We are living in a world defined by food scandals: Mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease, dioxin chicken scandal, rotten meat sold as new processed food, liquid egg scandal, hch in our milk, salmonella in poultry, hormones and antibiotics in our meat and now the horsemeat scandal. The scandals involving meat don't ever seem to end. And yet in a couple of months, the horsemeat scandal will have been forgotten and customers will grab lasagnas out of the deep freezers again without questioning its origins. It is always the same procedure after each food scandal. We don't learn, we just forget. We don't improve our lifestyle, we just suppress negative emotions and keep living the life we were living before. No change, no improvement, no lesson learnt. We teach our kids to eat healthy but we don't set them a good example. Forgetting past events and negative feelings is part of our nature and our instincts. When a person dies, we mourn, we are angry, we lose our motivation to keep living. But time heals everything and we start to heal by forgetting. We forget the voice of that loved person whose faces becomes blurry and our memories of that special person become faint. The same happens with food scandals. We forget. And there is no change.
Sometimes
people want to do something to save the planet but don`t really know how to
start. We are providing you with seven infallible tips of how to find easy ways
to lead an eco-friendly and eco-conscious life. We suggest you try one each day
of the week and by the end of the week you will have done 7 good things without
even making much of an effort. Go for it!
MONDAY: Practice
Eco-Mobility: This would be the best way of
moving from place to place and especially those among you who drive frequently
should start thinking about some alternatives whenever this is possible.
However, sometimes we are dependent on our car and we cannot afford a hybrid or an electriccar or use
any other type of eco-mobile. In those cases, we can still be “green”. You
should make sure your car is always in a good condition as this can directly
affect the amount of CO² emitted. Don't leave the car running when picking
someone up or are waiting for something or someone. The 30 seconds rule applies
here. If your car runs more than half a minute without being used, it is already
worth stopping the engine. Another option would be making your car fuel-efficient by
getting an engine tune-up which can improve your mileage by up to 4%. You might also consider replacing the air filter, aligning your tires,
pumping up your tires, checking the condition of your gas cap and if necessary
replacing it to avoid the release of smog-causing compounds, driving smoothly
and taking any unnecessary load from the car. By doing this, you can
additionally reduce fuel costs. Fuel-efficient cars will release less harmful substances and you can
travel a greater distance on a tank of gas. When looking to buy
a new car, opt for a more fuel-efficient car than your old one. Joining a carpool to go to work, school or
somewhere else is also a wise and eco-friendly choice. This will lead to one
less polluting car on the roads.
When we talk about being green, sustainable and ecofriendly, we are
talking about working together hand in hand. Otherwise it would never work. We
can all do our own little part from home by saving electricity and water,
separating garbage, wearing eco-friendly clothing and practicing
Eco-Mobility. If we make
the slightest contribution every day, we can already make a big change. We need to work as a huge team. Saving the
world means helping others save the world.
How is the
climate change affecting us?
Capitalism has created a world in which people have to step on one
another in order to keep growing. So we have stepped on people and nature. That
is why now nations are suffering from hunger and incurable diseases and
ecosystems are falling apart. Massive animal slaughtering, the destruction of
the rainforest and the use of unsustainable energies all lead to excessive
emissions of CO². This changes the world climate and leads to climatic
catastrophes in many parts of the world. The ocean level is rising and islands
in the Pacific are slowly disappearing. Coral reefs
and other plant and animal species are dying in the ocean due to waste and
sewage water being dumped into the ocean by cruise ships. We are interfering in
food cycles as we might be killing the animals that others are feeding on. This
leads to plagues as well as extinctions.
This is not a new
thing at all; this is actually much older than you and me. The term Eco-Mobility may be new, but the principle stems from the
beginning of human history.
Eco-Mobility is basically any environmentalfriendly way of transport. Most of the people on the globe could be eco-transported but for several reasons they are not doing it. This type
of mobility is not only healthier for people who adapt to it, but it is also environmentallyfriendly, as it reduces the emission of volatile organic compounds, oxides
of nitrogen, benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic hydrocarbons, lead, sulphur
dioxide, particulate matter and carbon monoxide into the environment.
Why is air pollution a problem?
Air pollution may have effects on the development of the
human fetus
Ever since the
industrial revolution, we have been polluting the air relentlessly and without
any shame and everything has been fine one might argue. However, car exhausts
can lead to serious health risks. Once exhaust emissions are released into the
air, they are breathed in and reach our bloodstream which flows through all of
our major organs. According to BBC News, there are 24,000 premature deaths in
the UK due every year to vehicle emissions of which many people suffer from respiratory
problems. Air pollution also has serious effects on the hearth. It is estimated
that one in every 50 heart attacks in London is caused by air pollution.
Furthermore, lead can cause changes
in behavior, harm mental function, lead to memory problems, inhibit important
enzymes, interfere with our cell metabolism and thus slow down the circulation
of oxygen and essential nutrients in our body. Benzene leads to a reduced number of blood cells and might even
cause bone marrow loss. Carbon monoxide also has serious
effects on our body’s ability to transport oxygen and provide the tissues of
our body with it. Due to the exposure to toxic chemicals, the immune system
might start to attack the body’s own tissues which can cause the blockage of
blood vessels and increase the risk of high blood pressure and coronary
diseases. And last but not least, it has been proven that being exposed to
Benzene for long periods of time can cause leukaemia.
Through experiments on animals, it could be shown that polycyclic hydrocarbons can
cause cancer. It has also been
found that air pollution can have serious effects on the human fetus. Evidence
has been presented that environmental toxins can cause premature births. Babies may also be born underweight or with birth
defects. In these cases, the risk of death is much higher during infancy
and those who survive are more likely to develop brain, respiratory and
digestive problems in the future.
