Monday Mix-up - My top eco-friendly tips - Week 8

I read a scary, but interesting article today and I think it's an article that everyone needs to read. Click on this link to see what I'm talking about. Just to give you an idea of what it's about, here is how it starts:

A long-awaited paper on global warming and its effects was published last Monday by the UN´s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and it makes for very grim reading. The message in the latest report gave humanity its starkest warning yet: we are facing a very dark and terrifying future, and the time for fixing it may have already passed."

Tip number 19: Go biodegradable

I'm quite used to being the comic relief when in the company of others. People tend to find it amusing that I recycle, compost, save water, eat organic and free-range and use biodegradable cleaning and beauty products. Some think it's cute and entertaining and quirky. I don't mind it so much because it gives me a chance to spread the awareness.  Some people's eyes glaze over, some just look vaguely confused but some actually go, "No kidding?! I had no idea. Tell me more!"

I love those types of people. The ones that are open to new thoughts and ideas; to the possibility that life isn't as cut and dried as the experts would have us believe. We should all, always, be questioning everything. Just because someone says, "This is how it is, " doesn't mean that's that. The same as, just because I'm saying, "This is what I think, " doesn't mean that it's a fact. Do your research, read the articles, ask the questions and then come to your own conclusions. Just don't take other people's words as the gospel truth.

I personally think that, anyone that says humans are NOT the cause of global warming and climate change, has been living under a rock for the last few decades. I've based that on my own research, including the paper released by the UN, above. Honestly though, it's not rocket science. You only have to look around you to see the effect humans have on the earth.

We were cycling through Northern Farm on Saturday afternoon and ended up right next to the Jukskei River. All I can say is, it really IS Yuk! It would've been such a beautiful cycle aside from the fact that the recent rains had raised the water level and then dropped it and, all the litter from the river had caught in the trees alongside the water. You know how they talk about the plastic shopping bag being our "national flower"?

Not a pretty flower by any means!

THIS is why we have to start being conscientious about what we put back into the environment. It's difficult to get your head around the true disaster that is LITTER until you see where it ends up. It may start with you simply throwing it out of a car window but, eventually, it's going to rain. The litter will be carried into a stormwater drain and end up in a river. If it doesn't get caught in a tree it'll just keep going to the next big stretch of water and, eventually, it'll end up in the ocean where it will probably end up in the stomach of a whale or some kind of sea bird. Nothing ever "just vanishes". Just because it's out of sight, doesn't mean it's gone. It is going to stay in the environment forever, unless it is biodegradable.

How much of what you use in your life is biodegradable? Stop and think about it for a minute. Go through your daily routine, starting from the moment you wake up. I bet, aside from the fruit you may have with your breakfast, nothing in your daily routine is going to biodegrade, is it? People say it's just not possible but I'm telling you it is. We've been living this way for so long now it actually feels like the norm. Let me go through some common things we use in our daily routine.

• Food: All fruit, vegetables and meat products are free-range and organic. Any fruit and veggie cut offs are composted and meat is NEVER wasted. Any leftovers are eaten for lunch by myself and GLM. Any packaging is washed and either given back to the supplier to re-use, or recycled. Incidentally, this includes our cats food. They only eat raw meat which comes from the organic market so we limit the amount of packaging their food comes in. Any plastic packaging is washed and recycled as well.
• Beauty products: ALL of our beauty products are organic, natural and biodegradable. That includes our soap, shampoo, conditioner, body creams, face wash, toothpaste, mouthwash etc etc... Make up is also included under this. All of our make up is also natural, organic and biodegradable.
• Cleaning products: I absolutely refuse to use any harsh chemicals in our house or garden. These days you can buy biodegradable products at just about any store. Even Clicks now has their own range and it's a really nice one. Like beauty products, these all go straight in to our water system so it's really important to keep them biodegradable.
• Garden: All the grass and leaves that are cut and raked up are used in our plant beds as mulch and the excess is placed in the compost heap. We use absolutely no chemicals like weed killers, ant killers, conventional fertilisers or any kinds of pesticides. 

Anything that can be re-used in our house, gets re-used, from glass jars to plastic containers. You never need to buy another tupperware again. Who said they had to be pretty;) If they do the job, why add more plastic to the environment?

Start trying to reduce your carbon footprint by following the tips in the other posts I've done over the last few weeks and finding ways to do your bit. It's no longer a case of "just do what you can." If that article is right, we have run out of time. Let's give our kids and grandkids a fighting chance!