STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO LIVE ON EARTH SUSTAINABLY
Because years ago as an Earth/Environmental Science Teacher I taught the concepts I’m now advocating here, this all comes natural to me. I cannot imagine living any other way. But, I know it doesn’t come naturally to most living in a throw-away society. Preserving the planet that we depend completely on, as their is no PLAN B (or PLANET B) is imperative, and yet, sadly, our planet is growing to be a greater threat to our health every year, as our neglect on an industrial level continues to be ignored in the name of profits.
So, knowing the marketplace responds to consumer demand, it’s us who create the demand for the very products jeopardizing our sustainability as a species. Only we as consumers can turn the tide, because as long as we’re buying, corporations are all to happy to keep selling . . . even if it kills us.
Shopping with companies that are dedicated to making the world a cleaner, less toxic, and safe place to live is arguably the most proactive thing we can do to restore the health of our beautiful planet. That almost goes without saying. But to go beyond the recommendations provided in the previous blog, COMPANIES TO SHOP WITH TO RESTORE OUR HEALTH, HOME, EARTH AND ECOSYSTEMS, provided herein are countless ways to make better, well-informed decisions as a consumer and learn how to upcycle (create another use), repurpose, recycle purchased items, and to conscientiously refuse to purchase things that only lead to the degradation of this beautiful planet of ours.
Though Shopping responsibly is imperative, and makes a huge impact on the planet, following the purchase of products, recycling is a great first step . . . but only a “first step” and, honestly, a relatively benign and ineffective one at present. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it but in my blog post, “DON’T RECYCLE PLASTIC, REFUSE IT” I explain why.
I’m happy to share that the amount of garbage I produce, means, my garbage bin goes to the curb maybe 3-4 times a year. Sound Incomprehensible? In this post, I’m going to share with you how to reduce your waste by approximately 80%.
PRACTICAL STRATEGIES TO BEGIN IMPLEMENTING:
Beyond the obvious items that be recycled: paper, plastics, aluminum (which has an infinite recycling life cycle) often overlooked and not considered are household appliances and electronic, all of which can be recycled. Any item that has a plug, uses batteries, needs charging or has the above picture of a crossed-out, wheeled bin on it – can be recycled.
Recyclable, not trash
LET’S BEGIN WITH WHAT WE STICK IN, ON, OR INHALE INTO OUR BODIES:
STOP BUYING BOTTLED WATER. JUST STOP.
For the sake of this particular blog, focused on sustainability as opposed to health, I will keep this very brief. Bottled water in every sense of the word is horrible for your health. It contains mercury, Bisphenyl A (BPA), Per-and-Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS - “Forever Chemicals”), petroleum-derived chemicals, and is essentially tapwater, despite what the label says, where little to none of the contaminants have been removed. More than 320 dangerous contaminants have been found in U.S. tap water, and that number grows every year.
All of these chemicals are leaching into the water. Once consumed, they disrupt hormones in the body and predisposed the individual to countless cancers. This is a largely unregulated industry where bottlers are only required to meet the most paltry and pathetic standards of safety.
All that aside, there is the profound environmental impact of not only bottled water, but the incalculable, incomprehensible, number of bottles that find their way into the environment. As mentioned, in my post "DON’T RECYCLE PLASTIC, REFUSE IT,” I would highly suggest purchasing a filtered water bottle from the company Clearly Filtered. Though there are countless options on the market, I would argue, their filtration system is the best.
Their patented AFFINITY FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY goes beyond any filter. Whereas Brita will filter out chlorine, some pesticides, and antibiotics, only Clearly Filtered removes all heavy metals including even Fluoride.
Check out their website here: www.clearlyfiltered.com
CONSIDER GROWING A GARDEN
A huge step towards sustainability is growing your own food. Growing a garden in our own backyards, or in my case, the front yard, is probably one of the most environmentally conscious decisions we can make. We dramatically reduce our carbon footprint in doing so. Can you imagine the impact we could make if you took hundreds of millions of cars off the road by people having most of their food in their own yard. And yes, there are those who live in the city. I have suggestions below for them. Can you imagine the impact of everyone growing their own food?
