Australia

Hi, I am Gladstone also known as the Port City because I have one of the largest ports in the world.

Hi, I am Gladstone also known as the Port City because I have one of the largest ports in the world. As I have lots of industry including the power station, Queensland Alumina, Boyne Smelter and coal mines, our city is growing every day. However, because of all the industry there is also a chance of much pollution occurring. All the people who live here in Gladstone need to be more aware of the pollution on the environment especially as my neighbour is the Great Barrier Reef.

Some industries are trying really hard and recycle lots of waste at their own waste collection sites. At my favourite school, St Francis, they do lots of recycling and even collect all the food scraps to feed their worm farms and make compost. Every day, long trains carry tonnes and tonnes of coal from the mines into Gladstone to help power the industries and to be loaded onto ships in the port to be sent all over the world.

Soon there will be no coal left and all the fossil fuels will be used up. We really need to think about using wind energy or solar power. The sun and wind are always ready to use and they don't have any impact on the environment.

Gladstone is mostly a very clean place, but because there are so many workers here they all drive their own cars. I know buses would be a great way to cut down on smoke and poisonous gases that go into our air and help destroy the ozone layer.

It's important here in Gladstone that we think about the ozone layer and stop polluting as bright sun can burn our skin too much. Saving water and water pollution is very important in Gladstone because we want to save and protect our beautiful Great Barrier Reef.

Many people just throw their plastic bags and rubbish into the environment and it makes its way to the ocean. All the poor turtles and sea creatures think the rubbish is food and they eat it. They can even die from choking.

We even have to stop and think about washing soaps & paints down the drains as these chemicals can really harm our animals. Making sure you use the green top (waste) and yellow top (recycling) bins helps us to keep pollution down.

Putting up a tank to catch rain water is a great way to save water in a city but people need to think about taking shorter showers, check for leaking taps and stop playing in the sprinklers.

There are many things I think my city can do to help the world's pollution problems. Gladstone people try to follow the 5R's - Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Repair, Refuse, which really helps stop pollution.

We would love for our city to have more solar power, wind energy, public transport and rain tanks in the future to do even more for the planet.