Environmental Awareness

By Merv Carlson


In this modern life, there are more and more people taking care of environmental issues than ever. The basics, reducing, reusing and recycling are common place, taught to children in early school life and embraced by many families Canada wide. 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? As a species, humans have progressed hugely. The past century has seen the introduction and reliance on unsustainable energy and fuel use. We can not turn time back, but there are things we can do to change our lifestyles and protect our environment.

The Products

Cutting out the unnecessary products in your life is a great way to reduce the impact you have. A quick scrutiny of the products you use in your daily routine can be an easy first step to greening up. In the morning do you use seven different hair products, 6 shower gels and then apply several treatments to your teeth? Harmful ingredients in these hair and body products can cause allergies to humans and pollute the environment. By cutting down on the number you use, you can reduce the energy spent producing them, cut down on your exposure to less than healthy ingredients and have more money in your pocket.

The same action can be applied for home cleaning situation. Whenever you go get a new cleaner product, make sure you choose the ones which are environmental friendly. 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. By purchasing multi use products or making your own products can be a great way to bring more green into your cleaning routine. Vinegar, baking soda and lemons cover all the basics of creating your own cleaning solutions. 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. Appliances can be named as refrigerators, deep freezers, washing machines, dryers as well as various electronics. These appliances consume a huge amount of electricity every hour, so make sure you just use the needed appliances. What are unnecessary appliances? For example, you will not need a heavy duty dryer if you live alone; or you do not need a bar fridge if your family has only 5 members. Plan your purchase and choose wisely.

The Food Routine

There is certainly much more to food than consumption. The production, transport, purchase and preparation are typically essential parts having food onto the plate. Wondering about how your food gets on to your plate and making adjustments to that process can reduce the impact your eating routine might have. Production of meat is a resource intensive process. Eating out of season vegetables depends on the transport of goods over continents. Growing and maintaining a garden so that you can produce your own vegetables is another choice. Taking in less meat can reduce the impact your eating routine have, just as eating locally grown & produced foods can.

While adjusting eating habits can be a drastic and impossible decision for some people, food market habits are a little easier to change. Bringing your own reusable bags is an excellent alternative to popular the plastic option provided in most grocery stores. Bringing your personal reusable bags for vegetables and fruits is a second way to cut back on the plastics. Sanitary, reusable plastic or glass containers could be used to pick up meat or deli products. Plastic recycling programs are getting better, but making sure any plastic that you do pick up in the food store can be re-cycled locally decreases the waste you produce. We count on food to power our bodies. We can't eliminate impact that food creates but we can try and reduce that influence.

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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