“La tierra es suficiente para todos pero no para la voracidad de los consumidores” – Mahatma Gandhi
Happy Earth Day, 2018.
The Earth is a beautiful place. Filled with natural wonders and stunning locations. Vast seas and high mountains. It sustains us all. But, for how long? How long do we have to be wasteful to realise it’s too late? How much longer will we continue to drain the Earth’s resources… until it’s too late? Let’s make a change today.
We as humans are plundering the Earth, draining it of all it has. More than a third of the Earth’s natural world has been destroyed over the last three decades. Thirty years. That’s all. Thirty years for a third of the planets’ natural world to be destroyed. The natural world that existed and survived for millions of years. Yet, here we are.
Let’s plunge into the ocean. The deep blue sea. The picturesque seaside photograph. The ocean is the home to over one million different species. It governs the weather. Cleans the air. Yet, it’s in danger. In danger of us. Plastic is filling and spoiling our oceans. Over 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean each year. Rethink your plastic use. Change is possible.
It’s not just the natural world either. Take a look at the animals. Black rhinos figures have fallen from 65,000 in 1970, to fewer than 2,500 now. African Elephants have fallen from 1.2 million in 1980, to around 450,000 whilst the tiger population is struggling at an estimated 3,200, that’s a massive drop of 97 percent in only twenty years.
What about the next twenty years? Or the next fifty? Or the next hundred?
You might be reading this thinking “well, it doesn’t affect me“. Maybe not, directly. But what about your children? Your grandchildren? Your great-grandchildren and their grandchildren. Why should they have to look at picture books and try to imagine what an elephant was, or picture what a blue sea looks like? Things we take for granted. Things we are abusing. It affects all of us.
Here’s the thing: we only have one planet. There is no planet B.
Living greener isn’t as difficult as it sounds. There are little things, little changes, that you can do every day. They might make a big change, they might make a little change. A little change is better than no change.
In the spirit of Earth Day 2018, here are 15 things you can do to save the Earth.
Use Water Sensibly
Use only the water you need. Turn off the water whilst you’re brushing your teeth. Only fill the kettle with the amount you need. Take showers instead of baths. Use a short wash cycle on the washing machine. Leaky taps or toilets? Get them fixed!
Change your Vehicle
Got a bike? Why not ride that to work or school? If it’s possible, ditch the car and take a walk to work. Not only will you be reducing the greenhouse gases, but you’ll also feel super great too. Did somebody say summer body? If that’s not an option, why not take public transport or carpool?
Recycle, Recycle, Recycle
Majority of the bins have a separate slot for paper, tin and general rubbish these days. You can reduce pollution just by choosing the right slot! Instead of throwing all that paper into the bin, recycle it!
Choose Products with Little or No Packaging
Fruit and vegetables don’t need to be placed in all this plastic packaging! Pick up fresh fruit and veg in the supermarket or the greengrocers and pop them straight into your reusable bags. Products from the market are so much fresher and don’t use any plastic packaging! Double win.
Ditch the Straws
I used to be the person that had a straw in almost every drink. In my wine, my cocktails and even my coffee. Straws are a massive hazard to wildlife. Never degrading, but constantly breaking into smaller pieces of plastic. Small and light, they end up perforating the stomachs of penguins or lodged in the nostrils of a sea turtle. Is a straw really essential?
Give up Gum
Personally, I hate the stuff. Gum is a blight on society. Sticking to pavements, under desks and just being generally filthy. Over 90% of chewing gum isn’t disposed of correctly. It is fighting for the title of the most common form of litter, just behind cigarette ends. Chewing gum is made from polymers which are non-biodegradable plastics. Think about your gum the next time you toss it on the street. If that’s not enough, think about the animals that get gum stuck on their paws, try to lick it off and can be potentially poisoned!
There are so many valuable and equally good reasons to compost. Saving money, saving resources, reducing your impact on the environment and improving your soil! Compost eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. It reduces the costs of waste collection and wastes less water as compost improves moisture retention. Plus, it extends the life of our overfilling landfills.
Turn off the Lights
An incandescent light should be turned off whenever it is not needed. They are the least efficient type of lighting using 90% of the energy as heat and only 10% as light. Halogens should also be turned off. If you have made the change to CFL lighting, you should only turn them off if you will be leaving the room for more than 15 minutes.
Maintain your Car
This should be a given. Properly inflated tyres protect against tyre damage and drastically reduce the possibility of your car spinning out of control. It’s for your safety. But, did you know, underinflated tyres decrease fuel economy by up to 3 percent? This increases pollution and increases the gas emissions. Save yourself some money and maybe your life by maintaining your car!
Switch to Natural Exfoliants
Microbeads are in your facial products, your lotions and your scrubs. They’re even in your toothpaste. Those tiny little microbeads are made of plastic and due to their tiny size they slip through water treatment filtration devices and wind up polluting the water. These tiny beads are often mistaken for food to sea animals. They are a major problem. Luckily, there are some pretty amazing alternatives! Oatmeal, almond or walnut shells, jojoba beads, coffee grinds, sugar and salts are all environmentally friendly alternatives. The UK has announced a ban on microbeads in all cosmetic products as of January 2018 which will come into effect in the summer. However, no time like the present to switch to natural!
Buy in Bulk
The packaging actually accounts for around 8 percent of the cost of food. So, buying food in larger sizes reduces the amount of packaging. Long-term cost, less packaging, long-term gain. Buying in bulk also cuts down on transportation. Saving you money, whilst doing your little bit for the environment. This reduces your trips to the supermarket, saving the short car trips.
Reuse your Shoppers
Supermarket bags are ugly. Plus, they cost! Instead, switch to a reusable bag that isn’t going to break on you the minute you leave the shop. Disney have some cute shopper bags. Also, Pastel Elixir ran by the lovely Ellis, do a beautiful coffee tote bag that is super ethical and super cute. You can shop Pastel Elixir here: Pastel Elixir
Use Reusable Bottles
Ditch the plastic bottles and fill your own water bottle whilst you’re on the go. Just one plastic bottle can take hundreds of years to decompose. Also, plastic bottles contain (a rather scary sounding) polyethylene terephthalate, which is actually dangerous to human health! This is why we are advised not to drink out of bottles that are left in the car. The longer this chemical is left in the sun, the more damage it can cause. Side effects include vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach ulcers. The good news is, you can buy cute reusable water bottles, they look so much better than ugly disposable ones!
Buy Plants not Flowers
Plants will regrow year after year, as long as you take care of them! Flowers will wilt and die. Treat your loved ones to plants. Not only are they a longer lasting gift, but they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and generate oxygen!
Plant a Tree
Planting a tree can be the easiest way to positively impact the environment. As long as you have a garden, or somewhere to do it! Trees are beautiful and there are so many varieties. Evergreens give a bit of colour in the darkest of winters, and palm trees give you the automatic holiday vibes. Improving air quality and cleaning the air, they make a huge difference. Plant a tree and watch how it grows. If that’s not enough for you, trees also increase property value!
We must all make a conscious effort to take care of the lands and the seas to ensure natural beauty can continue to exist for many more years and so our great-great-grandchildren never have to wonder what clear waters and natural beauty were. You may make a big change, you may make a small change. But, any change is better than no change, at all.
This Earth is our responsibility.
Let’s appreciate it. Love it. Take care of it.