Earth Day at Its Best
This week, in honour of Earth Day, I'm going to be writing with a more serious tone than my reader's may have grown accustomed to. I don't intend to become an activist writer, or to lose my classic Bra Street Rambler humour in all of my upcoming posts, so I do hope you'll bare with me in a topic I felt a needed to write about.
“I am not a scientist, but I don't need to be. Because the world's scientific community has spoken, and they have given us our prognosis, if we do not act together, we will surely perish. Now is our moment of action.” - Leo DiCaprio
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not, nor have I ever been, avid in political matters. However, I find it important to start sharing my voice in these matters as well. No longer shall I use my voice in politics during voting season alone for finally, political figures everywhere have come together to face a topic I do care about in a way I can agree with. My home and it's health.
This past week, on April 22nd also known to be Earth Day, world leaders came together in New York to sign The Paris Climate Treaty, also known as The Paris Agreement. This document prompts a global effort to reduce global warming. It seeks to reduce emissions in order to reduce greenhouse gases. It aims to save our planet, and if that isn't hitting home hard enough, it aims to save our very lives as we know it.
Now, I won't go into lengthy details on the treaty but the short version is that each signing country is tasked with assigning itself ambitious targets to take better responsibility of it's respective reduction of emissions. For more information, click Here.
If you are from Canada, I invite you to take part in sharing your voice in the development of these targets by clicking Here and submitting any ideas you may have for our leaders to implement in the years to come.
One great example, in my opinion, of action being taken in response to waste and emissions, in this case those associated with plastic bottles, can be found in San Francisco which has become the first state to ban the sale of plastic bottles. Talk about a good target! Click Here for that story.
That being said, our leaders can only do so much. After all, they represent us the people and we too have a large degree of individual responsibility. We all have ways in which we can contribute to the betterment of our planets health. From recycling to using re-usable water bottles and containers, from carpooling to walking or bicycling, from making an effort to remembering to use re-usable bags instead of plastic grocery bags, there are many simple ways to contribute.
Roughly five years ago, I myself cut plastic water bottles out of my life in exchange for reusable Contigo bottles after viewing a video assigned to my class by my politics teacher in college. It wasn't something that pertained to our lesson, but it was something he felt everyone needed to see. I both agree and thank him, and I in turn share it now with you. Click Here to see why my reusable bottle now clips on to my bag and comes with me everywhere I go.
Now, after having saved my recycling bin from what I can only imagine would have been a ton of plastic water bottles over these past years, especially considering water is nearly all I drink, I am looking to further curb my wasteful habits by eliminating plastic bags where possible.
Of course, it would be unrealistic for me to say I am removing all plastic bags as I have not yet been able to eliminate garbage bags, but I have a large collection of reusable bags that I am challenging my memory into remembering to use more often. I now keep one cloth bag in my carry on for smaller outings, and make an effort to remember my bags when heading to the grocery store, or when possible, I make a point to tell the clerks at various stores that I will simply add my purchases to the bags I am already carrying (then using those bags later for my trash cans). I have also added a variety of different types of glass and multi-compartment reusable containers to my cupboards to be used for snacks and lunches in lieu of plastic sandwich bags.
I'm not saying go out there and suddenly become the worlds number one best eco-friendly warrior (though woohoo if you do!), but adopting even just a few healthier lifestyle habits to help the earth out can really make a difference and it gets you into a mindset to be able to adopt more and more habits as you go. Start with something small, encourage those around you to try the same thereby adopting a support system as well as making your mission that much more successful, and see where it takes you.
This past week, on April 22nd also known to be Earth Day, world leaders came together in New York to sign The Paris Climate Treaty, also known as The Paris Agreement. This document prompts a global effort to reduce global warming. It seeks to reduce emissions in order to reduce greenhouse gases. It aims to save our planet, and if that isn't hitting home hard enough, it aims to save our very lives as we know it.
Now, I won't go into lengthy details on the treaty but the short version is that each signing country is tasked with assigning itself ambitious targets to take better responsibility of it's respective reduction of emissions. For more information, click Here.
If you are from Canada, I invite you to take part in sharing your voice in the development of these targets by clicking Here and submitting any ideas you may have for our leaders to implement in the years to come.
One great example, in my opinion, of action being taken in response to waste and emissions, in this case those associated with plastic bottles, can be found in San Francisco which has become the first state to ban the sale of plastic bottles. Talk about a good target! Click Here for that story.
That being said, our leaders can only do so much. After all, they represent us the people and we too have a large degree of individual responsibility. We all have ways in which we can contribute to the betterment of our planets health. From recycling to using re-usable water bottles and containers, from carpooling to walking or bicycling, from making an effort to remembering to use re-usable bags instead of plastic grocery bags, there are many simple ways to contribute.
Roughly five years ago, I myself cut plastic water bottles out of my life in exchange for reusable Contigo bottles after viewing a video assigned to my class by my politics teacher in college. It wasn't something that pertained to our lesson, but it was something he felt everyone needed to see. I both agree and thank him, and I in turn share it now with you. Click Here to see why my reusable bottle now clips on to my bag and comes with me everywhere I go.
Now, after having saved my recycling bin from what I can only imagine would have been a ton of plastic water bottles over these past years, especially considering water is nearly all I drink, I am looking to further curb my wasteful habits by eliminating plastic bags where possible.
Of course, it would be unrealistic for me to say I am removing all plastic bags as I have not yet been able to eliminate garbage bags, but I have a large collection of reusable bags that I am challenging my memory into remembering to use more often. I now keep one cloth bag in my carry on for smaller outings, and make an effort to remember my bags when heading to the grocery store, or when possible, I make a point to tell the clerks at various stores that I will simply add my purchases to the bags I am already carrying (then using those bags later for my trash cans). I have also added a variety of different types of glass and multi-compartment reusable containers to my cupboards to be used for snacks and lunches in lieu of plastic sandwich bags.
I'm not saying go out there and suddenly become the worlds number one best eco-friendly warrior (though woohoo if you do!), but adopting even just a few healthier lifestyle habits to help the earth out can really make a difference and it gets you into a mindset to be able to adopt more and more habits as you go. Start with something small, encourage those around you to try the same thereby adopting a support system as well as making your mission that much more successful, and see where it takes you.
What are some things you do to help the environment? What are some things that you would like to see your town/city, country, and world leaders implement?
Let me know in the comments below or send them on over to thebrastreetrambler@gmail.com
The time for action is now!
Let me know in the comments below or send them on over to thebrastreetrambler@gmail.com
The time for action is now!
Cheers!
The Bra Street Rambler
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