6 ACTIONS TO SLOW DOWN GLOBAL OVERHEATING

 6  ACTIONS  TO SLOW DOWN GLOBAL OVERHEATING

1.   Compost- 

There are close to 100 compostable items-20 % of all methane gas comes from compostable materials deposited in our landfill sites- without oxygen,  methane gas is produced as organic materials biodegrade.  And methane gas is 30-40 times more potent in preventing the sun’s heat energy from escaping back into space to help cool the earth.

2.  Plant as many trees as possible –

 Plant trees on your on your own property or at community tree planting initiatives. Trees absorption of carbon dioxide and sequestering of carbon make trees the least expensive, easiest, and most effective way to help reduce global overheating and mitigate the catastrophic impacts of our climate crisis. Experts agree that ecologically healthy cities need a 40% urban canopy. Unfortunately, most cities have been 20-25%- so stop talking and start digging!

3. Stop eating beef -

 It is quite alarming that raising cattle for human consumption is so incredible damaging to our environment.

The burps and farts of cows are responsible for massive amount of methane gas. 

A single cow drinks astounding 100 litres of water every single  day!  Today, only 1% of our fresh water is drinkable. 

When manure is washed into bodies of fresh water it creates damaging algae bloom in lakes.

When cows graze they decimate and compromise the integrity and ecological health of the soil. Significant more protein can be produced for food when growing food crops on the same amount of land used for grazing cattle. According to the article “Redefining Agricultural Yields:  From Tonnes to People Nourished Per Hectare” published in the Scientific journal Environmental research letter in 2013 if we started eating plant protein like pulses (beans, lentils, chickpeas, and split peas) instead of meat, the global food systems could support an additional 4 billion people.

 At the same time we could significantly reduce the massive swaths of pristine rain forests that are being clear cut daily to support  the raising  of beef cattle. 

In the Brazilian rain forest, the native people are inhumanely  forced from the only homes that have ever known, to  make way   Brazil’s president’s (Jair Bolsonaro’s  dream of  making Brazil the biggest exporter of beef and creating the biggest meat processing plant in the world.

In the Brazilian rain forest, the native people are cruelly  forced from the only homes that have ever known so that  President Jair Bolsonaro  can maintain Brazil as the world’s BIGGEST EXPORTER OF BEEF  and greatly expanding their meat processing facilities. He has publicly declared that “not one square centimetre"  of land should be set aside for reserves for the Indigenous people. Large swaths of  the Amazon rain forest are being cleared and burned every single day to make way for cattle production, as well as,  crops and logging. 

The President has slashed deforestation restrictions and has stopped the tracking of forest fire which can actually be seen from space. 

In Brazil most of the out- of- control  fires have been preventable as they have been started by farmers in their attempt to clear the land for agriculture and raising cattle.  

The  more beef we eat all around the world,  the more of our precious Amazon rain forest will be destroyed.  

I personally, believe that governments should be subsidizing farmers to transition away from beef - they had no problems subsidizing BIG OIL.

3.  Do not drink any drinks from plastic bottles

It was recently reported that the three top companies responsible for the plastic litter choking our oceans are Coke, Pepsi and Nestle.   

 What makes this revelation most disturbing is the fact that  the three companies that are responsible for littering, polluting, and destroying the ecological health of our environments, actually create very  unhealthful products that are polluting our bodies and destroying human health. 

Coke and Pepsi trigger all kinds of life- threatening diseases like diabetes 1 and sclerosis of the liver.

Recent research has demonstrated  that water plastic bottles contain micro-beads of plastic which will wreak havoc on a person’s health and well being!  

Why do we continue to drink fluids from plastic bottles, that not only are responsible for the agonizing deaths of millions of marine animals per year, but transporting the ”drinks of death” creates grid-lock, unnecessary damage to roads, and increases green house gases that are responsible for global overheating?

 

 5. Never, never drop plastic litter on the ground anywhere!

The question that begs to be answered how did the plastic litter that kills over marine animals every single year end up in the oceans?

