Sustainability II

by: Angelyne

(cont.)

To apply sustainability principles at home it is necessary to change the daily habits, learning to control the consumption of water and energy and reorganizing the waste destination.

Water

Image by: khaki

When washing dishes or brushing the teeth, keep the tap off to avoid unnecessary water consumption. Reduce bath time, keeping shower off while soaping. A tip that can help to decrease the consumption is not to let the water valve wide open, thus controlling the water flow. Another useful clue is to install collectors for rainwater, channeling it to a closed tank and retaining it to use for cleaning external areas and flushing toilets.

Image by: homero chapa

Light

It is necessary to get used to turn off the lights whenever leaving a room. The use of electric light should be avoided when there is still daylight. Incandescent bulbs should be replaced by fluorescent ones. Keep the TV, video and radio turned off when not in use. Gather all the laundry to iron at the same time, because turning on the electric iron at all times increases a lot the consumption of energy.

Waste

Image by: fabio grande

The choice for a healthy diet, rich in legumes, vegetables and fruits and a low ingestion of industrialized and frozen food also favors the sustainability, since the deriving residues, in majority organic, can be turned into compost for the garden, vases or kitchen garden of the house. The solid residues like plastic, tins, papers, boards, etc. can be cleaned and directed to selective waste collection. There are supermarkets and other places that make available the collection of recyclable materials.

Sustainability not only benefits the planet as a whole, but it also reverts in economy for those who practice it. 

Sustainability I

by: Angelyne

Image by: Jakub Krechowicz

Sustainability is the watchword now, but what is Sustainability? 
It is the word to designate a number of practices to enhance our relationship with nature aiming at its preservation.
It is an extensive subject matter which we will return to in future posts.

Introduction

During millennia the man unconcernedly explored the resources from Earth as if they were infinite. Multiplied and spread all over the planet like a plague. Cut down forests, decimated species, built metropolis, polluted the environment, channeled rivers, built dams, dug huge mines, modifying forever the geography of his surroundings.

With his immoderate growth and his unpaired voracity he went exhausting the riches of the planet, imperiling his own subsistence. Our planet is not indeed endangered, it will still be here for long after we had ceased to exist. We ourselves are actually who are in danger due to our attitudes.

The existence of the Earth elapses across millions of years while ours only within mere decades, but in so little time, we were capable of such a damage! Becoming aware of our destructive power we realize that we ought to try and revert this situation. But how?  

To put the principles of sustainability into practice there must be a collective endeavor so that concrete results can be achieved. Starting from home, each of us must do its part, saving energy and water, recycling whatever possible, caring properly of non-reusable waste.

In business, adopting practices that aim not only at profit, but also at the respect towards environmental and social factors.

The attitude of the government leaders should also be in tune with the sustainability practices, investing and stimulating the environmental protection.

(cont. next Wednesday)