Youth For The Planet

Let’s Save the Trees

People have cut down trees ever since the beginning of civilization. They did that because they needed wood, a place to build and a place to sow. It was an unstoppable process especially at beginning, something that had to be done if civilization was to develop. However, there must be the point where we say enough or otherwise there won’t be any trees left. Or must there?

Rząd drzew | Darmowe zdjęcie | LibreShot — https://libreshot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/row-of-trees.jpg

Deforestation – why and what for?

There are a few reasons why people cut down so many trees.

First of all they need wood for industry and construction. It is an obvious reason and wood, as for now is rather an irreplaceable material for that. Of course there are other things that may be used instead, but more often than not it’s much worse for the environment to use them than to keep cutting the trees.

Second of all there’s often a reason of needing the space. In today’s times it’s more often needed to build a road than a building, but both reasons are equally harmful for the forests themselves.

Third of all there’s a matter of jobs. Especially in regions such as Amazonia in South America a lot of people would lose their job if deforestation was to stop. Of course it’s not a reason to keep cutting down, for example the amazonian forest, but it may be one of the reasons why it is still being cut down in the first place.

Deforestation Machine Truck - Free photo on Pixabay — https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/10/09/15/08/deforestation-2833687_1280.jpg

What do forests mean to us?

So yes – we all say that we should stop cutting down the forests – but why? If we need the wood and the space, then why should we stop? Well there are a lot of reasons for that and believe me – they are much more important than the needs listed above.

Most importantly, the forests are, so to speak “the greenway” of the planet. The trees, all around the Earth absorb huge amounts of CO2 and create clear oxygen out of it. If there’s a stable amount of forests then this level also is stable, but when the forests are being cut down the amount of CO2 grows and the stability disappears.

The other important thing is the fact that the forests and trees are the place where a lot of species of animals and plants live. Cutting down forests deprives them from their living environment and likely contributes to their possible extincion, which almost certainly will also directly affect us.

Royalty-Free photo: Brown logs on green grassland during daytime | PickPik — https://i2.pickpik.com/photos/696/481/217/deforestation-deforest-lumber-untimber-preview.jpg

How will deforestation end?

The forests are important yes and their presence does affects us, but what actually happens when all, or anyway, most of the trees are gone? A good example of that is the situation on the Eastern Island, where the trees were cut down to the last one and the society living there started to suffer from hunger and many other things.

Of course that wasn’t even that bad, because there still were trees in other regions so they still had, for example, plenty of oxygen.

Anyway, the first of the effects of cutting down the trees may be, as I mentioned before, extincion of a lot of species by destroying their living environment.

Another of the effects is reduction of level of water in the ground, which may lead to making the given territory a desert and also drying the farmlands, which will reduce the crops. It may also lead to disturbing the natural water circuit and will lead to floods, mudslides and droughts.

Third thing is what also was mentioned before – the reduced level of oxygen in the atmosphere and raised level of CO2, which will lead to changes in climate and I don’t mean the changes in the ‘it will be hotter there’ kind, but much more drastic ones.

Royalty-free HD forest photos | Pikrepo — https://p0.pikrepo.com/preview/408/884/green-pine-trees-covered-with-fog.jpg

How to prevent that?

So, now that it’s clear what we need the trees for, the question is – how to prevent deforestation? Unluckely preventing the cutting down of the forests is rather hard unless you are some kind of high ranked politician – and even then it’s still complicated – but there are other ways.

One of them is simply to join some kind of organisation that takes care of such things and they will lead you from there. But if you don’t want to be a part of something like that, there are other ways. For example you may donate money to a goal connected to save the trees. You may also educate others about that – the more people know and understand why deforestation on the present scale should stop the better. Another way is taking a part in some kind of action in which you will plant new trees.

But really, those are only a few ideas and you may take part in whatever speaks to you the most or find something brand new that you can take part in yourself and perhaps also encourage others to do the same.

