Eco Friendly House And Garden

A Story of what Man leaves behind, he says……

It wasn’t about eco friendly anything really – however, it covers some very interesting points.

Yes, it covered how all our impact in most areas would cease for the better immediately – zero carbon emissions, no more deforestation or over fishing etc, but it also highlighted what would happen to the things that we need to manage – like nuclear power plants, dams, exotic species, farm animals and pets!

If we don’t keep working with these – they will go astray, and can’t work or survive on their own!

I was gripped throughout the book (although it’s not a read cover to cover in one go type of book), not just by it’s attention to detail regarding individual people and actions – but by the wealth of natural forests and habitats that I never knew existed and now want to learn more about!

The Book Itself:
We have created so many things that are durable that they won’t be going anywhere fast!  And infact some could threaten the very planet after we are gone!

The book assumes that humans literally vanish in a second and leave the world right as it is in that instant., so factories still running, shops still open, communities still farming – then we go.

The author – Alan Weisman doesn’t even entertain for a minute that there will be any surviving humans, and even if there were – it wouldn’t be anything like the BBC drama Survivors.

There are things out there that just can’t be controlled without the skilled people who work with them now.  Yes, the electricity and water stopped and the stores closed – but what about that nuclear reactor still burning away?  What about oil pumps sucking out millions of gallons or flammable and toxic oil above the surface?

And all the plastic we have ever made is still out there – it never goes away – it’s just getting smaller and smaller. So if it’s a bag for example floating in the sea, it get eaten by a turtle (aling with other plastics and so the turtle dies; however when the turtle has decomposed or been eaten, the bag becomes released again. Then the bag is in smaller bits floating on the sea so it gets eaten by and kills an albatros, who then dies – and then when they get eaten, the bag bits come out again, and gets smaller. Then it gets eaten again and again and again through the food chain – forever it would seem!

He tells us that there are patches of woodland dotted around the world that are so old that they defies everything we now know about woodland management. 

One on the Polish-Belarus border hasn’t been affected by humans since the dawn of time – literally.  It is called the Bialowieza Puszcza and means ‘forest primeval’.  There are a whole host of ancient – and giant – species of trees a whole host of rare and unusual native European mammals including the lynx, wolf, bear and even the wisent – a European bison!

There is also an ancient forest right in the heart of the Bronx, New York.  There is a patch of historic woodland that was there when the first Europeans came over to the state – and there is stays!  The rest of New York has been deforested and flattened while this pocket of history goes on!

Result: 4/5
It’s a really good place to start if you are trying to think of a reason to reduce your waste (big section on plastics), change your habits (farming and food waste) and cut your energy uses (power sources).

Basically, it can make you think hard and fast about what we are doing to the very planet we depend on, whether we are here or not!

After reading this book, you need to look at the trail of every item you hold in your hand that day, whether it’s food, an electrical item or clothing and ask yourself the following questions:

• Where was it from, and what did it take to make it and get it here?
• What does it actually do to improve your life (if at all) and why do I need this exact thing over the alternatives?
• And, where does it go after it leaves my hand?  And is that a good place????????

So, go out to the book store or library at read this book!

ISBN: 978-0-7535-1357-6

The Environmental Cost of Cheap Plastic doesn’t make for a great story.

However, there are some people out there who want to make a difference – and a crazy millionaire is about to set sail in a 60ft boat made of plastic bottled stuck together to prove a point!

He is trying highlight the problem of the ever growing ‘sea of plastic’ in the Pacific Ocean. This ‘sea’ is a place where all floating rubbish from the worlds oceans eventually ends up. It then becomes ‘trapped’ there, stuck together in this one place somewhere between Hawaii and mainland US.

This mass of rubbish floating just under the surface currently weighs an estimated 3.5 tonnes and is around 3 times the size of Japan or larger than Bolivia!

The Problem:
The UN estimates that there are over 45,000 pieces of plastic floating on every square mile of the oceans – devastating the wildlife that depends on it for survival. We are all aware that turtles eat carrier bags thinking they are jellyfish and seabirds collect them from the seas and feed them to their young instead of actual food – dooming them to starvation.

Because it isn’t biodegradable, plastic is with us for ever. Every piece of plastic that has ever been made since it’s invention is still here today. Yes, it’s not all whole pieces – plastic is gradually worn down or crushed by animals and people and much is buried under the earth – but it is all still there, doing nothing but damage.

More frightening is the fact that figures suggest that over 100m tonnes more plastic is being produced each year!!! All because of human demands.

How it’s generated:
Starting with food: Think of all those individual bottles of kids fizzy soda available, all the individually wrapped cheeses rather than fresh chunks off the deli counter. Shrink wrapped vegetables rather than fresh from the farm store!

Then the home: Disposable pens are thrown away, dropped or broken every day. Because they are cheap we don’t really care about them. Like so many modern technologies, it’s cheaper to throw them out than get them repaired. Disposible anything is a disaster waiting to happen – lighters, cups, cutlery, bottles, plates, straws, jewelry, razors and diapers to name a few.

If you buy things that have been designed to be thrown out after a short time or even one single use then you are directly contributing to this environmental disaster. Companies are not going to invest money in making these disposible items recyclable either if you are buying them as a product you know you are not going to use again.

Would you put loads of effort into making your friend an expensive gift if you knew it would be thrown out straight after?

What you can do?
Here is a list of ideas for you to help reduce your plastic use, affect manufacturers and clean up after yourself and others:

1. Never drop litter or expect someone else to take care of your waste.
2. Try to avoid buying over-wrapped products – even if the packaging is recyclable, it still had to be created and who is to say that the person who uses your recycled plastic won’t dump it later.
3. Buy larger containers of your favourite packaged products so that there is more product per outer wrapping. You could even write to the companies to ask if they could reduce their plastic packaging or offer refills rather than whole new products.
4. Let your local stores know that you would rather see less packaged fresh produce by actively buying those products that are currently loose. These include meat, fish, cheese, fruit, vegetables, bread and pastries to name a few. This way the stores sales reports will hightlight customer shopping patterns and improve their service in those areas.
5. Spend that bit extra for technology and office equipment so that it lasts longer. Better quality products will be cheaper in the long run as when maintained they will have a very long shelf life. Think about what you want to buy before you make a purchase so that your technology isn’t overtaken in a month forcing you to upgrade again. If you reduce your demand on manufacturers of cheap appliances, they will have to improve their products to stay in the market.
6. Don’t buy disposable anything. If you plan your time and activities better, you will never just need that one little thing to tide you over – and disposable goods usually come in large pack sizes creating more waste than you needed!
7. Take time to reuse everything plastic you can – use bottles for mini garden cloches, tubs for jams and preserves, to store leftovers, and many more uses.
8. Recycling can sometimes be trickier as many agencies send waste to other regions or other countries to be processed creating more energy waste than necessary – as long as it’s cheaper, it will be done like this. Make sure you know where your waste and recycling is processed and voice you opinions if you aren’t happy about it.
9. Organise a beach-combing or woodland team to collect litter and plastics before they do more harm. Not only are these great fun, they make your own environment look better and improve the health of your wildlife all at the same time. And then you can dispose of the waste more responsibly.