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You are here: Eco-Sys Action >> Action >> Simple things that can help
Simple things that can help
Does it often feel like it is all too much? Environmental crisis here. Endangered species on the brink of extinction there. Ever growing levels of pollution...
Sometimes, it all feels too overwhelming to deal with.
What you can do
In reality however, we have the capacity--and the solutions--to change things ourselves. So here are a few tips and suggestions.
If you have any more ideas for saving the environment, feel free to email them to us and we’ll include them in our list.
AT THE BEACH...
Live near a beach? Annoyed and appalled by the waste that the waves bring? Then do something about it. Join a day of fun at the beach with some serious cleaning up. You can start on your own! Did you know that you could save at least one dolphin by making sure the beach is clean and free of garbage?
You can also organize a Sunday cleanup of your local shores with your community. It can be fun! Don’t forget to use gloves, don’t pick up any suspicious or sharp items, and invite your friends to pitch in. Take a photo and send it to us—we’d love to have a photo gallery of world's beach cleaners. You can also join the World Ocean Network and get your World Ocean Passport.
IN YOUR HOME...
Have you noticed how incredibly quickly your trashcan gets filled? Now multiple that by a few millions and take in the massive amount of waste that represents. It doesn’t have to be that way. Start organizing your own recycling system at home for glass, organic wastes, plastic, batteries, etc.
You can also do this at school or at work. Try to count how many times you empty your rubbish bins. You will then know how many cubic meters or cubic feet of rubbish you use every month. Talk about it with people in your household.
Find out if there are things you can recycle and check with your community if any foundation needs the goods you usually throw away. Plastic bottle caps, for instance, are sometimes collected to generate funds to help disabled people.
IN THE SHOP...
Ah, the beauty of teak furniture...the shades and the smooth feel of tropical wood... but wait a minute! This furniture has a home. A home in the deepest rainforests of South America and Southeast Asia. Should you be contributing to their destruction just so that your living room looks stylish?
The questions you should be asking
So here’s a solution: Every time you go and buy a wooden article, ask the sales staff this simple question: “is your wood sourced sustainably?” Even if the person cannot answer, he or she will inevitably pass on the question to management if the question gets asked many times.
Buy good wood
Try to buy wooden products with a label certifying that the wood comes from forests certified by groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council. Every second, thousands of acres of the world's forests disappear. It’s not too late to do your part.
Some retailers and major stores have already committed to sourcing wood from sustainable forests and phase out the use of some critically endangered hardwood.
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