The only answer is by individuals and companies neglecting to dispose of plastic litter properly.

 The biggest problem with plastic items is that they do not biodegrade. Bacteria turn up their noses at plastic. The plastic decomposes incredibly slowly by turning into smaller and smaller pieces. A plastic bottle may take between 400 and 1,000 years to decompose! Massive amounts of plastic waste are harming the physical world including rivers, lakes, wetlands, forests, field, and the oceans - habitats for wildlife.

In 2109 in Indonesia the government partnered with the army, with plastic experts, environmental organizations, businesses, and the public to create a model for other counties to follow. Their ambitious goal is to reduce plastic by 70% by the year 2025.  Kudos to Indonesia! 

 Did you know that you could be having a picnic in a local park and a plastic bag that you left behind, could kill several animals living in the ocean?

Let me explain - that single plastic bag you left behind will take hundreds of years to decompose. The wind could blow it around for many years and eventually it might end up in a river. Guess what? All rivers flow to the ocean. After many years of floating around, the plastic bag will start to break into several pieces. An albatross, a dolphin, and a turtle could end up trying to eat the plastic pieces. 

  Marine biologists  large plastic sheeting, flower pots,   plastic ropes, plastic canvas, lots of garbage and grocery bags, banana sacks, and fishing nets! What has really surprised  the marine biologists is the huge  amounts of plastic they have discovered inside all the whales- they knew they would find plastic but they had no idea how much!In one whale, a young Cuvier's  beaked whale, they found 88 pounds of plastic!

   Scientists predict that 1 million marine animals  will die every single year by eating plastic! So, if you see plastic blowing in the wind, please put it in containers or pick it up and dispose of it at home in a recycling bin. 

4.   Stop Ordering Products from Amazon

Jeff Bezos is one of the richest men in the world. Not only did he not pay any taxes, whatsoever, last year,  but through all kinds of tax loop holes he managed to receive $ 129 million dollars back from the government.

 This billionaire, consumed with greed, did not pay a single cent to build, maintain, or repair the transportation system that the vast number of Amazon -owned trucks travel on every hour of the day!

As well, he has a reputation for treating his employees with contempt by paying them poverty -triggering wages with a minimum of benefits, while forcing them to endure miserable working conditions    

Now that Jeff Bezos has ruthlessly acquired control of the supply chain,  other transportation companies such as Fed Ex has to compete with Amazon.

  Many trucking companies, unable to compete with this behemoth, have been forced into bankruptcies.

 Every time you order online from companies like Amazon, you are making it more and more difficult for local retailers to stay afloat. Not only do local retailers provide residents with much  needed goods and services, but they are a critical tax base for the City.

If retailers, unable to compete, close down at an alarming numbers, you will be left with a ghost town and property taxes will  increase exponentially. When cities no longer have a commercial tax base, they will decrease their services or start charging  more taxes  for residents  to make up for their lost commercial  tax base.

Once local business close down for ever, then the online retailers,  like Amazon will charge whatever the market will bear - if there is no longer a local option, the sky will be the limit!

 As well, the significant, but unnecessary increase in huge transport trucks on the road spewing pollutants into the environment, increases  green house gases, clogs up traffic, and damages roads. 

The more green house gases pouring onto our atmosphere the faster  will be the rate of global overheating.

Basically when you buy locally -everyone wins,  including Mother Earth!

5.  Reduce and Reuse by Buying from Thrift Stores

Not only are you greening your wallet, but you are reducing the amount of  trash that goes into our landfill site by buying whatever you can from second- hand stores.

 6. Write /email your Representatives at all Three Levels  of Government . 

Huge volumes of letters demanding  bold actions to mitigate the catastrophic impacts of global overheating, can be very effective and powerful, as government officials really like to be re-elected. 

Not only should you email the parties that are in power, but also email  elected officials in the opposition who you have observed and are  genuinely concerned about global overheating  and have displayed an ability to  speak effectively in the Legislature.

 In later posts, I will provide examples of letter/emails I have written in the past.