What is Environmental Awareness?

Environmental awareness means exactly what you may think: an awareness around the natural environment and the choices that either promote its well-being or cause it more harm. It is also the awareness that the earth is in need of protection for its survival. Along with this, the term “environmentalism” is an ideology that humans are responsible to protect and preserve the environment from human-caused afflictions. As previously stated, human-made choices are the number one reason why the planet is becoming sicker every day. Environmentalism on a large scale is one of the best ways to combat the devastating consequences of these human decisions and help the planet’s health take a complete 180 degree in the other direction.

To best combat the environmental issues we are now facing, it may be helpful to understand some of the top problems that cause harm to our environment. These include:

Oil drilling: Our culture, as a whole, has an addiction and dependence on fossil fuel. Unfortunately, however, this is also one of the top contributors to environmental harm as oil spills and offshore drilling destroy marine life, suffocate the earth with toxins, and increase atmospheric carbon dioxide, which aids in global warming and ocean acidification.

 

Deforestation: Wildlife extinction happens as a result of cutting down trees for human benefit. As millions of acres of forest are being cut down, creatures are being forced out of their habitat, and thus, their survival rates significantly diminish. 

Plastic goods production: Much of the waste that creates devastating effects on the planet occurs from plastic consumption. In fact, over 1 million plastic bottles are sold per minute with 91% of these plastic bottles never being recycled. This results in over 8 million tons of plastic being dumped into the ocean every year. Furthermore, the energy resources needed to produce plastic causes an increase in air and water pollution. I’m fact, millions of barrels of liquid petroleum gases (LPG) and natural gas liquids (NGL) are used in the U.S. alone to produce plastic goods. 

 The Importance of Environmental Awareness

Obviously preserving our planet is important but, really, how important can it be? To answer this question it would be best to take a look at just how damaging environmental pollution can be not only for the planet but for your own health.

To start off with, the concentrations of greenhouse gases are continually increasing, even by more than a third since the industrial revolution. What this means is that as greenhouse gases increase, global temperatures rise and a myriad of other consequences are encountered, such as:

 Melting glaciers and severe droughts that bring on more water shortages and increase the risk of wildfires

 Rising sea levels that bring on coastal flooding, especially in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico

Increasing pests, heat waves, and heavy downpours in forests, farms, and cities which can damage or destroy agriculture and fisheries.

    Growing rate at which coral reefs are destroyed and, thus, the rate at which plants and animals become extinct.

    Rising rates of allergies, asthma, and infectious diseases as a result of increased pollen-producing ragweed, an increased level of air pollution, and favorable conditions in which pathogens and mosquitos can grow. 

Furthermore, without environmental awareness and proactive measures being taken to preserve our planet, everyone is subject to breath in increasingly poor air quality which translates to an increase in serious health concerns for humans.
How to Promote Environmental Awareness

While Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd every year, it is vital to the health of our planet that we cultivate a deeper awareness of how to preserve our planet all other days of the year, as well. Some ways in which you can promote environmental awareness and include:

  Going paperless: Online services are extremely eco friendly and can reduce the amount of paper needed to print your bills and reminders. Therefore, opt for paperless billing when you can.

    Educating your kids: One of the most effective ways to prevent future destruction of the environment starts at home. Teach your kids the three R’s- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and the importance of keeping the earth clean. Kids that implement these practices from an early age will increase the chances of the planet surviving in the future.

  Contributing to an environmental awareness cause: Putting some extra time or money into a cause that promotes a greener environment will not only help the planet but will also make you feel good about your contribution, too.

 Implementing green strategies: One of the best ways to help the survival of our planet is to start buying more reusable items and recycling. Reducing your usage of plastic water bottles greatly reduces the amount of carbon footprint you leave on the planet. Because plastic water bottles take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills, opting for a cleaner solution, such as buying aluminum or glass water bottles instead, will help free up the landfills and promote healthier air quality. 

Let's save the world with Biodegradable Bags

 

Ensuring the well-being of our planet must unequivocally remain our utmost priority at this critical juncture. As esteemed individuals, we must acknowledge the undeniable truth that our shared existence on this planet is precipitating an alarming degradation at an increasingly rapid pace. As we navigate the path ahead, it is incumbent upon each and every one of us to shoulder the mantle of responsibility, both for our own well-being and that of our peers. Together, we must unite our efforts to combat the pressing challenges of climate change and pollution.

The reduction of plastic bag usage is a pivotal aspect of our collective efforts to mitigate the detrimental impact we impose upon the environment. Optimize expenditure on plastic bags at the grocery store by transitioning to the utilization of reusable, biodegradable garbage bags. By strategically phasing out the utilization of plastic bags and adopting the implementation of compostable bags, your esteemed city shall not only achieve substantial savings in annual cleanup expenditures but also effectively alleviate the strain on non-renewable resources.

