Many of us don’t really think about the consequences of our actions…for example; how many times have you asked for a double cup at your favourite coffee shop, how about the endless idling we do in our cars, the fast-food containers we throw out, water bottles we purchase, plastic cutlery we dispose, etc…This all contributes to increasing landfills, litter on the streets, lakes and oceans, and harm to wildlife and the environment.

If we made a real effort – we could drastically reduce much of the waste in landfills and in our environment – here are some helpful tips:

If you don’t have to, don’t use a drive-thru (turn off your car and go into the restaurant/bank/pharmacy etc)
Don’t idle your car – it’s not good for our environment and our lungs
Use cleaning products that are safe for our environment and are biodegradable
Support restaurants that use recyclable ‘to go’ containers
Re-use/wash all the plastic cutlery and ‘to go’ containers you get
Store you lunch and leftovers in re-usable containers
Don’t buy plastic lunch bags
Compost
Bring a dishcloth to work and use it to dry your dirty lunch dishes and your hands – this way, you will not have to use paper-towels
Always carry cloth grocery bags with you
Don’t litter – plastic bottles, caps, bottle holders etc are harmful to local wildlife
Recycle and know what to throw into the various bins
Donate old furniture and clothing – you will be amazed at what people could do to old things
Turn off lights if you are not in other areas of your house
Don’t let water run while you shave or brush your teeth
Become vegetarian or vegan – or have a vegetarian or vegan meal twice a week (the environment and animals will love you)
Don’t be ignorant! Educate yourself on what our ignorance is doing to the water, environment, soil, wildlife and planet

Here are some valuable links to help you become more environmentally conscious and create positive change for yourself, your community, town, city and our planet. Get involved.

http://howtocompost.org

http://www.wwf.ca/events/earthhour/?utm_source=Homepage&utm_medium=TOPLINK&utm_content=EH&utm_campaign=Toplink

http://www.nationalgeographic.com

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/

http://www.teslamotors.com

http://www.organicformulations.com/news/21/ecologic-all-natural-home-cleaning-products

Together we can make the world a more positive one.

We all understand the environmental cost of our waste, but have we really opened our eyes to what we are doing to our planet? Most of us know that we should recycle and try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as we can but because we really don’t see the outcome of throwing dirty diapers in the trash or throwing your cigarette butts onto the street. Do we think that our trash will magically disappear or don’t we care because it isn’t our problem – it will be the problem of future generations??? It is our problem now and we must find better ways to reduce our waste into the world.

Here is an example of how long certain items take to decompose:

Looking at the diagram above – it takes 450 years for a diaper to decompose and 600 years for a fishing line. This is absolutely crazy!!! What did we do prior to these inventions – use cloth diapers or sticks for fishing. In order to make it convenient for humans – we have made it difficult and life-threatening for the planet and its wildlife.

Here are some things that we should do in order to reduce waste and help our environment:

STOP BUYING WATER BOTTLES

I don’t understand how people still purchase water bottles at such an alarming rate, especially since we have such amazing re-usable bottles. I have a water dispenser at home and use reverse-osmosis water, I re-use 2 bottles and have been doing so for years. Many of these companies that sell water are tricking consumers to think that their water is safer than the tap water at home – it really isn’t.

LOOK FOR ALTERNATIVES THAT ARE BIO-DEGRADABLE

So many of us are using household products that are harmful to our water supply and to ourselves – think about the household cleaners you use and the chemicals we are pouring into our sinks, toilets and down our drains. Do you think they will not have an effect on our drinking water. How about the hazardous waste we spill into our rivers, lakes and oceans? We don’t see the devastation first hand but all the animals that rely on those rivers, lakes and oceans do. If these animals are swimming around in toxic water or drinking from toxic water – then inevitably, we are too because people consume the same fish or animals that live or drink from that same water.

Buying products that are filled with toxic chemicals and ingredients that we can’t pronounce doesn’t mean they are better at doing the job. There are many natural products that are just as useful. Consumers rely too much on media and marketing gimmicks to influence their decision to buy certain products and not enough on doing the research to ensure their safety and the safety of the environment.

BRING YOUR LUNCH TO WORK in RE-USEABLE CONTAINERS (non-plastic)

Imagine the amount of garbage (not to mention the money), you could save if you stopped buying lunch everyday? If you have to eat out – eat somewhere at a restaurant the actually uses real dishes and cutlery. Those styrofoam containers are horrible for the environment and don’t breakdown very easy.

DON’T LITTER

Not only will our environment be thankful but so will the animals! Many birds eat many of the things that are blatantly discarded by us – cigarette butts, lighters, beer/pop cans, coffee cups, fast food containers, gum, balloons, etc.

WALK/BIKE/CAR POOL/USE TRANSIT

If you can….walk, bike, carpool or use public transit to commute. If you live close enough to where you work – walking or riding a bike to work will not only cut your carbon footprint, but you will also stay healthy. If work is too far – carpool or use transit, if it is an option.

USE RECYCLING STATIONS/COMPOST

Recycling is there for a reason – it doesn’t take long to separate your bottles and cans from paper and organic waste. If you live somewhere that doesn’t give you the option of recycling – ask them why they don’t and request that they do! For those of you that don’t believe recycling works – do you want to risk putting more plastic and glass into our rivers, lake and oceans?

BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING

It’s Free – your organic waste can be turned into natural fertilizers and safe money.

It’s Renewable – Chemical fertilizers, which are made from petroleum and have additives added to them are not renewable. You have to keep buying the each year costing you money.

Improves Soil Without Chemicals!

Compost is a highly nutritious soil amendment. It balances the pH and CNPK levels
It retains moisture and oxygen to the soil
Compost will cool th surface of the soil
It nourishes the roots thanks to the nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other nutrients found in humus. This strong, vigorous root structure helps to diminish erosion – which is often attributed to low fertility.
It helps break up heavy clay soils.
It retains water better in sandy soils.
It restores minerals and micro-nutrients giving vitality to our depleted soils.
It increases moisture retention capacity of soil protecting it from draught.

It’s Safer!! With compost instead of fertilizers and pesticides in your backyard, you don’t have to worry about the dangers to your pets and family.

It Protects The Ecosystem

The process of composting kills pathogens. This takes away the need for pesticides and nitrogen and trace mineral fertilizers thus protecting the ecosystem.
6% of the total CO2-equivalent gases in Quebec come from landfills. By reducing the amount of organic matter in landfills, we can bring the level of green house gases down.

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