Go Eco while Out and About
You know you can be more eco-friendly when you're at home and and work. Well, you can also help save the environment while you're on the go! Making a few changes in your habits and some better choices while traveling can have a profound effect. Why not try some of these ideas?
- Lug a mug
- Say NO to Styrofoam
- Choose your restaurant wisely
- Shop with cloth
- Buy local
- Don't buy bottled water
- Pick up litter
- Drive less, walk more
- Skip palm oil products
- Speak up for the environment
Lug a Mug:
For all of us who need that morning (or afternoon or night- yikes!) java each day, make it habit to bring your own cup in with you. We could collectively save 300,000 trees from landfills annually if only 50 customers in every store brought their own cup each day. Imagine if we all did that! So why not add the mug to your daily accessories? They come in all sizes and colors so you can look eco-chique while saving trees!
[Back to top]Say no to Styrofoam:
There is much debate over the health concerns surrounding Styrofoam. Composed of benzene, Ethylene, and blowing agents (HCFC's mixed with Ethylene), the Plastics Foodservice Packaging Group swears on their website that it is a safe, environmentally friendly product. What isn't mentioned is that benzene is a known mutagen, carrinogen, and is flammable. Regardless of if you believe it's bad for us or not, the environmental impact it causes is glaring; with only 2 Styrofoam plants in the US, the pollution of transporting it alone is enough to phase it out. The Plastics Foodservice Packaging Group is also quick to point out that polystyrene accounts for less than one percent by weight of the total municipal solid waste disposed. However, when using volume rather than mass, this small amount takes up 25-30% of the nation's landfill space! Furthermore, it takes 500 years for one cup to dissolve, so this pesty little creature we're all so fond of isn't going anywhere. So what can you do? Stop using Styrofoam! There are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives out there, like eco-foam. Made from corn, it's 100% biodegradable. Also available is straw insulation which is non-toxic, biodegradable, and half the price. Find you usually have leftovers when eating out? Why not bring your own container and so skip the Styrofoam container?
Choose your restaurant wisely!
Being a green restaurant means more than just serving lots of leafy salads. The first thing to consider is where are the ingredients coming from? Local, in-season produce and fruit is best, as well as local meat and fish. Moreover, all meat, especially fish, should be sustainable. What kind of take-out containers do they use? A handful of restaurants have already made the switch to the biodegradable kind.
Check out Green Table for a list of restaurants and foodservice outlets that incorporate sustainable practices into their businesses.
greentable.net - sustainable foodservice
Shop with cloth:
Ever felt like all those plastic bags under the sink are breeding at night? Not only is it annoying to having such an overflowing supply, but it's unnecessary waste no one needs. Being eco-friendly is just one large memory game, and the more you play, the easier it becomes. Next time you go out to pick up some groceries, bring your own bags. Recycle the ones that are already taking over your home and invest in some reusable cloth bags. They are cheap and easy to find, and most stores sell them right at the counter now. By using cloth you are reducing annual waste and saving natural space!
[Back to top]Buy Local:
You've heard it for years: Buying local is better. It supports local business and feeds directly back into your local economy. Yet there's a larger advantage still: Food production and its transportation is the No.1 draw on fossil fuel. This makes it the greatest contributor to global warming . By eating local food, you can literally help save the world!
[Back to top]Don't buy bottled water!:
It's a pointless and extremely harmful habit we've all been doing for ages because we never knew better. Well, now we do. First, the environmental impact: one plastic bottle will take 1000 years to breakdown and will leach harmful chemicals into our soil and water in the process. Made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), 65,000 tonnes of PET beverage containers ended up in Canadian landfills in 2002. Furthermore, 17.5 kilograms of water are needed to produce one kilogram of PET . This results in the production of over half a dozen significant pollutants. If that's not enough to make you put down the bottle, consider this: a litre of tap water in Canada costs taxpayers an average of less than one-tenth of a cent. Therefore, the markup on a litre of bottled water costing $2.50 is 3,000 times! Think bottled water is worth this much? Coca-Cola's Dasani water is nothing more than five times filtered water from Calgary or Brampton Ont. Pepsi's Aquafina is just glorified Vancouver or Mississauga municipal water. The water industry claims you are paying for purer and cleaner water but consider this: Toronto's water has to meet standards for 160 contaminants while bottled water has standards for less than a half-dozen. Toronto water also undergoes 650 bacterial tests monthly while the extent to which bottled water is tested for barely known. So tap into the tap - at restaurants and at home - and invest in a water bottle (metal, preferably) to carry with you when you're on the go!
[Back to top]Pick up litter:
I consider this a no-brainer. There is absolutely no excuse for there to even be litter in the first place. I know you may be thinking, "but I don't litter, so why should I have to pick up after other people?" The answer is simple: it's not Mother Nature's fault either, but she can't do anything about it. We can.
[Back to top]Drive less, walk more:
There are many alternatives to driving: carpooling, public transit, biking, and of course, good old walking. Also, if driving decreases, the government will finally have to stop subsidizing industries like oil and gas and the money can go into viable driving alternatives. This means better public transportation for everyone, tax breaks on eco-friendly cars, and less pollution all around. Walking and biking are excellent for your health as well.
[Back to top]Skip the palm oil products:
At the moment, the palm oil industry is booming. However, it is not being grown in an environmental- or ethical- manner. 83% of palm oil plants, spanning 65,000 square kilometres, are grown in Malaysia and Indonesia. This results in the loss of thousands of kilometres of rainforest everyday . As the palm oil expansion presses on, large companies like Wilmar become richer, and the poor become poorer. Worse still is the insistence by companies like Wilmar that they are helping the economy when in fact they are polluting the environment with chemical pesticides. By boycotting this product you're not only taking a stand for our forests, but for the less fortunate as well. Keep in mind palm oil isn't just in food- it's poured into candles, gum, soaps, lipstick, detergents, creams, animal feed, and even PVC (vinyl). Scan the label and say no to palm oil products.
[Back to top]Speak up for the environment:
Every eco-idea you turn into an action helps, but the greatest change comes from using your voice. The environment cannot speak for itself, so we must do it for her. Just as we must be her hands, picking up litter and using less harmful products, we must be her voice. If you're in a restaurant and see they use disposable dipping containers, ask them to switch to washable glass ones. It's so easy, saves money, looks better, and will invoke a better image. Tell a local coffee shop to start using unbleached, recycled napkins. Suggest to your local grocer to sell cloth bags and give a small discount to people who bring in their own bags. Challenge your friends to pick up one piece of litter a day. It's an old lesson but it remains true: the more we give the more we get. By working for the environment we're really just benefiting ourselves, and that my friend is all the motivation we need in this beautiful world.
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