Live4TheEarth @live4theearth - Tumblr Blog

Posts

Sustainable fashion is expensive... but for good reasons only, which makes buying in the slow fashion industry 100 times more worth it!

1. The cotton is made out of natural resources. It is also farmed sustainably which means proper disposal of waste water and limited the use of pesticides. (benefits you and the workers)

2. You are paying the farmers and weavers a fair price. Ethically run sewing facilities pay their workers well and offer human rights like the right to unionize, bathroom breaks, limited working hours, and having a safe working environment.

3. Sustainable fashion is still a small market, therefore there’s a small customer demand requiring facilities to produce clothing in low quantities which increases the price of production.

Be mindful about the ways in which you use water! Which of these have you already implemented into your everyday life?😊💙💦💧✨

1. Takes shorter showers. A typical shower uses 5-10 gallons per minute!

2. Use the dishwasher and washing machine with full loads only.

3. Check the toilets, faucets, and pips for leaks.

4. Don’t run the hose while washing your car.🚘🚿

5. Turn off the water while shaving, brushing your teeth, and washing veggies.

6. When washing the dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running.🚿

7. Water during the cool parts of the day.

8. Only water your lawn when it needs it.

9. Put a layer of mulch around trees and plants to slow the evaporation of moisture.🌲🌳🌴

10. Postion your sprinklers so they don’t water unnecessary areas like the pavement.

11. Use a broom to clean driveways, sidewalks, and steps.🧹

12. Plant drought-resistant trees and plants.🌱🌿

13. Try to acoid pre-rinsing your dishes before placing them into the dishwasher.🍽

14. Install water-saving shower heads and faucets.

• • •

Sources:

volusia.org: 25 ways to save water

What!? More than double? Yes that sounds insane, but sadly, I believe it.😞 It consists of abandoned fishing gear, plastic bags, plastic bottles, and micro plastics... above and below the surface of the water.😧 So much waste has accumulated there to the point where nobody wants to actually clean it up. Instead, there are many organizations that clean up ocean beaches to prevent trash from entering the ocean itself. We don’t want the great pacific garbage patch to get any bigger than this!🥺😔

Here are some reminders and information about recycling!

1) Be sure to recycle paper, metal, cardboard, and certain types of plastic. Check for plastics with the numbers 1, 2, & 5 printed on it. These plastics ARE recyclable!♻️

2) Coffe cups cannot be recycled! There’s a plastic film that lines the inside of the cup making the entire product non-recyclable.😔☕️💔

3) Don’t recycle dirty plastic! In general, the items you put in your recycling bin should be clean. Just rinse thoroughly! By doing this, you’re giving the plastic a 2nd chance to be recycled into new material.✨🧼✨

4) Recycling plastic downgrades its quality. Plastics are polymers which are long chains of atoms. Each time a plastic is recycled, the polymer chain grows shorter, so its quality decreases. “The same piece of plastic can only be recycled about 2-3 times before its quality decreases to the point where it can no longer be used.”😟👎🏼

5) Glass and metal can be recyled infinitely! They never lose their quality or purity when recycled.😇

You can never win with plastics. Invest in good quality untensils, reusable water bottles, etc., and avoid settling for the convenience of single use, disposable plastics! I know Covid-19 can make this aspect of our lives more difficult, but mindfulness can go a long way in recognizing how you can make small changes.😊💗

Sources:

blog.nationalgeographic.org: 7 things you didn’t know about plastic and recycling

Guilt

Ever since I started this journey towards sustainable living, I’ve been carrying loads of guilt. It almost feels like stress or sadness at times. Especially when I’m in public and I see trash everywhere. Or when I’m at the beach and I see micro plastics in the sand. Or when I forget to bring a reusable straw or bag. Or when I get takeout and the packaging isn’t recyclable. Now that I know where all this waste is going and the negative impact it’s going to have on the planet, I can’t help but feel those emotions. I can’t help but think what the earth is going to look like in the next 100 years when all of our current fears about human impact is finally visible. I think it’s important to understand how hard it’s going to be for every human in the world to live 100% sustainably. There are just countless factors that can play into you living unsustainably. Coping with the guilt is to keep practicing your sustainable practices even if they’re small. Everything you do adds up whether it’s eating vegan or spreading awareness. Remember that a little goes a long way!

What’s Your Why?

While on your journey towards sustainability, it’s important to ask yourself this question. It’s an important question to ask yourself in all aspects of your life. It gives value and purpose to everything you commit your time to. So why are you embarking on this journey towards sustainability? Why do you want to become more eco-conscious. From the very beginning of my environmental and sustainable journey, I asked myself these questions and this is my answer:

I am embarking on this journey towards sustainability because our earth is in danger whether it is visible or not. The ways in which the average person lives (in the US at least) is unsustainable for planet earth to exist forever. If we don’t take action now and live more sustainably, the earth cannot be lived on. I want to become more eco-conscious for the benefit of future generations. My kids and their kids and their kids. If we educate each generation about sustainable living, there will be a huge and positive impact.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” - Robert Swan

I absolutely love this quote. It allows us to realize how often we say, “someone else will do it” or “I don’t have time”. The longer we wait, the larger the task. My passion towards saving the environment and educating others about it began a few months ago, when I finished taking my environmental science class. Prior to taking this class, I was completely unaware of most environmental issues other than plastic pollution and the fact that we need to reduce, reuse, and recycle. This class opened my eyes to the different ranges of issues that go far beyond plastic pollution. As the class started coming to an end, I felt guilty leaving the issues that I learned behind, knowing that they are still occurring and possibly getting worse. I would be leaving behind one of the largest responsibilities in others’ hands which is saving and protecting the environment. I wanted to be a part of the change that raises awareness about environmental issues beyond plastic pollution, initiates change, and exercises sustainable practices at the benefit of protecting the earth as well as future generations. A lot of the issues I learned in my environmental science class, I had never heard before. With that, I became inspired to create an Instagram account that raises awareness about environmental issues that need more attention. I originally created this account to follow environmentally oriented accounts to simply educate myself, but I became inspired by all the accounts creating posts directed towards Black Lives Matter movement. The posts were empowering and educational, and I learned things that I wouldn’t have otherwise learned on my own or in school. (It is amazing how much can be learned from a singular Instagram post!) So I decided to begin posting about environmental issues, how they’re unsustainable, and how you can contribute to positive change, in hopes to create the same effect as the BLM movement. My goal is to inspire people to live sustainably and to shine light on topics that may not be taught in your regular science class. Creating content for my Instagram account has allowed me to stay actively engaged and constantly inspired to make sustainable choices in my everyday life. I hope that you come along this journey with me in staying educated and implementing sustainability practices into our everyday lives! (:

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Live4TheEarth