In shopping at chain grocery stores, which is obviously necessary during the winter months, we are purchasing food that has often times come from great distances, often times from other parts of the world. The carbon footprint that is created in bringing foods from halfway around the world is enormous.
Above and beyond this, I could write an entire exposition on the reasons you should grow your own food, not the least, of which is the fact that most store-bought produce is largely devoid of any nutrition. A lot of what you were looking at is smoke and mirrors. You’ve probably never noticed, but store-bought tomatoes are all the exact same color, and the exact same ripeness. There's a reason for this.
To account for logistics, going from a distant farm to your local grocery store’s produce display, can take weeks and food suppliers always have to account for possible food shortages.
Tomatoes for example can sit for anywhere from 6 to 12 months in chilled warehouses. These are all foods that are picked well before they are ripe. When they're going to be released and shipped to the public, they are sent to gas houses where they are pummeled with ethylene gas, which will turn a green tomato red within hours but not ripe. When you see it on the produce shelf, you believe you are purchasing a ripe tomato. The reality is, even if it's organic, there is very little nutrition in it. this is why I grow all my food, spring, summer, and fall in my front yard, in suburbia.
By growing our own gardens, we become self-reliant and less reliant on corporations to take care of us, we diminish our carbon footprint, and we are working towards the sustainability of the planet. And when you pick your ripe vegetables they’re loaded with nutrients absent from store bought produce.
If you don’t have the means to grow a garden, consider shopping locally with local businesses and local farmers. The Farmers Market would be a great example of a place to buy produce and dairy. Our investment in local farmers helps sustain their farms. It also removes GMO’s from our diet and disempowers corporate giants like Monsanto.
Thousands of people are learning to grow their own food. It’s not just a great idea in theory. There’s a growing movement of those who have found very practical ways to grow their own food.
Food is a tricky issue because the cost of food is used as leverage to sell to the less fortunate or financially challenged, forcing them to compromise their health based on the financial feasibility of eating better. One can get a value meal from McDonald’s for 99-cents or a head of organic kale for $2 at the grocery store. Lower income families have to make difficult choices when feeding their families that others don’t.
Not everyone can grow their own food, but in cities like Detroit, great strides are being made with the growing number of community/shared gardens where for as little as $10 a month people can rent a small plot of land and be taught how to grow their own food. In addition, city parks, like those in Seattle and around the country have begun programs that involve growing fruit-bearing trees in the recreational for anyone to eat for free, with little signs that even encourage thinking in a communal way by encouraging those taking the fruit to limit themselves to just one piece of fruit……
It’s unfortunate that not everyone can grow their food, but a large enough percentage of the population can if they want to.
We like the convenience of having companies do the work for us, but it creates a dependence on them that allows them to do what this article is sharing. Not all of us, but a growing number of people can shop local and support local farming, which is economically and ecologically more responsible, diminishes our carbon footprint, saves on cost in the long run, feeds the local economy, reduces the profitability of corporate giants like Wal-Mart and enormous grocery stores, like Kroger, Publix, and others, prevents monopolies like MONSANTO’s stranglehold on food production, distribution, and food control, allows for innovation with farmers coming up with non-GMO approaches to agriculture and on and on….
If a decent percentage of people chose to do so, and it’s far more possible than most think, we could literally starve MONSANTO, who now owns the entire agricultural division of our government, to death. The lifeblood of every corporation is commerce and money. We have it, they want it. If we cut off the revenue stream to Monsanto the corporation will collapse. It’s really a matter of educating individuals to make better decisions.
No Garden? Here Are 66 Things You Can Grow At Home In Containers
wakeup-world.com/2012/08/20/no-garden-here-are-66-things-you-can-can-grow-at-home-in-containers
PLANT TREES IN YOUR YARD . . . . better yet, fruit-bearing trees!
