Zarja M. Mašić, 8.c
Shopping is central to our lives because we are consumer’s society, and we are not self-sufficient. When shops appeared we started to grow less food in gardens and became dependant on shops and now there are not a lot of people with gardens.
Jure Jesenovec, 8.c
Shopping takes a very important role in our lives. It is important because we can’t grow all the food we need by ourselves or slaughter animals to get meat.
We look at the prices and quality. We don’t really buy any brands, not because we can’t afford to, but because we find it stupid to buy a shirt with a logo for a lot of money and in a year we’ll grow out of it. We are not in contact with any related family of ours so we don’t swap, but we do donate to charity when we don’t need the clothes any more.
Veronika Sluga, 8.b
But if I was in charge we wouldn’t buy quick fashion, like my brother and sister do, but long lasting useful clothes, even if they were off brand. About the cleaners I would really change a thing. We are already trying the least dangerous, that wouldn’t effect our health and the environment around us.
Ema Jurjevčič, 8.a
We buy high quality clothes and sometimes a little bit bigger, so we can use them for longer time and we buy cleaners that are more eco-friendly and that there is not that much of toxic chemicals in it.
Zala Marjetič, 8.c
We buy good quality clothes, so they can last longer.
When I am an adult, I will make environment nicer with electric cars not to pollute so much and I will donate clothes or swap them.
Benjamin Mahić, 8.a
We buy dairy products from a farmer.
Gašper Mesec, 8.c
When the shoes or clothes become too small for me, I give them to my sister.
I can make nicer this that I go to the store once a week and buy only what I need.
Neja Tomazini, 8.b
The best way to get quality food is that you grow your own, like fruit and vegetable. When we have any leftovers we put them on compost heap.
Jure Jesenovec, 8.b
It’s easier to buy then to make something. My family buys healthy food and we don’t go to fast food restaurants because food is very unhealthy there.
Nik Kokalj Pajsar, 8.a
