The Environmental Biochemist

Aayushi Mishra | 18 | Biochemistry & Environmental Studies | Climate change is real

[environmentalbiochemist]

Five steps to save the environment within 24 hours

Five small steps, if followed correctly and with enthusiasm/passion, can have a positive impact on the environment the moment you finish the list. Begin today and spread the word so the world can see a change.

One. Compost- It is not difficult, it is not tedious, and it is definitely not harmful for the environment. From composting your Christmas tree to your food scraps, it can all be done in a few steps. By composting your food, you are regulating natural food cycles of microorganisms and ensuring that your backyard is the most eco-friendly place out there. 

Two. Stop buying bottled water! You would be amazed at the impact that is caused by buying and consuming bottled water. Let me break it down for you- every year, an average American purchases 167 bottles of packaged water. Out of this 167, only 38 were recycled (Fishman, 2007). In addition, there are misconceptions about bottled water, many being the claim that it is purer and better water- this is not true at all. Buy a water pitcher because it is cheaper, greener, and healthier for you and your environment.

Three. Plant plants- Go outside (Or remain indoors) and plant a few seeds. Make it your priority to water it when you drink your first glass of water every morning. This will brighten your home. Easy step, big difference. A great way to help the environment would be to plant trees in areas where you are allowed to do so at a regular basis; for example, my goal for the year is to plant ten plants every month. My college dorm room is fresher and brighter thanks to my ten new plants! 

Four. Save a few gallons of water. As most of you know, people die every day due to shortage in water supply. Make it your goal to shower for two minutes less every week until you find your sweet time spot. For me, a five minute shower is more than enough (I went from 30 to 5 in two years after realizing how much water I was wasting for no reason). Shorter showers is a win-win situation for both for your environment and for your community. 

Five. Local produce- In almost every town that I have lived in, there have been local grocery stores and farmer’s markets. Take a few hours to go to these stores and buy fresh, local fruits and vegetables. Your local farmers and your body (healthier food!) will thank you for your contribution. Local produce is yummy produce. 

If you do this today, you will help the environment in a beautiful way. You will have to put in minimal effort, but the impact that your actions will cause will create a positive change for the community that you are a part of.

Works cited

Fishman, Charles. “Message in a Bottle.” Fast Company Magazine July 2007: 110.

[environmentalbiochemist]

What is your role on this planet?

Disclaimer: Climate change is real. Embrace this fact and read on to get a taste of the rotten reality.

The human routine is a very boring and predictable one. Wake up, eat, work, eat, work, sleep. 

Wake up again, eat some more, work as much as you can/want to, eat again, go back to sleep. 

Is this what we want to use our advanced, calculating, and capable brain to be doing? Instead, wouldn't it be better if that same brain did something that had never been done before? 

What if the brain managed to pull something off that could change the world. Oh wait, there it is! What if the brain changed the world? 

Hear me out. After the Industrial Revolution, it was evident that the climate was changing. A person living in those times in the United States could see the climate changing- the smoke, the smell, the diseases, the contamination- it was horrible. There was, however, some level of control on the level of carbon dioxide emissions.

Today? Not so much.

There are approximately- wait, I just googled "number of cars in america" and the first fifteen results were about automobile dealership companies. That needs to change.

After a few more scrolls, I finally found the number of registered cars in the USA in 2012: 253,639,386. The population of the USA in 2012 was approximately 314,100,000. In other words, 80% of the American population has access to a car. Of course, this is probably not true, but it gives us an idea of how outrageously dependent we've become on unnecessarily heavy, big, accident-causing, carbon dioxide-emitting metal objects known as cars. 

What if we carpooled or had less cars? Most of my friends both here in the USA and in Belgium had two cars in their families. Why? Because Mom and Dad had to work in different cities and had different time schedules. That seems fair, but what impact does that have on their ecological footprint? A typical American's ecological footprint is 9.4 hectares, which is huge. Also, the thought of having just one car in a family is often a very funny punchline for most people today. Think about it.

Let's back up a bit. What/who is the biggest cause of the climate change crisis? Who is the little culprit who destroyed all those ecosystem and habitats, who caused the global temperature to rise every freaking year, WHO is the one responsible for this inevitable problem to become bigger and scarier every single day? 

We all are. You, me, we are all the guilty culprits who made this happen.

Since the minute we wake up, we are using fossil fuels. Our blankets, pillows, slippers, bathrobe, toothpaste, cereal, plates, cars, clothes, laptops, soda, table, floor, EVERYTHING is either made of or uses fossil fuels in one way or the other. We are wearing fossil fuels. We are advertising something that is killing our own home!

Do we stop wearing clothes, then? Not quite.

Using fossil fuels is not a horrible thing to do- look at how it changed our lives! We have skyscrapers, advancing technologies, and revolutionizing discoveries all because of the way we learned to use something that was handed to us on a plastic plate by Mother Nature. However, overusing the very things that form our planet seems a bit foolish, doesn't it? Especially because it takes millions of years for fossil fuels to be created. 

It is simply frustrating to realize that climate change has already happened and we might be too late to stop it. In fact, it is too late to stop it now. The only way to ensure that humans and other living things can continue to stay on this planet would be to censor our commodity usage. 

So the next time you indulge in the human routine of waking up, eating, and going back to sleep, keep this in mind: Earth is suffering. Nature is suffering. Humans are suffering. And we need to do something to stop this. 

#changeisreal