pollution

Apr

2021

Simple Actions That Damage the Environment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

We only have one earth. If we are not going to take care of it, who else will? Without the environment, how do we expect to live as human beings? Everything needed for our survival all came from nature – from the food that we eat, the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. Yet, despite knowing all these things, humans abused the environment by polluting its water and air. Whether intended or not, be aware that there are simple actions that damage the environment.

1.Buying Fast Fashion

Defining your personal style does not not necessarily mean that you have to follow and buy all the trend. Being stylish should not be at the expense of the environment. According to the UN Environment Program, the fast fashion industry is responsible for 20% of the world’s wastewater. It is also responsible for the release of half a million tons of synthetic microfibers in the ocean each year.In addition, it is also responsible for almost 10% of global carbon emissions, which is more than maritime shipping and flights combined. Fast fashion pertains to cheap clothing produced by mass-retailers rapidly to cope up with trends.

2.Drinking From Bottled Water

According to The World Counts, more than 100 million bottles of water are used everyday. And out of this number, only one in 5 gets recycled. The rest ends up as waste in landfills or thrown in the ocean. This is huge problem because it will take about 700 to 1000 years for a single bottle to decompose. That’s not counting the energy used to manufacture the bottles.

3.Driving

Emissions from driving is one of the main contributors of global warming. Vehicles emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases absorb and trap heat and energy producing the greenhouse effect. This results in the warming of the planet surface thus, increasing the temperature on earth. This causes extreme weather causing increased wildfires and disruption of the food supply.

4.Leaving the Lights On

The use of too much light increases energy consumption. Just like driving, the use of energy causes greenhouse emissions. This in turn contributes to global warming. So, the simple act of leaving the lights on when not in use is damaging the environment.

5.Leaving the Tap Running While Brushing Teeth

Running tap water while brushing teeth wastes over six liters of water per minute. If you do it twice a day for an average of two minutes per session, that’s more than 24 liters of water a day wasted.

6. Owning Several Pairs of Jeans

A study indicates that in order to produce a pair of jeans, about 2,500 gallons of water are needed from cotton growing, dyeing to manufacturing. That amount of water is equivalent to taking 104 showers.

7.Using Aerosols

Aerosols are a collection of solid or liquid droplets dispersed or suspended in the air. Factory smoke, hair spray, spray paint, insect sprays and room deodorizers are just some examples of harmful aerosols. When used excessively, they can be very harmful.

8.Using Plastic Straws

Single-use plastic straws (or any other plastic for that matter) are non-bio-degradable. Non-biodegradable materials remain as wastes in the earth for thousands of years because they cannot be dissolved by natural organisms. According to a report from the Trash Free Seas Alliance, the straw consumption of the United States alone is enough to circle the equator twice. In addition, plastic spotting are in 90% of seabirds and 100% of sea turtles.

9. Using Wet Wipes

Wet wipes are small fabrics of moist paper used for cleaning and disinfecting. It is so convenient to use especially now in the new normal where it becomes a substitute for the hand soap. However, did you know that wet wipes create fatbergs? A fatberg is a mass of waste matter that looks like a rock. It is a formation of flushed non-biodegradable materials such as wet wipes, cooking fat, condoms, sanitary napkins and other similar items. They cause blockage in the sewage system. The problem on Fatberg is now a huge environmental issue.

10.Wasting Paper

The process to create a paper is wasteful to the environment. For one, papers are made of trees. So to make a paper, you need to cut trees.As the global consumption of paper increases, this leads to one of the major environmental problems today which is deforestation. In fact, statistics reveal that about 42% of the global wood harvest is used to make paper. Second, paper requires twice the amount of energy to produce compared to making plastics. As stated above, energy consumption releases greenhouse gases which in turn leads to global warming.

Once paper is disposed of, it also leads to another problem which is paper pollution, which accounts for about 26% of total landfill wastes.

Jun

2020

Why Go for Natural Products?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The demand for natural products is now on the rise. This has caused some major brand names to replace ingredients in their products with natural ones. Others have had to discontinue product lines that customers are shunning due to its use of harmful chemical ingredients. While others have faced lawsuits from customers, claiming to have dire medical conditions, as a result of toxic chemicals in the products.