Given the well-documented fact that the average lifespan of a plastic bag is a mere 12 minutes, it becomes effortlessly discernible to ascertain the magnitude of plastic bags that necessitate retrieval from our streets. If one possesses a domesticated animal and engages in the practice of discarding its excrement within plastic receptacles, it is imperative to acknowledge that such actions may inadvertently yield adverse consequences, despite one's well-intentioned beliefs.

Compostable plastics are gaining popularity as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastics. These plastics are made from biodegradable materials such as cornstarch, which break down naturally in the environment without releasing harmful toxins. Compostable plastics offer a sustainable solution for packaging and product manufacturing, reducing the negative impact of plastic waste on the environment.

Biodegradable plastic is an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastic. It is made from organic materials that can be easily decomposed by bacteria and other natural processes. This type of plastic reduces waste in landfills and oceans, minimizing the impact on the environment.

The rate at which biodegradable polymers decompose is noticeably quicker than conventional plastics, even though biodegradable plastics do not decompose as quickly as one might think. For instance, a plastic bag that is just used once can live for up to a thousand years, whereas a bag made of biodegradable material will decompose within a couple of months.

Reduce Global Plastic Pollution

 Our oceans are drowning in a sea of plastic waste.

Based on the history of innovation, plastic production has become a symbol of modern living. But at this point, it's getting out of control and becoming a threat to our planet. Behind the convenience of single-use plastics and disposable packaging, there is the distressing reality of plastic waste.  The impact of global plastic pollution drives an urgent need for real change in our approach to plastic consumption and disposal. Otherwise, millions of tonnes of plastic will be mismanaged and pollute the environment around the world.

Global Plastic Waste Pollution

Plastic poses an escalating crisis due to waste pollution. Over 400 million metric tonnes of plastic waste are generated globally each year. To put this into perspective, it is equivalent to the weight of the entire human population, or more than 1,000 Empire State buildings. 

Despite the impacts on the climate, plastic packaging still has high demand on the market. People depend on plastic packaging to extend the shelf life of foods or to reduce food waste. But every piece of plastic packaging being thrown away contributes to the increasing levels of plastic waste in our natural environment. In fact, 46% of plastic waste comes from packaging, such as bottles, pots, tubs, and trays, or wrappings such as plastic shopping bags, bubble wrap and shrink wrap.

Besides plastic packaging, the widespread use of single-use plastics is also the main issue with plastic pollution, as half of all plastic is produced for single-use purposes. The versatility and affordability of plastic for various applications make it a favourable source for creating single-use items. However, these attributes result in a significant impact of excessive waste. One million plastic bottles are sold every minute, and a staggering 40 billion plastic spoons, forks, and knives are used and thrown away every year.

Living up to its name: single-use plastic is designed for short periods with an average usable lifespan of 15 minutes. After disposal, it can take up to 500 years to degrade. Over time, larger plastic items break down into microplastics and nanoplastics. These tiny particles contaminate soil, water and air; enter the food chain and pose risks to both wildlife and humans, and disrupt ecosystems.

Recycling is promising, but according to Our World in Data, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled worldwide. Half of the world’s plastic still ends up in landfills. Another fifth is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in sealed landfills, putting it at risk of being leaked into rivers, lakes, and the ocean.

Ocean Pollution from Plastic Waste 

The enormous use of plastic has led to significant environmental consequences. With the high amount of waste and low recycling rate, plastic waste worldwide is either not collected, improperly disposed of, or ends up as litter. Litter doesn't stay on the land. Instead, rainwater and wind become agents that transport plastic waste into nearby streams and rivers through drainage systems. Lightweight items, such as bags, straws, cotton buds, and wrappers are easily carried by the wind, causing them to reach coastal areas or enter the river before ultimately making their way into the ocean. There are an estimated 51 trillion plastic particles floating on the surface of the ocean, which together weigh 269,000 tonnes: the equivalent to the weight of 1,345 adult blue whales. 

Why Glaciers Are Critical To Life

Glaciers are some of nature's most remarkable yet terrifying phenomena. They are mountains of ice, rock, snow, and sediment that creep along oceans, cracking and accumulating as they please. And at the same time, they are slowly disappearing from the world. As BBC explains, glaciers in both Kilimanjaro and Africa are set to disappear entirely by the year 2050. The cause for this is climate change, as researchers note. However, it has gotten to the point where scientists say that no change in global omissions will change their disappearance. 

What are glaciers?

