Our home, The Earth is facing the worst environmental crisis. It ranges anywhere from Climate change , Global warming, Global dimming, Fossil fuels, Sea level rise, Greenhouse gases, to Species extinction, Poaching, Endangered species , Environmental impacts of dams, Genetic pollution, Genetically modified food controversies. From Overgrazing, Irrigation, Environmental effects of meat production, to Land pollution, Desertification, Soil erosion, Soil contamination, Soil salination. From Urban sprawl, Habitat fragmentation, Habitat destruction, to Nanotoxicology, Nanopollution, Nuclear fallout , Nuclear meltdown, Radioactive waste, Overpopulation, Ozone depletion — CFC , pollutions – Air, Light, Noise, visual, Water, Acid rain, Eutrophication, Marine pollution, Ocean dumping, Oil spills, Thermal pollution, Urban runoff, Water crisis, Marine debris, Ocean acidification, Ship pollution, Thermal pollution, Urban runoff, Wastewater, Smog, Tropospheric ozone , Indoor air quality, Volatile organic compound, Particulate matter, Sulphur oxide and many more. We will have a detailed discussion on each and every topic that our environment is facing in coming issues. Please read regularly and suggest measures.
Finding a solution to all these problems is the biggest challenge that humankind is facing today. The task is huge, most difficult one but not impossible. A proper planning and a collective effort are necessary on a long term basis. It is the time to react-else it could be too late. Everyone will have to participate in this mass movement.
Waste is a big challenge in our civilised (so called) society. Huge amount of waste are generated in our home, office and other places. Some simple steps, if taken by us can reduce the production of waste to a great deal.
The critical fist step of waste prevention is recycling. Please adapt Reduce-Reuse-recycle policy and create awareness about it in public. Ask your local retailers to stock more products made from recycled materials and buy products made from the highest recycled content whenever possible. In general, try to buy products/containers made from recycled material as often as possible to support the recycled product market. When purchasing paper products, look for paper that has been recycled using a minimum of 50% post-consumer waste. Also, purchase from companies that do not use chlorine to bleach their paper products (which creates dioxin waste). Use natural fertilizers for your flower garden and kitchen garden. Create a compost pit, dump the dry leaves and your vegetable wastes into that when it is full, cover it with soil. The composts will be ready by the next season. While in travel, you may not have recycle bins, pack your recyclables and carry back home.
Simplify your lifestyle as far as possible. The belongings that you use and enjoy on regular basis, only keep them. Once when you’ll reduce your needs, you’ll purchase less and once you purchase less, you’ll waste less.
Before purchasing something, think - Do you really need it? Think about the product’s impact on environment (also associated packaging material) and what impact on environmental will it have during its disposal. When you are thinking about buying something, try the 30-Day Rule - wait 30 days after the first time you decide you want a product to really make your decision. This will eliminate impulse buying.
Minimise the use of tree and tree-products at home as far as possible. Use cloth napkins / towels instead of paper napkins/towels. Adapt USE-WASH-USE policy. At work, edit your works on computer itself. Take the printout only when you are done instead of taking printout-edit-do correction-take final printout policy. Create and use note pads from once-used papers. Install a reusable notice board at home to leave message for your family members and roommates instead of writing in a piece of paper.
Purchase the daily requirement commodities in bulk quantity in lieu of buying again and again. This will eliminate the gathering packaging materials. Store the food items reusable containers.
Avoid creating trash wherever possible. when ordering food, avoid receiving any unnecessary plastic utensils, straws, etc. (ask in advance), buy ice cream in a cone instead of a cup, don't accept "free" promotional products, buy products with the least amount of packaging, etc. Every little bit of trash avoided does make a difference!
Polythene Shopping are one of the greatest threat to the environment today. Carry your own reusable shopping bags from home for shopping. Refuse the articles given in plastic shopping bags. Ask for paper bags while carrying small sized articles like dal, rice, sugar etc.
When staying at a hotel, let the management know that you like to support businesses that adopt environmentally responsible practices (including reducing waste). Suggest the management a Sustainable Solutions for Green Hotels environmental tips.
One of the important step to protect our environment is to switch to vegetarian diet. Also ensure everyone has enough to eat. The United Nations recently released Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental Issues and Options, which concludes that the livestock sector (primarily chickens and pigs) emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to our most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases - responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2). It also generates 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems. In addition, the enormous amounts of grain required to feed livestock reduces the amount of food available for the world's hungry. Buying organic, locally grown food also reduces global warming emissions and helps protect the environment.
Think about becoming a lacto-ovo vegetarian (no meat but some eggs and dairy products) or vegan (no animal products).
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