Priscilla Ouchida’s “energy efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000 three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla’s eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.

Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.

The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”

The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom built up to dangerous levels.

With all the recent concern about the environment, people want to see their money used to better the planet. Here are four well-known environmental organizations.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

The World Wildlife Fund is perhaps one of the best-known organizations for the protection of endangered species and their habitats around the world. It’s been around for over 60 years. You can donate through their website worldwildlife.org, join their organization as a member, or adopt an animal through their online adoption center.

National Geographic Society (NGS)

National Geographic Society is famous for their magazine and their specials on TV. The organization itself is one of the longest-running in the world — It’s been around since 1888. They focus on exploration and conservation of forests, oceans, habitats, species and societies. You can donate money through the website nationalgeographic.org, buy something at their online store, or take out a subscription to the magazine.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF)

Founded officially in 1937, the National Wildlife Federation tries to protect wildlife at all costs. In fact, they believe that having the public educated is the best way to help the environment — the more you know, the more you can protect the world we live in. Donations to the NWF can be made through their website ref.org or through other options, like matching gifts, workplace giving, or memorial donations.

EcologyFund.com

Set up in 1976, EcologyFund.com is run on users’ clicks. Advertisers buy ad space on the site every time someone clicks. The money goes to buy an endangered wilderness to protect it from companies that would destroy it. So far, EcologyFund. com has bought land in many areas. The best thing about this site is that you needn’t donate any money —all you have to do is click.

Everyone likes living in a clean and comforting environment. If the environment are bad, it will affect our body, and make us not feel well. Sometimes we may be terribly ill. At that time we don’t want to work, and we have to stay in bed and rest at home. So the environment is very important to us.

It’s germs that makes us ill. There are germs everywhere, They are very small and you can’t find them with your own eyes, but you can see them with a microscope They are very small and there may be hundreds of them on a very small thing, Germs can always be found in dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope, we shall see them in it. Germs can also be found in air and dust. If you cut your finger, some of the dust from the floor may go into it, and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs will go into all of your body, and you will have pain everywhere.

To keep us healthy, we should try our best to make our environment become cleaner and tidier. This needs us to act together.