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It’s moved from a “nice to do” type of thing to a moral duty. We’ve all got to be more conscious of how our lifestyle choices affect the environment, and take active measures to be kind to the Earth. Gayle Edmunds rounds up five things you can do.
The planet is on fire, the animals are dying, we are all breathing noxious air – all is lost. While it is true that we need our leaders to start acting in the interests of their grandchildren’s futures rather than their next election – we can all do something to save the planet. We all have power – a lot more than you think.
Everything you buy, everything you eat, everything you give your attention to is in your control. The obvious one is to recycle all your household waste and to do away with single use plastic.
Once you’ve done that, here are five more do-it-today planet support ideas:
1. A compost heap – I bought a Dutch compost bin (R850) in January. I popped it in the garden and every day we empty our vegetable scraps and dry leaves into it. The first batch of compost out of it, about a month ago, was a gorgeous dark brown. If you are short of a garden, try the Bokashi food recycler (R199), which you keep indoors and it breaks down large amounts of food waste, odour-free. You can put meat into this one too. I decided against meat in my garden one, as it does smell.
2. Plant blue flowers – there have been lots of stories about how bees are in danger and everyone has noticed that there are far fewer butterflies than before. An easy way to contribute is to provide them with a reason to visit your garden. There are 25 000 varieties of bees and between them they pollinate one out of every six flowering plants and in the region of 400 different agricultural types of plants. Why blue? Flower petals have “blue halos” to attract bees, so many wild bees prefer flowers in the violet blue range partly because these blossoms tend to produce high volumes of nectar. You can even do this if all you have is a balcony or a windowsill with enough sunshine to grow flowers.
3. Meatfree isn’t meatless – I know this one’s a hard sell for big meat-eating South Africans. But, a bit of restraint goes a long way. I still love a big old steak, make no mistake, but we’ve gone from meat every day to meat about once or twice a week without experiencing a loss. Meatfree week runs from June 17 to 24 – try it for seven days, it can only help to save the planet. For example, if a family of four goes meat free for 21 meals (one week) it is a saving equivalent to 747 days of water for personal use or the carbon equivalent of boiling 32 625 kettles.
- Check out worldmeatfreeweek.com
4. Shopping power – it is getting harder to afford our weekly baskets. The flipside is that retailers are finding it even harder to get us into their shops. So, as consumers, we have more power than ever in questioning the providence of our food – whether we are eating out or cooking in. An easy win is eating sustainably caught fish.
When you are in the supermarket, look on the back of the package, to see if there is a Marine Stewardship Council endorsement. If not, think twice. Also, check if it has on the label a World Wildlife Fund SASSI guide – red for endangered, orange for rather not, or green for sustainably fished. Only buy green and don’t buy any fish with neither endorsement.
Also, if you are eating out don’t order the fish special without checking its status – send an SMS to 079 499 8795, the answer is immediate. If the chef doesn’t know where his fish comes from – don’t eat there again.
5. Eliminate chemicals – I haven’t had any strong household cleaners in my house for about a decade. I use bio-degradable washing powder, dishwashing liquid and general household cleaner. It costs me an average of R185 a month and it’s safe for children and pets. For plants too, there are alternatives. Aphids on your roses? Spray them with a bit of dishwashing soap in a spray bottle. With the vegetables, be philosophical about sharing with your fellow creatures. There are so many chemicals in everything – from the clothes we wear to the air we breathe, if you can start limiting them at home it helps the family’s health and the planet. It used to be that you had to go to a specialist shop for this stuff, now you can get it all over the place – because consumers asked and retailers provided!
