How can we Benefit from Being Eco-Friendly?
It seems people are beginning to wake up to the important role trees play in our planet’s climate. The recent governmental backing down in the UK, where a bill was supposed to be passed that would have allowed the nation’s forests to be sold off to greedy developers, is an indication that in the UK eco-friendly living and responsible guardianship of our natural resources are beginning to sink in. Mass protests by people from all walks of life forced the UK government to abandon their plans.
Global warming is a huge issue and after two centuries of reckless destruction Western governments are now urging developing countries not to follow this route, but to learn from our mistakes. Charities dealing with providing access to clean, safe drinking water in countries such as Africa are also promoting a more responsible approach to water management in small community projects across the countries they deal with. Water management is a crucial survival issue for many millions of people; it is one of our most precious resources. Eco-friendly living includes better ways of collecting rain water, reducing waste and the need for chemical treatment of sewage and storm water.
Looking after water quality by eco-friendly living also means we are cleaning up our beaches and avoid further pollution of our oceans, the major driving force of climate around the globe. Pollution of our oceans through industrial waste, oil well and oil tanker disasters, waste dumping through shipping, in particular cruise ships and irresponsible mass tourism to delicate eco systems, can have a huge impact on the temperature of our ocean currents, which in turn have consequences for our climate and weather patterns.
Healthy Living
Eco-friendly agricultural use of land has seen us return to organic farming, and water quality in rivers and streams improves as a result of a drastic reduction in the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Cutting down on meat consumption is another way to be more eco-friendly: fast food burger outlets mean vast areas of land are given over to cattle farming. Furthermore, the land needed for cattle farming is usually won by cutting down forests. Recent government warnings in the UK have suggested that eating red meat increases the risk of bowel cancer responsible for killing some 10,000 people in the UK every year. Eco-friendly cooking is not only good for your household budget and climate – it is also good for your health.
Although critics argue organic food is expensive and in the current economic downturn not an option for people with reduced income owing to unemployment, eco-friendly living can be achieved by not buying processed foods and avoiding packaged ready meals. The packaging industry alone can be held responsible for landfill sites across the Western world.
Cooking your own food, be it organically grown or not, is not only eco-friendly, it is also considerably cheaper and healthier in terms of nutritional value.