If you’ve been buying the same personal care items for years, you might want to read the labels next time. Here’s a short rundown of why going for natural products is better for you and the planet.

What is a “natural” product?

A simple search online of the phrase “natural product” will primarily tell you something similar to the following:

Natural product (n.) – A chemical substance produced by a living organism — a term used commonly in reference to chemical substances found in nature that have distinctive pharmacological effects. Such a substance is considered a natural product even if it can be prepared by total synthesis.
– [GCIDE]

Natural product (Noun) – Any compound produced naturally by a living organism; especially those compounds that are useful commercially.
– [Wiktionary]

Other terms used to label natural products include: organic, chemical-free and eco-friendly. “Organic” usually refers to fruits and vegetables grown without the use of chemical fertilizers.

Organic product – An organic product is made from materials produced by organic agriculture. There are different types of organic products. However organic product is more known for food items like organic grocery, organic vegetables, organic certified foods, etc….
– [Wikipedia]

Organic products should have at least 95% or more of organic ingredients from plant sources.

Ingredients in organic products are processed to preserve most of their benefits. For example, cold-pressed oils are more potent in effect than those that use other processes for extracting essential oils. However, this also means that they have shorter shelf life than products with preservatives added to them.

Natural products use organic ingredients too, but the extraction process may dilute or alter their effects. For example, the addition of chemical preservatives will make the product last longer. This might also dilute the potency of the ingredients.

Note that a product can be natural and organic, but not all natural products are organic. Also, not all products labeled natural or organic are actually 100% natural or organic. It is always best to read the labels on the products you are buying.

Why Go for Natural Products?

Switching your personal beauty stash to natural products may seem daunting at first but doing so will return many benefits.

Less Chemicals, Less Irritation

Commercial products usually have chemicals, artificial colors, preservatives and fillers which can cause breakouts or even strong, allergic reactions. This is because your body rejects these chemicals.

With natural products, there are less of these chemicals in the product. The product is able to work better with your own body chemistry, giving you better results. When was the last time you took a home remedy instead of over the counter medicine? You felt better but didn’t get drowsy so you didn’t need to call in sick.

Smell Better, Feel Better

We may not notice it, but good smells do make us feel better. But not all good smelling commercial product is good for your health. Some of them actually come with harmful chemicals which can cause eye irritation and even migraines.

Artificial fragrances cover up the smells of other chemicals used in many health and beauty products. Natural products usually smell like their natural ingredients. For example, putting on a moisturizer infused with lavender essential oil also feels like an aromatherapy session.

Gentle but Lasting Effects

If you have been using natural personal care products long enough; you will notice that usually never claim to work overnight. However, the improvements become more noticeable as time goes by.

A simple experiment is to replace a good-smelling commercial product with a natural product that smells the same. The natural product might not smell as strongly as the commercial one; but you will be experiencing less breakouts than before. Also, you might have less headaches as you keep on using it.

Safe for Kids, Good for the Planet

Natural products are generally safe for kids too. So if your kid is curious about an item in your beauty stash, they won’t get irritated. If they have allergies, then pick an item that doesn’t contain that ingredient.

Whatever you put on your skin, you also pass on to the planet. Whenever you take a shower with chemically-laden products, these chemicals end up in our oceans. The plastic containers that we throw away after using these products contribute to the environment’s pollution as well.

Invest in the Health of the Planet

The good news is, that more and more companies are switching to biodegradable, recyclable, eco-friendly packaging. This may make the item more expensive than before; but in the long run, the benefits are long-lasting and far-reaching. Think of it as paying extra now for a better product that also helps us reduce pollution on our planet.

Are you ready to go for natural products next time?

Feature Image: Original Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.

Jan

2020

Why Taking Care of the Environment is Important

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Your physical body is important. Your surroundings are equally important for your overall well-being. That is why taking care of the environment is important as well.