Aside from the benefits trees provide in terms providing oxygen and pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, trees provide a habitat for birds and other animals, whose homes continues to be encroached on by our expanding civilization. Plus, large expanses of lawn require pesticides and chemicals to maintain the lawn that ultimately threatens wildlife.
Visit the ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION at www.arborday.org and become a member. You can shop for trees, and they even have a program where you can receive trees for free.
CONSIDER HARVESTING BEES AND PURCHASE OR CREATE A BEEHIVE
The value of keeping bees goes beyond the obvious benefit of creating your own honey. There are also health benefits as well as the eco-conscious choice to providing a home to bees. Recently, the declining numbers of bees and butterflies have been headlines in the news. In many areas, millions of colonies of wild (or feral) honeybees have been wiped out by urbanization, pesticides, and parasitic mites, devastating the wild honeybee population. When gardeners wonder why they now see fewer and fewer honeybees in their gardens, it’s because of the dramatic decrease in our wild honeybee population. Backyard beekeeping has become vital in our efforts to reestablish lost colonies of bees and offset the natural decrease in pollination by wild bees.
Here are a couple great resources I’ve found:
www.agdev.anr.udel.edu/maarec/beginning-beekeeping-2/apiary-location
PLANT BEE AND BUTTERFLY ATTRACTING FLOWERS.
Look around your neighborhood. What don’t you see? Flowers…
Most of the communities have become ecological wastelands or ecological deserts. Communities built today are built with no real consideration regarding the displacement of all the natural species of animals that lived within a given area before we removed the forest to make room for our houses. What you don’t see in most people’s front yards anymore are flowers. Our houses all seem to have plenty of bushes and shrubbery but few if any flowers. With nothing left to pollinate, bee and butterfly populations dying off at an exponential rate. How quick we are to forget that without bees, over 80% of the food we eat cannot be grown.
To help maintain their numbers, flower gardens can really help them make a comeback. Providing them with pollen and nectar sources is an act of reverence for these species.
“Without bees, humans would go extinct within 4 years.” – Albert Einstein
SHOP AT LOCAL FARMS AND FARMER’S MARKETS
Can’t grow your own food. Shopping locally dramatically diminishes our carbon or ecological footprint. This is because food sold in large chain grocery stores arrived there from vast distances and various locales often in other countries. They are often transported by plane, by boat, by train, and by trucks, all of which run on fossil fuels, which only serves to continue adding carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Another added benefit is that your contribution to local farmers may be the very thing sustaining their farm which oftentimes, has been passed down and worked by generations of a family.
If getting to a marketplace where local vendors, farmers, and retailers sell goods and produce is difficult, check with the marketplace itself. Many vendors do home deliveries with produce, meats, and even pet foods.
To find a Farmer’s Market near you simply do an online search.
AVOID THE USE OF ANY TOOTHPASTE, FACIAL WASH, OR BODY SCRUB CONTAINING PLASTIC
“MICRO-BEADS!!!!”
The issue with micro-beads is that like all plastic, they do not biodegrade. Ever. Their use allows the plastic to enter the waterways where they undergo photo-degradation and breakdown into neustronic plastics, or plastics that at the molecular level are ingested and absorbed into the tissues of fish, thus entering our food chain, where we ingest them. Once in their tissues and subsequently in ours there is no removing from our bodies. The chemicals such as dioxins, BPA, and many more, are carcinogenic.
Recycle Tubes of Toothpaste and even toys with Terracycle
Since we’re talking about Toothpaste . . . What to do with an empty tube of Toothpaste?
Recently, Good Morning America (yes, click the link) featured Tom’s Terracycle, a division of TOM’S OF MAINE, the maker of toothpaste and a whole myriad of products made from all natural ingredients.
TerraCycle’s core purpose is to combat the global waste crisis, and they’ve been working for two decades as a mission-driven recycling company to address it. They’re different from your local curbside recycling service. TerraCycle recycles the unrecyclable—items not typically accepted by traditional recyclers, like toys and so much more.
What makes this company so unique is their devotion to the environment and not compromising on their ethics when it comes to protecting the environment and the Earth’s life-supporting eco-systems.
