1. Refuse disposables/plastic bags and carry own bags when shopping
The industrial ecologist Roland Geyer, from the University of California, Santa Bárbara – United States, has published an article in the Science Advances magazine indicating the total volume of all the plastic produced is around 8.300 million tons. From that number, some 6.300 million tons are now residue, and 79% of them are found in dumps or in the natural environment.
This grand quantity of waste was propelled by the modern life, where plastic is used for disposable articles or of “single use”: from beverage bottles and diapers to cutlery and swabs. The time this material need to biodegradate varies from 50 years for a cup of polyethylene, to 450 years in case of bottles.
If we all begin refusing the excessive use of this material we could stop the growth -now unsustainable and unstoppable- of the plastic contamination in the planet.
Aside from carrying cloth bags or baskets for shopping to reduce the use of plastic, we also need to incorporate the use of our own bottle or canteen to avoid the disposables
2. Being a consumer responsible with the environment
Buy products which include environmentally responsible standards in their fabrication. Another alternative is to buy from small local and artisan producers, since they have a smaller impact on the environment due to offering their products in the same area of influence. Consider also reducing the consume of imported products because the long-distance transportation required to bring them to you is a huge environmental cost.
When buying products derived from wood always investigate about their source, because in Peru 41% of the total production of wood is illegal. Let’s not be abettors of a business which destroys the Amazonian ecosystem. Let’s avoid the use of wood from trees that are species of slow growth and take centuries to grow up! Don’t buy Shihuahuaco wood!
3. Barter and buy second-hand
Search for stores offering second-hand clothes, or small local fairs in your community. Bartering or exchanging between friends can also be promoted, be it clothes, toys, tools, books and other items in disuse that others may find value or use in.
4. Sort the waste and compost the organics
Sorting the organic waste to compost it at home is a good first step to feel as if we’re returning our consumption to the earth as fertilizer that nurtures it. Classifying the trash will allow for recycling and a better way of disposing of it in the municipal dumps, but even better, it gives us the responsibility to take action over our own waste so that we’ll become more conscious as consumers. This would take us to create a circular economy.
5. Grow and look after a plant
You can plant a tree in your house or in a park, but if you don’t have the space you can always plant several species in pots, be it aromatic herbs for your own consumption or a wide variety of flowers to attract pollinizers like bees or hummingbirds and help them out.
6. Support the conservation of forests or other natural areas
We are all nature, even if we have disengaged from its natural cycle and placed ourselves atop a pedestal by abusing its resources. It’s time we reintegrate, respect all its forms of life and help when it requires our intervention.
We cannot leave the care of natural areas to the sole hands of the government, we can all get involved through private organizations such as Arbio, which protects an area in danger of deforestation from selective illegal logging of the great Amazon trees. Become the patron of a hectare of Amazonian forest with Arbio!
7. Donate time to a good environmental cause
As precsencial or virtual volunteer you can donate your time to organizations that require support in the conservation of nature. From taking care of the rescued animals, flora and fauna investigation, the development of sustainable models of private conservation; to the virtual support in document translation, digital technical advisory, etc.
8. Bring more people in
Your circle of friendships and family is the first place where you can be the best example with your new green actions. This inspires those around you and spreads. In social media, share your new actions, you will become an active environmental promoter to make something positive for the planet this new year!
Reference: 10 things you can do save the rainforest
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