Part of our regular routine before we go about the day’s work is to brush our teeth and clean our body from head to toe. We also put on fresh clothes, comb our hair and wear comfy footwear before we walk out the door. We take the effort to look pleasing to other people as well as to look pleasing to ourselves when we look at the mirror. However, most of us are in such a hurry to go about our day that we often neglect our surroundings. Taking care of the places in which we move our physical selves is equally important. It is the same as how we regularly take care of our bodies.

Your Home

When you wake up, do you tidy up your bed? Do you put your laundry neatly away? How about your dishes, do they pile up in the sink? Do you clean, organize and declutter your home often?

A clean and organized home is an important factor in keeping yourself healthy. Sure, a little mess here and there is acceptable. But if everything is disorganized, you cannot go about your daily life in a good mood. Remember that the state of your bed, is the state of your head. The state of your home is the state of your mind.

You start the day getting frustrated because you can’t find your shoes because of all the mess in your room. Then you end it with more frustration when you can’t find the remote to your TV at night. How do you think this will affect your mental state throughout the week, months and years?

TIP

Start as soon as you wake up by tidying up your bed. Try to declutter and organizing the rooms in your house each day until the clutter is gone. Your goal is to have a more spacious, clean and comfortable home.

Your Work Place

Whether you work at home or in an office, a clean and organized work environment is essential for productivity. It is also needed to boost creativity. You may not be a able to control your whole office’s cleanliness and organization. However, your own desk should be a good example to your co-employees.

TIP

Make sure to include tidying up your desk in your routine. In fact, make it the start and end or your work day. Before you work on anything, organize the materials on your desk, even your drawer. You can also organize the files on your computer. Organizing your files will prevent a cluttered desktop when you start your work and it’s easier to find your files.

Your Community

Your community is not just your immediate neighborhood but also the places that you go through as you travel to work or your destination for a vacation. Even in these places away from where you live and work, taking care of the environment is also important as it will impact your own home as well if you don’t keep it clean and healthy.

Think of a flood or a typhoon bringing back all the trash that were thrown into the river or ocean or a fire started by one uncaring camper who threw away a lit cigarette that burned a whole forest. These disastrous events could be prevented by just caring enough to keep the places we travel through and visit cleaner instead of dirtier.

TIP

Take only memories and leave nothing but footprints. Adopt the policy of taking nothing and leaving nothing behind in the places you visit for your vacation, team building, or other travel adventures. Take as many photos as you can’t but leave the animals and plants alone. Don’t leave any of your trash or camping or swimming gear either. Take them with you when you leave and dispose of them properly when you get back home.

Your Planet

There is only one planet Earth and we should be taking care of it not only for our own sake but for the sake of our future children. The climate change is an important issue and everyone should do their part in being a solution to this problem.

When the earth is sick and polluted, human health is impossible… To heal ourselves we must heal our planet, and to heal our planet we must heal ourselves.
– Bobby McLeod (Aboriginal activist and poet)

Nature has its own way of cleaning up the planet and we should let it take its own course instead of exacerbating it by our careless habits. For example, wildfires are part of Australia’s natural environment but the recent forest fires have become worse and are happening at unexpected times so that even the animals in the forest were unprepared. Many animals have died and those living are now left homeless which also means that it will be harder for the animal population and the forest to recover. At the same time, it has raised temperatures in the residential areas up to 42 degrees Celsius.

What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.
– Mahatma Gandhi (Indian and civil rights activist)

We can consider the drastic changes in weather patterns as the planet’s response to how we are not taking care of it properly. Plastics are polluting are oceans and killing marine life and unrecyclable (non-biodegradable) trash is multiplying with nowhere to go with landfills all filled to the brim. The summer heatwaves and delayed rainy season are just a manifestation of the worsening state of our global environment and we should do something about it before it’s too late.

TIP

There are many ways to start helping the environment. The policy to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE is good habit to practise especially in these times. However, you can add one more to that – REFUSE.

Refuse to contribute to anymore pollution in our environment and refuse to be just an onlooker from the sidelines. Instead, be a mindful resident of this planet.

Be mindful of the ways you can help in reducing the problems and be an active part of finding and advocating for sustainable solutions to keep our homes, community and our planet healthy and safe.

Photo by Evan Krause on Unsplash.