Ecology for resistant

There are people who see a virtue in being eco and don’t need any kind of nudge to do what is best for our planet. Yet that is a rather slim amount of our society. Most doesn’t care much about the environment or doesn’t see a need to be eco.
It may be – or rather it is – quite problematic, so what is there to do to actually convince someone to change?

Ecology World Summer - Free photo on Pixabay — https://pixabay.com/photos/ecology-world-summer-life-concept-4287428/

People don’t react well on scolding, criticism or orders. But without a proper motivation most won’t change at all. Some because they lack a will to do it and some because they’re stubborn about their opinions.

Show not tell

The first way may be to show someone how wrong they are.
It may sound dramatic, but really, it isn’t.
While it might be the least effective way it still could be helpful.

It’s just that it’s easy to not listen to someone. People say a lot of things that are untrue. But it’s much harder not to see something that is clear.

A good way of convincing somebody to change may be to show them a visible effect of how we destroy our planet. There are various ways to do that. If you live in a city you can ‚show’ the way that the pollution practically hangs in the air. It happens especially in on winter mornings.

File:Smog in Beijing CBD.JPG - Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smog_in_Beijing_CBD.JPG

If you live closer to nature you can take someone to the beach or to the forest. Those are places that are often rubbished, when they should be clean and natural.

If you are not able to do any of that you can just google some pictures – though it probably won’t be as effective. – or come up with your own ideas.
While that way doesn’t guarantee change it may be enough for someone to take a moment to think about their actions.

Be an example

Another way of convincing people to change themselves is by being eco yourself.
No one likes to listen to a hypocrite.

For example, during one of my classes the teacher was telling us what we were gonna learn this year. While doing that she said something like: ‚yeah, and there’s this topic about the environment, which I’m not sure why is here… they talk way too much about the environment these days’. But then, on the other occasion she tried telling us how important it is to be eco-friendly, which didn’t go very well.

Royalty-Free photo: 360 degree photography of forest | PickPik — https://www.pickpik.com/planet-green-natural-earth-ecology-environment-eco-72233

What I try to point out here is that if you want others to change, you also need to represent that change yourself.
Besides, if you’re eco you can surely see a lot of positive sides of that. You can talk about them and inspire people to do something without ever even having to argue with them. If they see that being eco is something good and positive, there is a huge chance that they’ll want that for themselves as well. They may even ask you for some advice on how to do that.

The art of ecology

The next thing is kind of connected to the second one – it’s about showing someone that being eco can be aesthetic.

What I mean here is that when you think, for example: recycled paper – what is that you imagine?
Because in my head I can see an ugly, gray paper that my dad once accidentally bought instead of a ‚normal’ one. It later made me feel awkward, when I had to print out an essay for school.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. You can show someone that eco-friendly things can also be pretty.
A good example of that can be a phone case that can you cab bury in the ground after it breaks.

Straw,straws,plastic,bar,cocktail - free image from needpix.com — https://www.needpix.com/photo/1333664/straw-straws-plastic-bar-cocktail-drinks-sip

Another thing is glass/silicon drinking straws. I know that by now all of you have heard about these but it still is a pretty and cheap solution.

A different option may be buying a reusable water bottle with a filter inside. Though you probably have heard about as well.
Of course there are a myriad of other things that are aesthetic and ecological at the same time. What’s more they are actually not as expensive as you would imagine.

Cheap and eco-friendly

Which, actually, brings me to the last subject – the prize. It may be quite convincing for a lot of people, especially if they live and raise money by themselves.
Being eco-friendly can often save you a lot of funds. It may be kind of obvious but, making it short, here are a few ways of doing that:

First saving water and electricity not only saves the planet but may also help your finances.

Download free photo of Glass,drink,water,earth,blue - from needpix.com — https://www.needpix.com/photo/download/1084019/glass-drink-water-earth-blue-transparent-globe-planet-world

Second, recycled rubbish is often cheaper to collect. It actually depends on where you live, but in a lot of countries recycling pays off financially as well. Of course, if you live in a block of flats the decision on recycling is often made by the community. But you can try to convince your neighbours to recycle and this way all of you can pay less for your rubbish.

