ROBBY RECOMMENDSOK, so I’m about to get heavy for a minute! As I’ve pointed out before, I’m not the world’s best recycler or greenest man on the planet — not by a long straw. But I keep on getting told amazing facts I need to share with you… or they’ll make me explode!
The Earth has been around for 4.6 billion years. Scaling this time down to 46 years, we have been around for four hours and our industrial revolution began just one minute ago. During this short time period, we have ransacked the planet for ways to get fuels and raw materials, have been the cause of extinction of an unthinkable amount of plants and animals, and have multiplied our population to that of a plague.
So what can we all do to help?
An aluminium can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now, although there is no limit to the amount of times an aluminium can can be recycled — so take your cans to Haylands Farm to be part of the solution.
A modern glass bottle would take 4,000 years or more to decompose — and even longer if it’s in the landfill. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20 per cent less air pollution and 50per cent less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator — try to use a re-useable water bottle rather than buying more plastic ones.
About one-third of an average dump is made up of packaging material. Try buying fruit and vegetables that are NOT in packaging at the shops or, even better, buy from a local shop if you can as they tend to use paper bags. Better still, take a basket and use no packaging at all.
Although global warming does not directly influence the formation of tsunamis, they can be generated by events that are brought about by an amplification of the planet’s temperature. One example is the melting of ice sheets.
Being extremely heavy, massive glaciers apply a considerable amount of pressure to the Earth’s surface underneath them. This anchorage decreases as the glaciers diminish, resulting in a 'freeing up’ of tectonic masses that can lead to massive earthquakes and significant volcanic activity, both of which are capable of creating deadly tsunamis.
Despite all the damage we have caused the environment, most of it is reversible. We can restore habitats and return species to them, clean rivers, renovate buildings, replenish the topsoil and replant forests. By joining a local environmental group — grown ups’ or children’s — we can all be informed and educated in what we can all do to help, locally and globally.
So there you are, hopefully a bit of (package-free) food for thought… have a happy August.