Glaciers and icebergs occupy a prominent space in various media, glaciers are basically enormous collections of rock, sediment, ice, snow, and water that form from land. Sometimes glaciers end up in the ocean, but many are found on land. The classification goes even further. For example, ice sheets are glaciers if they are continuous, move in all directions, and are as big as either Greenland or Antarctica, with smaller ones being called ice caps. Mountain glaciers are glaciers confined to a specific path. Ice fields are basically glacier complexes covering mountain ranges. Glaciers come about when snow over centuries compresses tightly into sheets and crags of ice. 

Just what is happening with glaciers and climate change?

Climate change is essentially long-term changes in global weather patterns and temperatures (per the United Nations). Though a small part of climate change is natural, it is widely accepted by all scientific institutions and literature that the vast majority of it is human-made from the effects of industrialization. As the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) explains, climate change has a profound impact on nature. One side effect of this is that glaciers globally have been melting at blazing speeds. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide have contributed to rising temperatures, which in turn melts glaciers and ice caps. 

Glaciers store an incredible amount of freshwater

omething that many people might not actually be aware of is that glaciers are a vital source of freshwater for a good chunk of the world. As NPR explains, over a billion people need glacier ice for food, power, water, and so on. Given that glaciers are basically huge rivers that snake and sprawl throughout mountain ranges across the planet, the people living near these places get freshwater from this source. Himalayan people, those in the Andes, and so on are just a few examples of places very dependent on glacier water. 

Glaciers act as water storage, providing water during even the driest parts of the year. Without this, some people might not have access to water year-round. In fact, as the USGS states, an estimated three-quarters of all the freshwater on the planet is kept in glaciers, making it the largest freshwater reserve that humanity has available.

Glaciers also have a dramatic impact on the landscape

Glaciers can also have a profound effect on the landscape itself. According to the National Park Service, glaciers have the ability to carve and sculpt the land itself through erosion. This erosion is then followed by enormous amounts of rock and sediment deposits, changing the physical makeup of the landscape over time. The same erosion comes in the form of two different processes: Plucking and abrasion. Abrasion is basically when the coarse, sandpaper-like ice bottom of a glacier grinds down bedrock as it slides across it, creating striations or scratches. Plucking is when cracks in the bedrock below a glacier grow and combine, breaking off chunks of rocks that the ice then carries away. 

Glaciers are important for studying the impacts of climate change

On top of being extremely helpful freshwater reserves, glaciers also happen to be one of the most important measurements of climate change that science has access to. As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains, scientists use glacier changes to measure temperature and precipitation changes. Glaciers often shrink or grow, recede or advance, which is a very useful signal as to how the climate is also changing. Scientists can also determine rising sea levels by measuring ice loss in glaciers. The more ice glaciers lose, the higher sea levels go. 

How Carbon Offsetting Helps Businesses Grow

In today's rapidly changing world, businesses are increasingly recognizing the importance of sustainable practices not just for the planet but also for their bottom line. Carbon offsetting has emerged as a powerful tool for companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute positively to climate change solutions.

What is Carbon Offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is the practice of compensating for emissions by supporting projects that reduce or capture an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. These projects include reforestation, renewable energy, and methane capture initiatives, all of which help mitigate the effects of global warming.

How Does Carbon Offsetting Help Businesses Grow?

Boosting Brand Reputation: Companies that actively offset their carbon footprint position themselves as environmentally conscious. This is an attractive feature for eco-conscious consumers who are increasingly choosing brands based on their sustainability efforts.

Regulatory Compliance and Future-Proofing: With growing regulations around climate action, particularly through organizations like the UNFCCC and COP27, businesses that embrace carbon offsetting are better prepared for stricter environmental standards in the future.

Attracting Investors and Partners: More investors are looking for companies that prioritize sustainability, as it’s an indication of long-term viability and responsible management. Carbon credits, for example, can be a key asset in demonstrating a company’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact.

Reducing Operational Costs: Through carbon offsetting, businesses can reduce waste, improve energy efficiency, and streamline operations, leading to reduced operational costs and enhanced efficiency.

How Does Carbon Offsetting Combat Climate Change?

Climate change is driven by the causes of global warming, primarily the excess release of greenhouse gases like CO2 into the atmosphere. Carbon offsetting is an integral part of the fight against climate change, providing immediate solutions to mitigate the effects of carbon emissions. By investing in carbon credits and supporting various carbon offset projects, businesses directly contribute to the reduction of emissions, helping to stabilize the climate and curb the devastating effects of climate change.

5 Things We Often Waste

Waste is a growing global issue that affects the environment, economy, and society. Every day, we discard valuable resources, often without realizing the consequences. From food and water to energy and plastic, excessive waste contributes to pollution, climate change, and resource depletion. Understanding the impact of waste and taking steps to minimize it can help create a more sustainable future.