Third way to be eco is to buy second hand clothes, recycled paper and generally other recycled things. They sometimes may not be as pretty as regular ones but are definitely cheaper.

Fourth, generally pay attention to the way that certain companies make and produce things. It will make you more aware of what you’re buying and may help your finances.

Let’s take care of environment

Summarizing, we should pay attention to ecology and try our best to convince others to support it. In my country you wouldn’t have much consequences for not recycling or for littering. And it wouldn’t be a bad thing, if not for the fact that some people don’t care about the environment.

And they should – after all our planet is a place we all live in and if it goes down, we go down with it.

But still, most people are eco-friendly only if it pays off. For example, if there’s someone who will check whether one had recycled their rubbish or not. It actually is a common practice in some countries.

It’s kind of disappointing that this is what needs to be done for us to be eco.
Most people put their own comfort first, even if doing something eco-friendly wouldn’t cost them that much.
Still, there are others that can be different and there are ways to convince people to change.

Let’s talk about microplastics

Plastic is surrounding us everywhere we go. It’s in our groceries, clothes, cars, toys, packaging… everywhere. Because it is not biodegradable, it often ends up in landfills, oceans, or on the streets. There, because of the waves, heat, and wind, the plastic breaks into small parts disintegrates piece by piece and becomes microplastic.

Microplastics are defined to be little synthetic compounds parts, smaller than 5 millimeters. Some are formed accidentally from bigger pieces of plastic – like for example the wearing down of the car tires – and some are intentionally made and added to health, beauty and cleaning products. You can find them in toothpaste, facial scrubs, make-up products like foundation, eyeshadows, lipsticks and more.

microplastics
source:https://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonstateuniversity/21282786668

The food chain

When those microplastics are littering the oceans and the streets, some birds and marine life can mistake it for food. While digesting in their small organisms, the microplastics cause injuries, illnesses, and hormonal imbalances. Later that small marine life is eaten by some bigger fish, and then it lands on our plates. Yummy.

Plastic Ocean: A Film About Microplastics - YouTube — source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE3vuU6-uLM

How to avoid microplastics?

Firstly look through your cosmetics. Check the ingredients list for most common microplastics like: Polyethylene (PE), Nylon (PA), Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), Polypropylene (PP), Polyurethane or Acrylates copolymer. You may also check out the website beatthemicrobead.org where you can search your cosmetic brand name, and they show you what microplastics it hides on a scale from Red (contains microplastics) through Orange (sceptical microplastics) and Green (no microplastics) to Zero Plastic Inside (certified microplastic-free products). Later you can start searching for some microplastic-free alternatives or maybe even make your own beauty products. The internet is full of ideas for DIY skin care, so maybe give it a shot?

But microplastics don’t only come from cosmetics. A very wide amount of them is from synthetic clothing. While washing these garments they lose some microfibers that are also very harmful to the marine life. Solutions? Well, the obvious one is buying sustainably and from natural fabrics. If you’ve been here for a while, you probably already know our thoughts about fast fashion so I won’t mention it here. But what about the synthetic clothing you already have? Don’t throw it away, that will only make things worse. So what can you do? There are filter bags you can buy. How you use them is you put your non-natural fabrics to the bag and just wash it regularly in your washing machine, and that’s it. The bag should catch all the fibers and suppress them from littering the bodies of water.

Microfibers Are Destroying Our Planet. Here's What You Can Do To Help — source: https://www.intelligentliving.co/microfibers-what-you-can-do

Microplastics are a broad topic, and I covered just a tiny bit of that problem here. We’re currently on a way to step by step kill our planet with all the trash, pollution, water waste. It’s time to stop it and take some initiative.

Your updated summer reading list.

