Earth Day
Earth Day is this weekend so I decided to spread some echo-friendly banter and list out 5 things I'm doing in my part to help the planet and environment.
1. Recycle
Joe and I recycle on a regular basis. We recycle everything possible. I'm at a point where I actually feel guilty throwing anything glass, plastic or cardboard away. We don't have a blue bin pick up service for our apartment so we save it up and take monthly trips to his parents house to drop everything off.
2. Reusable Bags
Joe and I always use reusable bags. We got some green bags from Ralph's and try to never go grocery shopping without them. I've even given some away to my friends. Plastic bags are HORRIBLE for the environment and should be banned. I even refuse plastic bags in stores, not just the supermarket. I have a cloth re-usable bag that I always carry around in my purse in the event I need to make a purchase. I always opt to carry something by hand rather than use a plastic bag.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_plastic_bags_so_bad_for_the_environment
http://www.livestrong.com/article/216666-why-are-plastic-bags-so-bad-for-the-environment/
3. Drinking Tap
Just say "No" to bottled water. Bottled water is also horrible for the environment and not just because of the plastic bottle waste. It's a waste of money as you're paying infinitely more money for something that is free from your tap. Bottle companies are stealing water from local community and natural sources for profit and there is NO regulation on bottled water while there is heavy regulations on tap, so bottled water is actually worse for you than tap.
http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water
4. Organic Produce
This year I subscribed to a Produce Box to support local farmers and organic produce. When not using produce from the box we go to the local Farmer's Market stands. I prefer not to buy any produce at all from the supermarket. Farming is a huge problem whether people realize it or not. Food is not supposed to be massively produced as quickly and cheaply as possible using chemicals, picked well before it's ripe and then shipped hundreds of miles to your supermarket where it sits on a shelf to ripen. It's supposed to be grown locally and fresh. You WILL taste the difference. Every year more and more farm land is lost to make more room for housing developments. Plus grass fed, free range meat is better for you (not to mention the whole animal cruelty thing). I don't like the idea that animals are pumped full of hormones, steroids and chemicals to make them produce more milk/fatten them up. A chicken breast isn't supposed to be so large it can feed 3 people. Peaches are supposed to explode with juice the second you bite into them. They aren't supposed to be so rock hard they can't even be eaten unless you leave them in a paper bag for a week. Tomatoes aren't supposed to be white when you cut into them. They're supposed to be blood red and juicy. An orange will not become juicier sitting in a supermarket no longer attached to a tree. Joe's dad has a garden in his back yard and we get fresh oranges, tomatoes, carrots, lemons,etc. And there absolutely IS a difference in taste, smell and quality. True it does go bad very quickly so you have to use it up but do you really want to be eating genetically engineered food that doesn't go bad for 3 weeks or non-ripened foods? Also, it is kind of silly that organic produce and meat/milk is so much more expensive. You have to pay twice as much to not ingest chemicals (organic milk costs almost 6 dollars!). It makes no sense. But you are putting those nutrients in your body and if there is one thing you should never skim on cost-wise, it's healthy food. It's worth the extra money.
5. No Plastic
Again, just say "No" to plastic. I never use plastic eating utensils at work. I try to reduce as much plastic use as possible. Somewhere in the world there is an entire huge landfill of plastic silverware that was only used a single time and then thrown away in a landfill or our ocean where it will NEVER break down, biodegrade and go away. I used to use one plastic cup for my water at work a week but as of this Earth Day I am only going to use glass cups or mugs from the kitchen to help reduce my plastic waste even more.
There's definitely more I could do. I try to reduce as much waste as possible. I would absolutely buy a Honda Fit Hybrid if it were available in the US but right now it is only in Japan, though it has beaten the Prius in sales so maybe they will bring it over here. I need to do my part to reduce my emissions as much as possible and reduce how much gas I use. Pollution is a huge problem, especially in LA. Look outside, you can SEE the layer of haze. You can't see the Hollywood sign through the smog. On a bad day I can't even see the skyscrapers in downtown LA from the freeway.
I actually feel guilty for wanting to have children knowing how much energy and resources a single human being uses. How much trash and waste one person creates. How much impact one person has on the environment. Because of this, I will likely only have 2 children but I will raise them to be environmentally conscious. I do want there to actually be an earth for them to live on when they get to be my age. And I honestly don't want to live in a world that's so polluted you can't swim in the ocean. We are all in this together and need to think about how much we impact the earth and our environment and head toward renewable sustainable energy and methods to reduce pollution. I try to do my part.
The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse is Global Warming. Seriously, what happens when the weather is so out of whack there's no more polar ice caps, there's no more water, there's no more ozone layer, there's no ocean life, there's no more seasons, and we can't grow crops? I actually predict that our time on this planet will end due to us making our own living environment unstable. I think everyone will just start to get cancer. Cancer of every possible kind, maybe even some new kinds and people will start dying off because our planet can't support life anymore. Then will come Famine, Disease and War. Lastly our race will Die out and the plants and whatever animals are left will take over. I don't think it will happen in our or our children's lifetime but that is where my bet for the end of humanity is going, especially at this rate.