1. Food Waste

Food waste is a major global problem, affecting both food security and environmental sustainability. Every year, approximately 1.3 billion tons of food—one-third of all food produced globally—is wasted. This waste occurs at every stage of the supply chain, from production and distribution to retail and households.

The environmental impact of food waste is significant. Decomposing food in landfills produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is 25 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. In fact, food waste is responsible for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, wasting food means wasting the resources used to produce it, including water, energy, and labor.

Reducing food waste requires better planning, responsible consumption, improved storage techniques, and support for food redistribution programs. Simple actions such as meal planning, using leftovers, and composting can make a big difference.

2. Water Waste

Water is one of the most valuable resources on Earth, yet vast amounts are wasted every day. In households and agriculture, between 30-50% of water is lost due to leaks, inefficient irrigation systems, and careless usage. While some regions face severe droughts and water shortages, others consume water irresponsibly, contributing to its scarcity.

A significant portion of water waste is hidden in the production of goods. For example, producing just 1 kilogram of beef requires 15,000 liters of water, considering the water used for growing animal feed, hydration, and processing. Similarly, manufacturing a single cotton t-shirt can use up to 2,700 liters of water, equivalent to what one person drinks in 2.5 years.

To conserve water, individuals and businesses must adopt more efficient practices, such as fixing leaks, using water-saving appliances, and supporting sustainable agriculture.

3. Electricity Waste

Energy waste is another critical issue that contributes to climate change. Many households and businesses unknowingly consume excess electricity, often through unnecessary usage or inefficient appliances. A common example is leaving electronic devices on standby mode, which can account for 10% of a household’s total electricity use.

On a larger scale, wasted energy contributes to 36% of global CO₂ emissions, further accelerating climate change. This includes inefficient industrial processes, outdated power grids, and excessive reliance on fossil fuels.

Reducing electricity waste can be achieved through simple steps like unplugging devices, switching to energy-efficient appliances, and using renewable energy sources. Businesses and governments must also invest in energy-saving infrastructure to reduce global emissions.

4. Plastic Waste

Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Every year, over 400 million tons of plastic are produced, yet only 9% is recycled. The majority of plastic waste ends up in landfills, oceans, and natural environments, where it takes hundreds of years to decompose.

One of the most alarming facts is that 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean annually, harming marine life and ecosystems. Sea creatures, from fish to whales, often mistake plastic for food, leading to injury or death. Microplastics, tiny plastic particles, have also been found in drinking water, food, and even human blood, raising concerns about long-term health effects.

To combat plastic waste, individuals can reduce single-use plastics, support recycling initiatives, and choose sustainable alternatives. Governments and businesses must also enforce stricter regulations and invest in biodegradable materials.

5. Paper Waste

Despite digital advancements, paper waste remains a significant issue, especially in businesses and schools. Studies show that 50% of business waste is paper-based, much of which could be reduced through better management and digital solutions.

However, recycling paper can have tremendous benefits. Recycling just one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 26,500 liters of water, and 4,100 kWh of electricity, reducing deforestation and conserving natural resources.

Switching to paperless options, using both sides of the paper, and supporting recycled paper products are simple but effective ways to minimize paper waste.

Every Action Counts

The issue of waste may seem overwhelming, but small actions can lead to meaningful change. By reducing food, water, electricity, plastic, and paper waste, we can conserve valuable resources, lower carbon emissions, and protect our planet for future generations. Sustainability is not just about large-scale policies—it begins with everyday choices.

Let’s make conscious decisions today for a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future!

The Earth is Heating Up – Act Now! 🌍🔥

 

The Earth is heating up at an alarming rate, and the effects of climate change are becoming more evident every day. From rising sea levels to extreme weather conditions, we are witnessing the devastating consequences of increased CO2 levels and unchecked emissions.

According to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG), addressing global warming is crucial for a sustainable future. The 17 SDGs emphasize climate action, highlighting the urgent need to reduce carbon footprints and transition to cleaner energy sources.

Why is the Earth Heating Up?

The major causes of climate change include:

🌡️ Excessive CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions

🏭 Burning fossil fuels for energy

🌲 Deforestation reducing the planet’s ability to absorb carbon

🚗 Increasing reliance on non-renewable energy

Effects of Climate Change

🌊 Melting glaciers and rising sea levels

🔥 More frequent and intense wildfires

💨 Poor air quality affecting health

🌪️ Increased hurricanes and extreme weather

What Can We Do?

✅ Reduce emissions by using renewable energy

✅ Conserve energy and opt for sustainable transport

✅ Support policies aligned with the UN SDG goals

✅ Stay informed through climate change articles and resources like Google Earth Pro

It's time to take action. Use tools like the Google Earth app to track environmental changes and contribute to global sustainability efforts. The future depends on the steps we take today! 🌏✨

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