If there is one thing I know, it is about books. I started reading as we all do, first by listening to my parents reading me stories for a good-night, then moving to my first short stories and novels. And here I am, 19 years later, running around town delivering, recommending and discussing books. Let me recommend some to you, and let them be your guides in the sustainable adventure. After all it is more demanding to publish a book, than it is to write a Wikipedia article and books tend to be more fact checked.

Here go my top choices on sustainability, less waste, conscious consumption, and much much more. Links under graphics are not only their source, but will also direct you to the place, where you can get your very own copy.

1. „Hunger” by Martín Caparrós

https://www.bookdepository.com/Hunger-Martin-Caparros/9781612198040?ref=grid-view&qid=1596800388672&sr=1-1

This book covers oh so many topics by covering that main one. It’s huge, which may by discouraging, but don’t get scared just yet! Argentinian author takes us around the world. We will visit Niger, Mexico, Chicago, Argentina, and even past centuries. It is structured a bit like a school book, so you can pick your favourite chapters and leave the rest for later. Breathtaking stories from big towns and deserts and waste dumps are intersected with more scientific, historical, and statistical parts. It is the book to keep you going and to make you think. And then make you ask questions.

2. „Metropolis: What The City Can Teach The Country About Sustainability” by David Owen

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/302948/green-metropolis-by-david-owen/

I live in the countryside, but I’ll be moving to quite a huge, global city in a month. And I know what the non-city people think of the cities, when it comes to sustainability. let’s be real – we consider ourselves a bit superior, having more green areas and all. But reading this book is a big reality check. It definitely made me look differently both at my life now and at my friends out in the „big world”. Highly recommended to all city and non-city people.

3. „The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet” by Annie Leonard

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Story-of-Stuff/9781451610291

Out of many positions on the overconsumption, that one definitely struck me the most. Annie Leonard focuses on the economy, health, and the environment, all of it using the examples of our everyday objects. Makes us overthink the never-thought-through parts of our lives. it received the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature. Let the critics make you choose just this one time, take your picnic blanket, and read about Stuff somewhere on the grass.

4. „Wardrobe Crisis” by Clare Press

https://www.bookdepository.com/Wardrobe-Crisis/9781510723429

If you read more than one of our posts, you know how much we hate fast fashion. It isn’t just a pose – we did our research and we know the facts. And many of the facts are present in this book, written by one of the icons of fashion revolution. Clare Press is a fashion insider. She worked for Vogue, for NYTM, for many many of the giants, and she knows fashion from the inside out. She also has a podcast with the same title, which I just couldn’t recommend enough. She’s the only fashion giant I can accept.

Those books are interesting and educative. I hope you’ll at least read around the topics they cover. Take a moment and remind yourself of some of the books that made you change your standpoint or expanded it one way or another. And then pass them on.

Reducing water usage

Plastic fibres found in tap water around the world, study reveals ...

As every child and adult knows, no one can live without the water. The world we know and live in would not survive a day if there were not enoughly enormous water supplies out there. We all depend on it and need it.

What is the case of water usage?

Global information and news keep informing us, citizens of the Earth, about increasing population number. Soon we may face more serious problems such as starvation, pandemic or drought due to this fact. If we added global warming effects, we would have the end of the world. The average family can waste 681 liters (180 gallons) per week, or 35 582 liters (9400 gallons) of water annually, from household leaks. That’s equivalent to the amount of water needed to wash more than 300 loads of laundry. That is why we should focus on reducing water usage, in order to help out the world. Every single person can do this in a few simple steps!

Step 1 – turn off the sink

Doesn’t matter if you wash your teeth 2 minutes or 4 minutes. The amount of water that drops from the sink in that time can expand to a big number in a month. Simple step that costs nothing but can help out a lot!

Step 2 – eat less beef meat/red meat

Black-Pepper Honey Steak | The Splendid Table

Young people, especially, are into the topic of global warming and want to deal with it. Being vegetarian/vegan is not just a stupid trend, trust me. Many people want to have an impact on the Earth’s current state. If you are a fan of meat, same as me, you can still try flexitarianism. I think it’s the great way to help the planet and not give up meat!