This company doesn’t just use environmentally responsible packaging and strive to maximize the recycled and recyclability of their packaging, but they’ve also developed a recycling program called the Tom's of Maine and hello Natural Care Free Recycling Program where they are trying to become a zero-waste company by pairing up with TerraCycle. They not only accept the return of all their products but also accept any company’s products or packaging that make tubes of toothpaste, plastic deodorant dispensers, liquid soap bottles, etc. How cool is that!!!!! Here’s the best part. As you recycle you earn points that can be redeemed to purchase products.
And that’s not TerraCycle recycles . . .
Rather than tossing your used razors in the trash and having them contribute to excessive landfill waste, Gillette is paying for them to be recycled – and they’re encouraging people to get their communities to do it as well.
Consumers can now recycle their razors and all of their disposable packaging by shipping the used hygiene products to Terracycle, a US-based company that specializes in recycling items that are generally non-recyclable, such as cigarette butts, light bulbs, batteries, and hazardous waste.
Gillette isn’t just partnering with Terracycle to process their own razor brands, either; participants can send in razor-related trash generated by any other rival shaving company – and Gillette will still foot the bill for free.
All participants have to do to recycle their razors is visit the Terracycle website, sign up for a free account, print out a free shipping label, and send their trash off for processing.
Furthermore, Terracycle is allowing people to create community recycling outposts so that organizations, workplaces, school campuses, and neighborhood spaces can collectively package and send their shaving-related trash in one shipment.
Once properly cleaned, separated, and processed, the trash can then be used to make new park benches, picnic tables, and other useful community items.
“Through this innovative, first-of-its-kind program, disposable razors, replaceable-blade cartridge units and their associated packaging are now nationally recyclable through the Gillette Recycling Program,” said TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky. “We are proud to partner with this forward-thinking company to offer consumers a way to divert razor waste from landfills.”
The program is currently only available in the United States, but Gillette representatives say that they are working on rolling out similar initiatives in other countries.
SOAPS AND SHAMPOOS:
CONSIDER DITCHING YOUR FAVORITE SHAMPOO AND USING BAKING SODA AND APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. SOUND CRAZY?
Google this and see the countless articles written about people who not only were completely skeptical but who will never go back. Their hair is actually healthier, fuller, and more vibrant than it ever was with even the most expensive shampoo’s. I had a personal friend of mine do this and will never go back to expensive shampoo.
How to do it? Take a bottle and fill it with half baking soda, half water. Then take another bottle and fill it with half apple-cider vinegar, half water. Keep the bottles in your shower. This seems to be the optimal level of dilution—not too basic, not too acidic (though of course, all our individual scalps have their own unique balance of oils, fungus, and bacteria). Shake before using as the materials will separate. Use as much as you need.
For both the baking soda and vinegar steps of the process, focus on the roots of your hair, not the tips. You will be amazed at how much better your hair feels and looks.
And no! Your hair will NOT smell like vinegar….
I get it if this is not for you. Just an option. See my blog post, COMPANIES TO SHOP WITH TO RESTORE OUR HEALTH, HOME, EARTH AND ECOSYSTEMS to purchase bath & body product safe for you and the planet.
LAUNDRY:
CONSIDER THE USE OF LIQUIDLESS LAUNDRY DETERGENT SHEETS OR REUSABLE SOAP NUTS INSTEAD OF COMMERCIAL DETERGENTS
A metamorphosis in both personal and household cleaning has occurred over time. From ancient, all-natural Ayurvedic shampoos and hair treatments, to 100% organic modern scouring powders, to liquid-less laundry detergent sheets, and even soap nuts are making an indelible mark upon history. We are watching a worldwide paradigm shift towards effective, healthier and eco-friendly natural soaps and cleaners in process. And it’s one P&G is not going to be happy about.
Liquidless Laundry Detergent Sheets:
Laundry Sheets are a new & better way to do laundry. Laundry Sheets are better because (1) they have the same cleaning power as liquid laundry detergent, (2) have plant based, clean ingredients, and (3) are plastic free & better for the environment! (4) and their packaging is 100% recyclable.
