Have you ever stopped to wonder how the world was or would be without us? Or how it could be if we took better care of it? These days I have been analyzing on how my daily routines affect the environment and it is shocking how many things I was doing wrong for both the world and myself. Our actions are deteriorating the world to a point in the one it may have no return and sometimes we are ignorant to this fact. Let’s put it like this: The whole world is hanging on a thread and we are the 3 witches from Hercules cutting it with a scissors but we are also Hercules with the power of making it unbreakable.
“There is alarming evidence that important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes in major ecosystems and the planetary climate system, may already have been reached or passed. Ecosystems as diverse as the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic tundra, for example, may be approaching thresholds of dramatic change through warming and drying. Mountain glaciers are in alarming retreat and the downstream effects of reduced water supply in the driest months will have repercussions that transcend generations. Climate feedback systems and environmental cumulative effects are building across Earth systems demonstrating behaviors we cannot anticipate.” Says www.greeningtheblue.org
Now let’s talk about Chemicals and how it affects our body. Things we do to contaminate: Throwing out batteries and plastic bags are a HUGE NO, NO! It releases lead and cadmium into the soil. Both are toxic and cause several diseases including neurological, cardiovascular, renal, and gastrointestinal and kidney problems. Lead can also found in paint and based on studies can potentially decrease IQ points and having impacts such as learning disabilities, anemia and disorders in coordination.
This is only a few of the real disaster happening out there. It is time we all get involved! The solution is no rocket science; it is as basic as having a sustainable lifestyle of consumption and production. That means minimizing the consumption of natural materials and toxic elements as well as pollution; not thinking just about yourself but of future generations.
My idea of sustainable consumption:
1. Not to spoil water
Do you know that most of the water we drink has already been drunk before.
· “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown let it drown.”
· Sprinklers and shower time reduced.
· Faucets checked.
· Laundry reduced by giving the clothes mayor lifetime use.
2. Minimize the use of natural resources on production of products or others.
3. Checking the materials in the products we buy. It will only take us a few seconds. (For example: avoid hairsprays.) (And bug repellent, been using it all this days, yikes, just read it can cause damage to our bodies)
4. Recycling, reusing and reducing baby.
5. Energy panels.
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
I live in Honduras and the weather here is usually hot (ex. 28 degrees Celsius) but it has risen to 31 degrees. It is unbearable; don’t want to imagine how it will be in 1 year or worse even 5 to 10 years. Climate change is affecting us all around and is threatening everybody’s life, even or specially animals, every ticking second. It goes from altered weather, which is a problem for agriculture, flooding because of rising sea level, and also creates a lever for diseases to spread in places where they did not exist before. Ice loss is another impacting climate effect that we all know (and seem to have left like in a forgotten attic in the back of our brains).
Every time I think about that poor polar bear that could be exhaustingly swimming that ocean to reach a piece of ice, it makes me really depressed on how it was not his fault yet he is paying for our reckless behavior. So imagine this… Water already makes up most of the earth and it is continuing to increase, it is a scary thought.
Pictures from:
- "Hercules." Disney movie.
- "Mr. Bean." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wY-9vjjWfgM
- Polar bear. National Geographic Magazine.
Here are some extra advices by www.onegreenplanet.org
· Avoid “topping up” at the gas pumps
· Use a botanical/natural bug repellent
· Only use natural cleaning products in your home
· Avoid using artificial air fresheners, dryer sheets, fabric softeners or other synthetic fragrances as they can pollute the air you are breathing.
· Switch over to natural brands of toiletries
· Find time to meditate, disconnect from your busy life, and de-stress
· Buy and eat, as much as possible, organic produce
· Avoid processed foods — remember that they’re processed with chemicals!
· Avoid artificial food additives of all kind, including artificial sweeteners and MSG
· Remove any metal fillings as they’re a major source of mercury. Be sure to have this done by a qualified biological dentist.
· Have your tap water tested and, if contaminants are found, install an appropriate water filter on all your faucets (even those in your shower or bath).
And an extra one from me…
Air conditioners emit greenhouse gases as we all know but also car air conditioners emit benzene which is hazardous for the health.
As an animal lover, my dream is to live side by side with them in love and care. Caring for their space, environment and life.
What is your dream?
"Seven Billion Dreams. One planet. Consume with care." World Environmental Day.