Sunday, 12 May 2013

Environmental Awareness

By Merv Carlson


In this modern life, there are more and more people taking care of environmental issues than ever. Teaching children in early school life about how to protect the environment by reducing, reusing and recycling is a great step people has made in an effort to preserve our environment. Every effort made to live a cleaner, greener and lower impact life is important. What is there left to do to get greener when you feel like you're doing it all? Humans keep on progressing. Unsustainable energy and fuel use is one of the greatest progression people have made. We can not turn time back, but there are things we can do to change our lifestyles and protect our environment.

Cutting out Unnecessary Products

You can choose to get rid of the products which are not really necessary for your life to reduce the impact you create. A quick scrutiny of the products you use in your daily routine can be an easy first step to greening up. For example, consider how many products you really need for your morning activities? Does it need to be 6 shower gels, some types of shampoos and some more hair conditioners? Many body products, from cosmetics to shower gels, can contain ingredients harmful to both your body and the environment. Cutting down on using these projects means you do a great thing to protect the environment and protect yourself.

When it comes to cleaning your home, it seems that there is a different product to buy for every task you need to do. Do not forget to choose the eco cleaners instead of buying the conventional cleaning products. Even still - you will have 12 different eco cleaners in your cupboard. Did your grandparents cleaning cupboard contain 12 different bottles? Don't think so. Making the cleaning products yourself is not a bad idea if you want to go greener. You can easily make your own cleaning product by combing things in your kitchen such as vinegar, baking soda and lemons. When you are purchasing fewer products you cut back on cost and packaging waste.

The larger more energy consumptive products people tend to purchase are appliances. Refrigerators, deep freezers, washing machines and dryers, dishwashers and various electronics; all have a range of variety, strength and impact. These appliances consume a huge amount of electricity every hour, so make sure you just use the needed appliances. A heavy duty dryer isn't really suitable for a one person household just as a bar fridge wouldn't be suitable for a family off five. Plan your purchase and choose wisely.

The Food Routine

There is much more to food than consumption. The production, transport, purchase and preparation are all crucial parts getting food onto the plate. Thinking of the way your food gets onto your plate and making adjustments to that process can reduce the impact your eating habits might have. Production of meat is a resource intensive process. Eating out of season vegetables depends on the transport of products across continents. Planting a garden so that you can produce your own fresh vegetables is an additional solution. Taking in less meat can reduce the impact your eating routine have, just as ingesting locally grown & produced foods can.

While adjusting ways of eating is usually a severe and difficult choice for some people, food store routine is a bit easier to improve. Bringing your own recycleable bags is a wonderful alternative to the plastic option provided in lots of grocery stores. Taking your own reusable bags for vegetables and fruits is a second way to reduce the plastics. Sanitary, reusable plastic or glass containers could be used to pick up meat or deli products. Plastic recycling programs are becoming better, but making sure any plastic which you do pick up in the food store can be re-cycled locally cuts down the waste you produce. We depend upon food to power our bodies. We can't eliminate impact that food creates but we are able to try to decrease that impact.

The Waste

Disposable is never good for the environment - landfills are a commonly accepted solution to societies waste production. They are not sustainable but apparently unavoidable solution. By purchasing long lasting products, cutting down on heavily packaged items and being aware of what you throw away will help to cut down on the demand for landfilling. At home composting is really incredible way of transforming waste into a nutrient rich resource - soil. Wastes which are organic can be transformed, such as kitchen scraps, yard waste, pet waste and certain paper products. Vermicomposting is an in home way that depends upon the appetite of worms to absorb kitchen scraps. Diligently sorting out recyclables and being a part of setting up complex recycling programs in your area can be a fantastic way to divert waste from landfills.

The Carbon

People can not resist from producing carbon dioxide everyday. Every human breath expels carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The creation of food, appliances, electricity and essentially every man created product has a corresponding output of greenhouse gases to the environment. Driving vehicles, taking flights even heating your house; it all has a carbon output. Some websites provide the calculators so that a person can calculate the carbon footprint himself. Calculating the amount of carbon footprint you make will help you have an accurate number of carbon footprint you are responsible for. The next step is to try to reduce or entirely neutralize your footprint. Exercising outside, purchasing less and avoiding fossil fuel based modes of transportation are all options. Carbon outputs are unavoidable. Becoming carbon neutral can be achieved however by purchasing carbon credits - investing in projects that reduce or remove carbon atmospheric carbon. Some of the popular carbon sinks which help absorb carbon from the atmosphere are trees, soil and oceans. Voluntary and compliance credits exist that sell carbon credits to industry, business and individuals. Purchasing certified carbon credits is one verifiable way to offset your carbon outputs tonne for tonne. The costs are relatively low, approximately 25 dollars per tonne. A terrifically eco conscious way to spend the money saved by greening up other aspects of your life.

Becoming more eco conscious on an individual basis can lead to transformation of the environmental consciousness of countries. The environmental awareness is an important part of being a responsible citizen of the Earth. Thoughtful consumption, mindful purchases and earth conscious lifestyle choices all lead to getting greener than you may already be.




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