The Top 5:
CLEAN PEOPLE LAUNDRY SHEETS
TRU EARTH
KIND LAUNDRY
EARTH BREEZE
GROVE CO.
Soap Nuts:
Soap Nuts (soap berries) are the fruit of the Chinese Soap Berry Tree. These amazing berries are harvested and then sun-dried. Soap nuts are found in both the eastern and western hemispheres but are native to India and Nepal.They have recently become a popular environmentally friendly alternative to chemical petroleum-based detergent and are a gentle option for those with allergies to chemicals in regular detergents. Soap nuts contain saponins which are a natural surfactant. They have been used for washing for thousands of years by native peoples in Asia as well as Native Americans.The soap nutshell absorbs water and releases the saponins which circulate as a natural surfactant in the wash water, freeing dirt, grime, and oils from clothing.
Some benefits of our Whole Organic Raw Soap Nuts (with seed) include:
Reusable up to 4-6 times for laundry
Hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, eco-friendly, biodegradable & organic
Low sudsing – perfect for high efficiency (he) washers
Free of synthetic chemicals, fillers, toxins, dyes & perfumes
Ideal for cloth cotton diaper laundering
And best of all, used soap nuts can be composted, so there’s no environmental waste.
If purchased in powder form, it uses can be expanded to include being used as a scouring powder (better than Comet), a shampoo and scalp treatment, Tea and Coffee maker cleaner, and countless other uses.To learn more or purchase here is an awesome resource: www.soapnuts.pro
USE ECO-FRIENDLY CLEANSERS, SOAPS, AND DETERGENTS
All of these are cleaning products that are biodegradable, non-toxic, contain no phosphate and have hundreds of uses. They are safe around children and animals (and most if not, all meet all PETA Standards). Because these are so safe, I use a cloth to clean my kitchen counters, stove, table, etc. and simply run water through it when I’m done. I ring it out and use it again and again. This prevents me from generating waste with the use of paper towels which I rarely ever use anymore.
TRY USING “PHOSPHATE FREE” DETERGENTS
Phosphates help to remove food and grease, reduce spotting and filming, control water hardness and suspend the bits of food so they were not redistributed on your dishes. That’s the upside! But phosphates which are used to support the growth of plants in gardening, foster the growth of algae. When too much phosphate is present, excessive amounts of algae can develop. This may lead to undesirable water quality impacts including reductions in aquatic life, poor taste, and odors in drinking water.
ALTERNATIVE TO USING STATIC FREE DRYER SHEETS
None of us like our clothes to have static, so by necessity dryer sheets are almost a must. The unfortunate side of doing so means that these chemically treated sheets end up in a landfill, creating more waste and consumption, not sustainability.
Fortunately, a company called Woolzies has found a 100% eco-friendly solution to that dilemma by creating Woolzies natural dryer balls that produce no waste.
Regular fabric softener’s both in liquid and sheet form contains numerous chemicals which are toxic to the environment and even more dangerous to many people who have serious allergic reactions to them. The elderly and small children can suffer from a variety of negative symptoms which are really just allergic reactions to the harsh chemicals contained in these chemical fabric softening products.
“Woolzies are pure handmade New Zealand wool dryer balls that soften your laundry naturally without any of the chemicals of conventional fabric softeners. Unlike the plastic dryer balls, they are PVC free and won’t fall apart or melt on you.
Because Woolzies bounce around in your dryer, they naturally separate and create space between your laundry, thereby allowing the hot dryer air to circulate better and subsequently cut down on drying time by about 25% in large load in 35 to 40% in small loads. This, of course, saves both time and money for you and energy for the environment.
They dramatically reduce static and wrinkles.
Use Woolzies to snuggle up with naturally downy soft laundry that’s completely free of harmful chemicals.
Woolzies are also hypo-allergenic and totally safe for people with wool sensitivities as they will not shed onto your laundry.