Step 3 – treat properly your wastewater at home

This step requiers some effort, tho it’s pretty rewardable and satisfying. In order to not waste the water you already used or polluted with detergents you can filter it and use it for example for some home crops! You wouldn’t need to use the fresh supplies.

Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems: Aerobic Treatment Unit

Step 4 – take as short showers as possible

How To Take A Shower The Right Way | Teen Vogue

In addition to that – avoid the bath tub. Showering > taking a bath. Simple maths. Use as low amount of water as possible. We wash ouselves everyday, that step may be the clue.

Step 5 – cycle

As you know, creating petrol requires water. Exchange some of your regular car rides for bycicle ones! Much more efficient option for our beautiful planet in general – less pollution and less water used for petrol you would have bought.

There are many other easy and cheap ways to help the Earth in terms of water usage. You can find out about them on YouTube. In here we don’t want to overload you with information but inspire you to do the research!

The case of GMO

Did you ever see that one TV advert? You know what I mean – the one with some cows, pigs or poultry. It could have even been some crops. Very serene picture, happy farmers in their tractors, and in the end, after saying a name of the company the nice voice in the background says: „From animals fed with crops without GMO”. Or something of that manner. Why do we care about GMO so much, why are we more OK with eating „bio-meat”, and why we shouldn’t?

Image from: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pigs-dont-deserve-name-lesser-beasts

It all started a long time ago. Literally – the first genetical modifications started in the world of ancient Egyptians, who were, albeit with less sophisticated methods than nowadays, engineering wheat. For ages humans were choosing and crossing plants and animals according to their wishes, to achieve the strongest, prettiest, tastiest… But the whole problem and anti-GMOs lobby started only when advanced science entered the races.

Have you ever heard about Jeremy Rifkin? It’s OK if you didn’t, but it would be nice to google him. He is the biggest anti-modification lobbyist, and probably the biggest reason for why there is so much going on around GMOs. The biggest argument against is probably, that it is unnatural. And I am not going to debunk this – if somebody wishes to only eat natural products I encourage them to go the forest and start hunting. We will soon have 8 billion people to feed, and growing pure, natural crops is not necessarily the way to do that.

Image from; http://www.stopthecrop.org/pl/news/polska-wolna-od-upraw-gmo-rzad-przyjal-rozporzadzenia-zakazujace-uprawy-gm-ziemniaka-i

It makes me wanna cry (and laugh – a bit), when I hear about new laws forbidding certain modifications an entrance to the EU. It is making certain things harder, all in the name of protecting domestic farmers and other members of our society from some unnamed monster straight from the lab. And that’s how we arrive at the second argument: GMOs are unhealthy. They are the vaccines of food. Obviously there is no data for that and whatever is grown in a lab has to undergo a lot of tests, but I have to give GMO skeptics some credit – we do not have enough long-term data to rest assured we’re safe. But we’d have to wait a bit for that and stopping scientific progress in its tracks will not speed up those results.

Let’s slowly finish here, I will just say one important thing: using GMO as a way to feed the planet with more (especially meat), when there are easier, faster and less bureaucratic ways to do that (one of them would be to care for the climate, instead of trying to grow a super-corn in the middle of a desert), is not the way to go. Biggest GMO companies have the potential to ruin smaller farmers. GMOs have the potential to end world hunger. It is a very hard and an incredibly interesting topic – and before you choose to take a stance, read beyond this article and educate yourself.

Tips on how you can quit fast fashion

Fast fashion is a threat to our planet. Not only for environmental reasons like the tons of clothes that end up in the landfills every year but also for human rights issues – people working in sweatshops for almost no payment in a ridiculous workspace. If you are not familiar with what is fast fashion you can check out our other articles about it here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28876688@N03/2697297072

But if you already understand the danger big clothing companies are throwing at us, you might be wondering what can you do to stop it. Well, not everyone can afford products from sustainable brands even if we really want to. So how can you quit fast fashion, and stop that absurd cycle of fast fashion? Here are some tips and ideas.