1. Recycle
Joe and I recycle on a regular basis. We recycle everything possible. I'm at a point where I actually feel guilty throwing anything glass, plastic or cardboard away. We don't have a blue bin pick up service for our apartment so we save it up and take monthly trips to his parents house to drop everything off.
2. Reusable Bags
Joe and I always use reusable bags. We got some green bags from Ralph's and try to never go grocery shopping without them. I've even given some away to my friends. Plastic bags are HORRIBLE for the environment and should be banned. I even refuse plastic bags in stores, not just the supermarket. I have a cloth re-usable bag that I always carry around in my purse in the event I need to make a purchase. I always opt to carry something by hand rather than use a plastic bag.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_plastic_bags_so_bad_for_the_environment
http://www.livestrong.com/article/216666-why-are-plastic-bags-so-bad-for-the-environment/
3. Drinking Tap
Just say "No" to bottled water. Bottled water is also horrible for the environment and not just because of the plastic bottle waste. It's a waste of money as you're paying infinitely more money for something that is free from your tap. Bottle companies are stealing water from local community and natural sources for profit and there is NO regulation on bottled water while there is heavy regulations on tap, so bottled water is actually worse for you than tap.
http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water
4. Organic Produce
This year I subscribed to a Produce Box to support local farmers and organic produce. When not using produce from the box we go to the local Farmer's Market stands. I prefer not to buy any produce at all from the supermarket. Farming is a huge problem whether people realize it or not. Food is not supposed to be massively produced as quickly and cheaply as possible using chemicals, picked well before it's ripe and then shipped hundreds of miles to your supermarket where it sits on a shelf to ripen. It's supposed to be grown locally and fresh. You WILL taste the difference. Every year more and more farm land is lost to make more room for housing developments. Plus grass fed, free range meat is better for you (not to mention the whole animal cruelty thing). I don't like the idea that animals are pumped full of hormones, steroids and chemicals to make them produce more milk/fatten them up. A chicken breast isn't supposed to be so large it can feed 3 people. Peaches are supposed to explode with juice the second you bite into them. They aren't supposed to be so rock hard they can't even be eaten unless you leave them in a paper bag for a week. Tomatoes aren't supposed to be white when you cut into them. They're supposed to be blood red and juicy. An orange will not become juicier sitting in a supermarket no longer attached to a tree. Joe's dad has a garden in his back yard and we get fresh oranges, tomatoes, carrots, lemons,etc. And there absolutely IS a difference in taste, smell and quality. True it does go bad very quickly so you have to use it up but do you really want to be eating genetically engineered food that doesn't go bad for 3 weeks or non-ripened foods? Also, it is kind of silly that organic produce and meat/milk is so much more expensive. You have to pay twice as much to not ingest chemicals (organic milk costs almost 6 dollars!). It makes no sense. But you are putting those nutrients in your body and if there is one thing you should never skim on cost-wise, it's healthy food. It's worth the extra money.
5. No Plastic
Again, just say "No" to plastic. I never use plastic eating utensils at work. I try to reduce as much plastic use as possible. Somewhere in the world there is an entire huge landfill of plastic silverware that was only used a single time and then thrown away in a landfill or our ocean where it will NEVER break down, biodegrade and go away. I used to use one plastic cup for my water at work a week but as of this Earth Day I am only going to use glass cups or mugs from the kitchen to help reduce my plastic waste even more.
There's definitely more I could do. I try to reduce as much waste as possible. I would absolutely buy a Honda Fit Hybrid if it were available in the US but right now it is only in Japan, though it has beaten the Prius in sales so maybe they will bring it over here. I need to do my part to reduce my emissions as much as possible and reduce how much gas I use. Pollution is a huge problem, especially in LA. Look outside, you can SEE the layer of haze. You can't see the Hollywood sign through the smog. On a bad day I can't even see the skyscrapers in downtown LA from the freeway.
I actually feel guilty for wanting to have children knowing how much energy and resources a single human being uses. How much trash and waste one person creates. How much impact one person has on the environment. Because of this, I will likely only have 2 children but I will raise them to be environmentally conscious. I do want there to actually be an earth for them to live on when they get to be my age. And I honestly don't want to live in a world that's so polluted you can't swim in the ocean. We are all in this together and need to think about how much we impact the earth and our environment and head toward renewable sustainable energy and methods to reduce pollution. I try to do my part.
The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse is Global Warming. Seriously, what happens when the weather is so out of whack there's no more polar ice caps, there's no more water, there's no more ozone layer, there's no ocean life, there's no more seasons, and we can't grow crops? I actually predict that our time on this planet will end due to us making our own living environment unstable. I think everyone will just start to get cancer. Cancer of every possible kind, maybe even some new kinds and people will start dying off because our planet can't support life anymore. Then will come Famine, Disease and War. Lastly our race will Die out and the plants and whatever animals are left will take over. I don't think it will happen in our or our children's lifetime but that is where my bet for the end of humanity is going, especially at this rate.