Unlike even natural dryer sheets and liquid fabric softeners, Woolzies last for 1,000 loads and are therefore extremely eco-friendly.
So why risk your health and waste your money with regular fabric softeners when you can save time, energy, and money with all natural pure Woolzies!”
You can purchase them and other environmentally friendly products at their website: www.woolzies.com
Of course, an alternative is to make your own. A google search will provide you with a number of websites that teach you how to do so….
LOVE COFFEE???
Keurig along with some other coffee machine makers have made single serve coffee makers a staple in almost every household and business. The biggest design flaw in all of these coffee machines though is the disposable plastic K cups that contain the coffee, which is placed in the machine and disposed of after the water has filtered through. The problem is that the plastic the K-cups are made of is virtually impossible to recycle. Approximately 75 million Americans own a Keurig coffee maker. In 2022, Americans threw away an estimated 15 - 20 billion K-cups, enough to circle the globe 10.5 times.
How bad is this problem? John Sylvan the inventor of the Keurig Coffee Maker doesn’t even own one. It’s gone on to be the biggest regret of his life, knowing now the amount of waste his coffee makers produce. No longer the owner of the company, he has tried to get the company to do something about the catastrophic amount of waste the K-cups produce, but in his own words, “they don’t want to listen.” To read more about John Sylvan’s dilemma and the issues surrounding the use of your Keurig click here:
http://www.businessinsider.com/k-cup-inventor-john-sylvans-regret-2015-3
There are a number of alternatives to producing so much waste. Companies like Keurig themselves make reusable cups for their coffee machines along with a whole host of others. But you will still probably want to kick your Keurig to the curb (that is to say, recycle it). This article will certainly fill in the blanks of all the health risks associated with the use of your Keurig.
Plastic K Cups Conundrum . . . The Plastic
The K Cup is a composite plastic, #7. Although this is technically BPA-free the chemicals from the composite plastic are not safe and they still have estrogenic activity. As long as I’m mentioning fake estrogens coming from the plastic in your K Cup, don’t make a bad situation worse by adding soy milk to your coffee! The effects of prolonged intake of soy are well documented.
The Cups Are Non-Recyclable
This is a big problem for the environment since we have seen an explosion in the use of single cup coffee makers, like Keurig, in the last few years. MotherJones.com reported, over 8.3 billion K Cups a year are discarded, enough to circle the earth 10.5 times!
An alternative to Keurig is to purchase a French Press, a Turkish Coffee Pot, a percolator, or what I use, a stainless steel, laser cut, reusable pourover. There is no waste associated with these approaches to making coffee.
Now I grind fresh coffee beans every morning, place the grinds in my Moranello Caffé Pour Over, pour boiling water, and viola! Best tasting coffee ever! Better than any pre-packaged grinds. That’s because what’s in your Keurig K-cups has been sitting in those boxes for months before it ever makes it to a store’s shelf and to your mouth.
I produce no waste and best of all I compost my coffee grinds and use them in my garden where they make a great fertilizer. Yes, I actually grow my own food in suburbia!
USE CANDLES???
I for one rarely have lights on in my house unless I’m reading or cooking. For whatever reason, I find candles very relaxing and calming which makes for a great prelude to meditating, something I try to do every night before going to bed. As you know, candles never burns all the wax. They burn till the wick is gone, leaving a considerable about of the candle left over and unusable. Don’t throw the wax away.
Go to your local Michael’s Arts & Crafts store or to your local Hobby Lobby where they sell candle making kits for a little over $20. By simply melting down the wax on your stove, using a pitcher in the candle making kit, you can pour yourself a whole new set of candles and it didn’t cost anything after your initial purchase. And better yet, you’ve created no waste! That said, to protect yourself, use only Soy Candles. Every other candle is made from petroleum oils and is not good to inhale.
CLOTHES AND TEXTILES
First and foremost, shop responsibly. There are now countless eco-friendly companies that make amazing clothing you can find online. In my blog post, COMPANIES TO SHOP WITH TO RESTORE OUR HEALTH, HOME, EARTH AND ECOSYSTEMS I list numerous companies.
