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Small Changes Helping the Environment
By Danielle Thegreenerme
It's not breaking news that the environment has been abused by man. With the world population growing everyday, resources are being consumed at a larger rate with every day that passes, yet we continue to consume faster than we replant, replenish, and solve problems. The fact of the matter is that we need these resources to exist and thrive. Trees, water, vegetation, soil, rock, air, and land are all being used to continue our existence. Someday, we will run out of these resources. How can can we continue to exist and somehow manage to create a sustainable ecosystem? First, we must realize what exactly it is that we're doing wrong, then we can take steps towards correcting them. Most people are either unaware of the consequences of our consumption, or do not care. It's hard to believe that so many people claim they don't care about the environment, but the simple answer to that is that they do care, but don't want to deal with it. It's inconvenient to think about, and the steps towards change are also very inconvenient. Facing challenges like recycling, reusing, conservation, cutting back, going organic, and reducing consumption aren't easy things to deal with in the western world. Add to the difficulty of these things the burden of educating others about recycling, which can be a hard nut to crack for many, and you have a task of immense proportions. The point I'm trying to make is that recycling isn't "something extra" that isn't necessary, it's one of the most important issues facing mankind today. The good news is that there are thousands of different ways that you can help the environment. Just a few small things that you change on a regular basis have an impact on making change. When people see you making small, easy changes, some of them are going to want to make small changes too. When you start reusing your coffee grinds for gardening (and sees the flowers blossoming), your grandmother might pick up on the idea herself. When you send your recyclables curbside, a neighbor might be reminded to put their plastics curbside as well to be picked up (and recycled). When you stop buying bottled water and start using filtered tap water, your friend might think of the financial benefits and stop buying bottled water. If you can get a few other people to make some small changes in their life just through observation and talking to you, that will have a more of a positive impact than anything else you could possibly do for the environment. |
50 Things You Can Reuse
| Eco Friendly Products from Chartreuse
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Everything you say is so true. The problem is that just about everyone is waiting for everyone else to start changing first. 
 | | nick Jan 29, 2010 18:22 | |
I think there are also people who simply don't believe there is a problem. Not, sure why that is, but it seems to be the situation. Thanks for continuing this crusade!
It's so true what you say about leading by example. Those who preach green living without actually doing it themselves will be seen as hypocritical. "Be the change you want to see in the world" - Ghandi And you're so right, the small things do make a difference. Everything makes a difference, but whether it will be enough of a difference, and in time remains to be seen. But if we don't try on whatever level we can, we will surely fail. I think that many people don't do anything because they are selfish and lazy and doing something, like recycling, seems like 'work'. Often this extra work that they perceive is just a matter of changing a habit, it's not actually any more work to recycle. I don't have children, but I'm amazed at how many people that do fall into this category of just being selfish and lazy. Their children are the ones who inherit the mess they make - you'd think they would have a bit more incentive to take positive action. I am convinced though, that the only way to sustainability is to reduce our consumption, and to really think about where everything comes from and what the impact to the environment is. Even recycling, which is better than dumping everything into a landfill, is not a sustainable solution - reducing consumption, and putting pressure on manufacturers to reduce packaging of products we do need, is crucial. Thanks for the great intel on a topic very close to my heart!
Recycling is not 'one of the most important issues facing mankind today'. If it was to come on a list it would certainly be beneath
1 nuclear weapon proliferation
2 a billion + people living without adequate sanitation and potable water
3 The not so gradual deforestation of our planet
4 multi-Trillion dollar spending of OUR tax revenue on war technology
5 A global 'black' market in prohibited drugs worth many trillions of dollars annually, providing another continued source of violence and weapon sales
6 Loss of biodiversity and the drive to homogenize food production to cope with standardized (and branded) pesticides/herbicides and GM
7 Gross inequality in global land ownership that remains, since the colonial/imperial theft of this land, to be perhaps the largest single barrier to lifting poor agricultural regions out of poverty
8 A world economy whose bedrock is so fractured/broken and generally unstable that it is going to cost us generations of tax dollars to prop it up for the benefit of a handful of people (1% of the global population)
9 The privatization of ALL social goods everywhere for (maximum) profit
10 Our dependence on fossil fuel resources
11 Ignorance etc
Of course we could recycle everything if we wanted to!!! But without changing the way we make things in the first place, and by changing what raw materials we use then recycling amounts to creating a ton of waste and then spending a fortune on energy to convert it back into more waste. We'd be better off finding a (carbon neutral) way to burn it all for energy.
If we're still trying to convince each other to recycle plastic cups made from fossil fuels (and all the rest) in another 20 years the next generation will never forgive our stupidity. Although we’ll have probably rendered them too stupid or will have trashed the planet to such an extent that recycling will be the very last thing to worry about.
But I agree, you have to start somewhere.
It is all the little things that matter. Green certainly begins at home.
Wonderful intel, thanks! :)
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