Buy second hand

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rusty_clark/7557785862

Thrifting recently has become very popular in the fashion community of social media. People are becoming a lot more conscious about where their clothes are coming from and spreading their knowledge, which is great. I know that for some of you thrifting seems to be disgusting and dirty, but it is a lot cleaner than you probably expect (though I suggest washing your thrift finds anyway). By buying clothes second hand you can save nice, sometimes vintage, clothes in a good condition that would otherwise end up being thrown away. I understand that thrift shopping is a time-consuming thing, but if you really need to buy clothing and only can dream about products from sustainable brands it is a surprisingly great alternative. Just take your headphones put on some podcast or nice music and take your time searching through those piles of clothing.

Don’t throw away your clothes!

https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/%3Farticle%3Dyour-brand-new-returns-end-up-in-landfill/

This probably is the biggest no-no you can do. If you are tired of a certain piece of clothing just don’t throw it away. You can sell it and make some money, give it to someone and make them happy, exchange it with someone and gain a completely new thing, or at least give it to charity. There are so many ways you can save your clothes. And also don’t throw it away if it is a bit damaged. If it is a small hole then take that needle and thread, and try your strength at sewing it up. If it is a stain you can challenge your creative side and alter that piece of clothing in a new way. There are so many videos on youtube about thrift-flipping clothes that you can get your inspiration from.

Make your own clothing?

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Needle_and_red_thread.jpg

It is indeed an ambitious approach, but if you’re a creative person I definitely recommend trying it. By sewing your own garments you can understand better the process of making clothes, learn the cost of the fabrics, realize how much time it actually takes to make a simple t-shirt, and also have a little fun.

Delicious enemy of the Earth – Sushi

I do love sushi, really. I’m sure many of our readers do as well. Recently, I’ve seen an interesting article about impact sushi does on the environment and I instantly payed attention to this topic because I regularly eat this fantastic meal. I’m YFTP member – ECO is my second name and I felt like I needed to widen my knowledge in this case.

How is sushi not healthy for the Earth?

The main problem is the list of ingredients. Most of sushi rolls, doesn’t matter if we’re talking about sashimi or standard sushi, are made of rice, fish, seaweed. Sometimes they contain avocados. In addition, soy sauce is the enemy in here as well.

RICE

Many farmers who plant rice still don’t use modern watering systems. That is why usage of fresh water is highly over the bar of standard amount needed to grow rice. Fortunately, WWF started to take care of rice crops in Asia. Many farms have been introduced to System of Rice Intensification which helps farmers reduce water use by about 30%! The same kind of issue goes with growing avocado. It takes about 90 gallons (340 liters) of water to produce just a single California-grown avocado.

FISH

As you can guess, consumption of fish is increasing parallelly with population number. That is why many species of fish are overharvested by not educated people from 3rd world’s countries. This action is going to lead to destruction of aqua life. Many different organisations keep taking proper steps in order to help the underwater world, luckily!

SOY

Not only to be used is in sauce production, soy growth needed to be raised because of growing meat demand in modern society. According to WWF, it is now the second-largest agricultural driver of deforestation. Mentioned organisation works with the whole industry to come up with more efficient way of collecting soy.

In conclusion

I hope that now, after reading this short article, you have greater knowledge in this topic. Now, when eating sushi, you will know how it impacts our world and why you should not eat too much of it! By the way, your wallet will be in better condition!

Helping from home

Even though the strict self-isolation time is over in certain countries, some of us still prefer to stay safely at home. And you may already know that you still can help the environment without even leaving your house. These are small things, but don’t rush yourself, do one step at a time

The 3R rule – reduce, reuse, recycle

You probably have already heard of it, because these are the basics of the basics, but just have it in mind while self-isolating. For example, you can get creative and alter Your clothing or thrift flip it. By sewing, you can change the old pieces of clothing that you are sick of into something more suitable for you.