Damaged clothing and even faded curtains – that aren’t suitable to be passed onto someone else can be recycled and made into new items, such as padding for chairs and car seats, cleaning cloths and industrial blankets.
Some charities such as the FREE STORE FOOD BANK, the SALVATION ARMY, ST. VINCENT DePaul, and AMVETS collect clothing and textiles for recycling. check with your local store.
Clothing and textile banks are often in the supermarket and local car parks – check to see if they take items for recycling
Some shops such as H&M and Marks & Spencer collect unwanted clothes in-store. Marks & Spencer also collect via their charity partner, Oxfam and offer a discount off your next purchase. Check also with consignment shops who will sell your clothes for you and give you a portion of the sale. Some antique and vintage shops will buy second-hand clothes, such as evening wear and vintage items
Another option, offer clothes to friends and family or give them to a consignment store and make a little money.
USE CLOTH NAPKINS INSTEAD OF PAPER NAPKINS AND A REUSABLE CLOTHS WHERE YOU WOULD TEND TO USE PAPER TOWELS
For example: In my house, I almost never use paper towels for anything. As mentioned earlier when using the non-toxic, biodegradable cleaners listed above, I use a cloth to clean my kitchen counters, stove, table, etc. and simply run water through it when I’m done. I ring it out and use it again and again eventually washing them after a couple day’s use. This prevents the generating of more paper waste sent to the landfills created by using paper towels.
USE CLOTH DIAPERS INSTEAD OF PLASTIC DIAPERS
Disposables diapers account for 3.4 million tons of landfill waste per year and DO NOT EVER decompose (since very little breaks down in a landfill, biodegradable or not). Even the ones labeled as “biodegradable” aren’t, because in a landfill because there is no exposure to light, air, or moisture.
CONSIDER INSTALLING A BIDET
One of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Every year 21 million trees are cut down worldwide just to make toilet paper. That doesn’t include paper, packaging, paper towels, and more.
Though a novel idea to Americans, bidets are quite common throughout the rest of the world with over 80% of the rest of the world using one. By contrast, only 12% of Americans households use a bidet, which is so foreign to me. An analogy I use with all my guy friends that thought I was so weird installing one, is the idea that if you slipped in grass and fell upon animal droppings, would you simply go to the bathroom and wipe it off your arm with toilet paper? The answer I always receive is an emphatic, “NO!” And yet this is exactly what we do every day in our bathrooms, and find pressure washing with a bidet weird.
Cleaning your bum with a bidet is not only far more hygienic than wiping, it prevents the loss of countless trees and the clear-cutting of entire forests.
If the idea of increased freshness and less irritation doesn’t appeal to you, consider this: Americans use close to 8 million tons of toilet paper every year, and forests are being destroyed to keep up with this demand. As reported by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):
“Giant paper producers are forcing the destruction of our continent’s most vibrant forests and devastating the habitat for countless wildlife species in the process.
Instead of making better use of materials such as post-consumer recycled fiber and agricultural residue to meet the escalating demand for toilet paper, paper towels and other disposable tissue products, these companies buy virgin pulp from suppliers that reach deep into North American forests for timber, from northern Canada to the southeastern United States.”
If every US household replaced even one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with one made from 100% recycled fibers, 423,900 trees would be saved. You can also opt to choose toilet paper sourced from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
However, even toilet paper that comes from specially planted tree plantations is not a sustainable choice in the long run, as these single-species plantations cannot compare with the species-rich forests that have formed a natural habitat for centuries.
Aside from the waste, the process of bleaching toilet paper white leads to the creation and use of cancer-causing chemicals like dioxins and furans, which not only enter the air but also waterways, soil, and the food chain. Exposure to even low levels of dioxins has been linked to hormone alterations, immune system impairments, reduced fertility, birth defects, and other reproductive problems. – Source: Mercola.com
IF YOU HAVE CATS TRY NOT TO USE CLAY BASED CAT LITTER
On average, a cat using a litter box filled with traditional, clumping litter will later lick off 1/8 teaspoon of bentonite clay, silica gel, and fragrance crystals. These chemicals can be toxic to cats and cause cats to vomit frequently. There have been numerous cases in which kittens with a sensitivity to these chemicals have died.
