HOW MUCH PLASTIC IS OUT THERE?

I am amazed how many people I see using or buying items that will end up in a land fill, in our rivers, lakes and oceans and even on the side-of-the-road.  Cigarette packages and cigarettes ends, fast-food wrappers, plastic bags, plastic water bottles, styrofoam containers, beer cans, pop cans, etc.  Are we really that distracted to even consider the consequences of our actions when we purchase such items?  Because of our demand for such items, we have been depleting earth’s natural resources to a degree that shifted the climate patterns.  These products are not made out of thin air, we have to use something to create them, so what big companies turn to in order to meet our consumer demands – the earth.  Well, our planet can not take it any more.  She is crying out for help and is at the brink of a catastrophic meltdown.

I know that images are more effective to making a point but I thought this time, I will let statistics speak for themselves:

Total number of plastic bags used worldwide annually	1 trillion
Total number of plastic bags China consumes everyday	3 billion
Total number of plastic bags used every minute	1 million
Total number of years it takes for a plastic bag to degrade	1,000 years
Total amount of plastic bags that were discarded in 2008	3.5 million tons
Total amount of plastic floating in every square mile of ocean	46,000 pieces
Average amount of plastic bags consumed per family in 4 trips to the grocery store	60
Percent of plastic made every year that will end up in the ocean	10%
Total amount of plastic bags used by U.S. citizens every year	100 billion
Average amount of plastic bottles a U.S. household will use each year	500 plastic bottles
Percent of household waste that is plastic	11%

***Take notice of the blue high-lighted stats***  *** above statistics obtained from:  http://www.statisticbrain.com/plastic-bag-statistics/ ***

What can we do about this?  In terms of plastic bag usage, do what California did and ban them.  Ban plastic bags worldwide.  We don’t need them.  Companies make canvas or nylon bags that can be reused.  The majority of grocery stores always have reusable bags at hand.  Reusable bags are available almost everywhere, so why the need for plastic?

Plastic bags are not the only problem.  How about water bottles?  Here are some statistics on water bottles:

• Making bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year¹. And that’s not even including the oil used for transportation.
• The energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes.
• Last year, the average American used 167 disposable water bottles, but only recycled 38.
• Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year. However, the U.S.’s recycling rate for plastic is only 23 percent, which means 38 billion water bottles – more than $1 billion worth of plastic – are wasted each year³.
• The recommended eight glasses of water a day, at U.S. tap rates equals about $.49 per year; that same amount of bottled water is about $1,400.
• Antimony, which is found in PET plastic bottles, in small doses can cause dizziness and depression; in larger doses it can cause nausea, vomiting and death.

***above statistics obtained via:  http://www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/ ***

So what can we do about this?  Here are some suggestions:

Plastic Bags:  Don’t buy them anymore.  You really have no use for them.  Reuse the ones you already have and once they can no longer be used, use cloth bags. 

Water Bottles:  I don’t know why anyone would buy plastic water bottles in this day and age.  Like plastic bags, they are polluting our lakes, oceans and parks, they are harming wildlife and ending up in landfills instead of recycling depots.  Buy a reusable one, preferably glass.  I use mason jars to drink and store my water and I also have a reusable water container.  I buy reverse-osmosis water and go to a water depot to refill my bottles regularly.

Fast Food Containers:  Fast-food isn’t good for you.  It is always best to make or cook your own food.  If you do go out to eat – go to a restaurant that uses metal cutlery and reusable plates or visit a restaurant that has a great recycling program and separate’s food waste, compostable material and plastic.  There is a massive shopping mall in downtown Toronto called the Eaton Centre that has adopted the use of reusable cutlery and plates in their food court.  As far as I know, the fast food restaurant that isn’t participating is McDonald’s.  This initiative was great as it creates jobs and is sustainable.  Why is this initiative not used in shopping malls across the nation and around the world?  Demand it at your local shopping mall and be the change you want to see in the world! 

If I ever purchase meals that come with plastic cutlery – I never throw them out.  I wash them and reuse them as long as I can.  (You won’t believe how much I have collected and have been reusing). 

Each time you buy any of the above items or any other items that have access packaging – remember what you are contributing to:  the massive garbage heaps in our oceans, the depletion of earth’s natural resources, the increase of garbage in landfills and the death of all types of animals.  It is time that we really look at the consequences of our actions and it is time that we change to ensure the survival of our planet, wildlife and our humanity.

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

EYE-OPENING VIDEOS TO HELP YOU REMOVE THE BLINDERS.

Courtesy of Greenpeace.  Please visit their website and help fight for our environment and our planet.  http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/

Courtesy of WWF Canada.  Please visit their website and help fight for our environment and our planet.  http://www.wwf.ca

Isn’t it time we took a stand and do what must be done to save our planet?  We need to give our politicians a message and that message is we will not vote for you unless you make sustainable energy, the environment and saving the planet top priority.  We will not tolerate payoffs from BIG Corporation/oil/auto so that they can continue to destroy our planet.

Don’t support SHELL or the oil companies that are committing to drill for oil in the arctic or that do not want to invest in electric affordable vehicles.  Don’t support companies and corporations that don’t give back to the planet by trying to make products that don’t contribute to the destruction of our planet.  Don’t support corporations that are making you and your family sick with food that lacks nutrition and is causing an environmental catastrophe on the planet (KFC, McDonalds).

We need to do something now to clean our air and assure that we have enough water for future generations – WE CAN DO IT!  If we can put rovers on Mars – we can work towards healing our planet.  Are you ready?

TAKE A STAND and HAVE YOUR VOICE BE HEARD.

What can you do?  Write your politicians and tell them you will not support them in the next election if they don’t make a drastic and more positive change towards environmental issues.  Buy local and organic foods.  Don’t buy plastic products.  If you do buy plastic bottles or cutlery – keep reusing them and don’t throw them out.  Make donations to WWF and Greenpeace by visiting their website to ensure they are able to continue to pressure world governments for green initiatives and to stop any and further destruction to our planet.  Collectively – each one of us could be instruments for positive change in the world or we can continue being ignorant.  Eventually, the destruction behaviour we are allowing on our planet will no longer be out of sight/out of mind.

Together, we can make the world a more positive one! 

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO LIMIT WASTE and HELP OUR ENVIRONMENT

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.

HOW LONG UNTIL IT’S GONE?

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.

What do you prefer?

This:

Or THIS:

ARE YOU READY TO MAKE POSITIVE CHANGE FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE and FOR EACH OTHER?  The Choice is simple!

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!