Laundry wisely

It might be obvious, but don’t do your laundry when you only got half loads. Just take your time and wait until there’s enough for a full one. Also now in the summer, it may be better to quit using the dryer, do your clothes a favor and dry them naturally, which will make them last longer and smell fresher, Doing this not only will be a step into saving the environment but also a good move for your wallet.

Conserve water

You can do the evident thing like turning off the water when you brush your teeth or taking shorter showers, but you should also stop using the toilet as a trash can, consider installing a water-saving shower head or checking your pipes and faucets for leaks. The less water you use, the less runoff and wastewater will eventually end up in the ocean.

Plant a tree

If you do have a big garden and are able to plant a tree there then great, try to do it, must be fun, but if you don’t – no worries, you can totally do it from home. Some sites make it possible to plant a tree from home by donating money, where one dollar = one new tree (like for example The Canopy Project from earthday.org). And actually donating to charities is another way of helping the planet without leaving home.

Don’t throw away your stuff

Like… really, you can sell, donate, exchange with a friend. If it is still in a good condition there’s no need to throw it out. This applies not only to clothes, toys, electronics but also to food. Eat the leftovers, if you don’t want to fall into the boredom of eating the same meal whole week then freeze the rest of the food that you have, give it to your dog or your neighbour’s dog, but don’t throw it away. (You can also take home the leftovers from your meal in a restaurant).

Educate Yourself, educate others

There’s no better time than self-isolation to find some time to learn about ways we can help the environment. It is always good to have motivation for saving the world, but it is also important to find the courage to educate others about the threats to the planet. For instance, you can talk with your family members or friends about reducing the amount of plastic they buy or the ethical matter of shopping in fast fashion brands, etc.

I honestly hope that were already familiar with most of the ways of saving our planet, even during the quarantine. But if you didn’t, then that’s okay as well – it’s never too late to start bothering yourself with what you’re leaving behind on Earth and how you treat our planet. Doesn’t matter if you’re doing it from home – let’s hope it won’t be necessary for much longer – or from the outside, or in your garden planting your lovely tree. Even small things we do for the environment can make a difference if only we don’t give up on them and continue doing them even in the hard times, just like now.

Is your latte destroying the planet?

I know that nothing discourages a beginner climate activist more than telling them their favourite thing isn’t climate friendly. I’m a big coffee lover, so for me it was the bad news about cappuccino. I come with a solution. Let’s look through some facts about dairy industry and then make our decision, shall we?

Latte. Image from: https://www.tchibo.pl/sztuka-przygotowania-latte-instrukcja-krok-po-kroku-c400084031.html

Let’s start with the basics. According to which data you decide to check, dairy industry is responsible for over 4% of greenhouse gasses worldwide, though I saw statistics that said it’s over 23%. It’s a lot, regardless of which data you want to believe.

Why so much waste? That one’s easy – cows are ruminants, they produce methane and other greenhouse gasses. They also have to eat, and let me tell you – 10 million cows in the US alone eat a lot more than we do. They also drink a lot of water.

It takes 15.5 thousand liters of water to produce 1kg of beef. Why do I mention beef? Because no cow can go to waste. And no mama cow can give milk if she doesn’t have a baby first. She is, therefore, impregnated. If her baby is a girl, she’s going to bear the same faith as her mom. If it’s a boy – he’s gonna end up on our plate much sooner.

image from: https://www.agrofakt.pl/krowy-w-plenerze/

I have some good news for you. There is a kot of alternatives. Soy, almonds, oats, quinoa, rice – they can serve as cows without all the pain. Some of the plants also require a lot of water or land, but they don’t even come close to cows. If you don’t really enjoy coffee with plant milks – don’t worry. There’s a lot to get used to, I for example discovered black coffee. There’s something for everybody, and there’s always a solution.