In addition to the health effects of clay-based clumping cat litters, the other problem is that they do not decompose.They are mined for in China, shipped to the United States, which creates a huge carbon footprint.
An alternative to clay-based cat litters is wheat based or walnut based clumping litters that contain no chemicals and are completely biodegradable. Others include newspaper and granular pine pellets.
FOR CAT AND DOG HAIR?
Traditional lint rollers contribute more and more paper to our landfills. So, there are countless versions of a product that is insanely effective a removing cat and dog hair from furniture and bedding in seconds and creates no waste. Search to your heart’s content for one of these. They’re awesome!
AVOID THE USE OF HOUSEHOLD PESTICIDES
If you really must kill insects, fly swatters do a pretty good job. Personally, I don’t ever kill bugs. On the occasion that one finds its way into my house, I simply get toilet paper that allows me to pick it up very gently without crushing it, and I simply take it outside and release it.
Spraying bugs with store-bought pesticides like RAID and others, use propellant that are created by flame, retardant chemicals, and or extremely hazardous to your health, not just the bugs.
FINANCIAL:
SHOP WITH ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS VENDORS
Coffee shops, bars, and restaurants are slowly making the move towards using recycled materials and biodegradable products that do not harm the environment. Ask and encourage business to become more environmentally sound. WE VOTE EVERYDAY WITH OUR DOLLARS. Consider that every dollar we spend this supporting a given business.
Become a member of, donate to, bank with, or use credit cards provided by environmental protection groups who give a portion of every purchase to saving and protecting the planet. By doing so you can keep current with what is going on with the planet and how to contribute to the solution.
Groups such as:
THE SIERRA CLUB www.sierraclub.org
THE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND www.wwf.org
THE NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNSEL – NRDC www.nrdc.org
GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL www.greenpeace.org
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY www.nature.org
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY www.wilderness.org
THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION www.nwf.org
THE ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION www.arborday.org
QUESTIONS WE SHOULD ALWAYS ASK, BEFORE THROWING ANYTHING AWAY:
Whenever throwing something away ask:
“CAN THIS BE RECYCLED?”
. . . and if throwing it away seems simpler than taking the time to recycle it, ask yourself,WHAT WOULD A COUPLE HUNDRED MILLION OF THESE LOOK LIKE IN A LANDFILL?”
Keep in mind that there are 314,000,000 Americans throwing garbage away every day when 65% of what we put in the garbage CAN be recycled. Everything that is thrown away requires more natural resources to make more of it.
So, I suppose a third question could be asked. “IF I THROW THIS ITEM AWAY HOW MANY RESOURCES WOULD BE REQUIRED TO MAKE A FEW HUNDRED MILLION MORE OF IT WHEN RECYCLING IT WOULD REQUIRE NO MORE RESOURCES AND WOULD PRESERVE THE PLANET?”
Aluminum and glass, for example, can be recycled an infinite number of times. Why would we ever throw these two items away?
To just continue with a throwaway mentality is to literally rob our children of their future. Consumption only leads to one end result - the depletion of resources. Consumption, versus sustainability, is literally stealing from our children to pay for our lifestyle today.
AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST: “EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE, YOUR CHILDREN!” If it cannot be reused, recycled, repurposed it probably isn’t a good idea to purchase it.
Sadly, our children grow up to leave us and pursue their own lives, just as we left our parents to pursue ours. They will only venture out into the world as stewards of the planet and teach their children to do so if in fact they were first taught by us.
To make every purchasing decision an environmentally conscious one, I encourage you to visit a website www.inhabitat.com which features an endless library of articles on green companies, green products, and green design. Happy shopping!!!!
Love and Light to You in your continued Journey of Discovery,
David
