Do you love the beauty of nature that is all around you? Do you enjoy traveling to places such as the different National Parks or to the many cabins throughout the world? What do you do to get away from the hustle and bustle?
My bet is you go to nature. You step outside to walk your dog on a nice sunny, day in a park where there is green grass and beautiful trees. When you travel to places, you go to places that have beauty around them. Places such as the beach, the natural National Parks all around us, or to destinations with a view.
Nature and the environment are what keeps us calm. It's what keeps us grounded. Sun can give you energy in 15 minutes while trees provide you with fresh air. The ocean and the beach are what make you melt the stress away while the animals help provide nutrition to our food sources and to us.
However, our environment is in trouble. And it's because of us. An environment that does so much for us and we just dump on it every day with no gratitude. It is time for us to give back to an environment that has given so much to us by making small changes to become environmentally friendly.
What Can You Do?
Many people think when you start doing things that are environmentally friendly, you have to go ALL out. But this is not the case.
If that's not for you, that's okay. If it is for you, then go for it! But it takes everyone doing something, some kind of change, to help the environment.
So make that one small environmentally friendly change today and add to it. Add two more things you could change to help. Or add more things... it's up to you!
I have gone ALL out with this and it's been fun. I do need some more work, especially in prepping when I'm out and about. But, I continue to work on it every day and feel good about doing my part.
Let's Talk Plastics
So, you travel to the beach for vacation expecting a lovely view with a beautiful body of water and clear sand. But then, as you are sitting in your beach chair reading a book you glance up and there is a heaping amount of trash and plastic that has washed ashore. Now, the water is dirty and the area of sand that you are in is cluttered with garbage. Does that sound relaxing to you? Did that ruin your view? Because this is where we are headed. A beach full of trash.
The number one thing you can start doing TODAY to become more environmentally friendly is to stop buying and using single-use plastics.
Why Stop Using Single-Use Plastics
Single-use plastics are extremely wasteful and many of these products end up in our oceans and beaches. Think Ziploc bags, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, straws, etc.
These items are good for one time and one time only, aka not environmentally friendly. There are much better ways to get multiple uses from other things. I know these things are convenient but the options that are out there now are just as convenient.
These plastics NEVER break down completely. They become microplastics which you can't see. However, our ocean is going to be more filled with microplastics than ocean water if we continue the path we are on now. It's going to become a plastic soup rather than natural saltwater.
Plastic in full form and microplastics are harmful to wildlife.
When an animal's stomach is full of these microplastics or they mistake any plastic for food, their stomach becomes full of plastic. Then, it makes them not want to eat and they die of starvation.
Think of a time when you have felt bloated and you didn't want to eat because you just didn't feel good. This is similar to what animals go through.
The Effect On Plastic and Humans
Many people like to think that plastic only has an effect on animals. That's because all we see is animals with stomachs full of plastic after they die or a seahorse carrying a Q-tip thinking it's a piece of seaweed. But more and more research is coming out every day that plastics has a harmful effect on humans, too.
Something on the rise right now is a disruption of hormones. There are so many people who are having thyroid issues and are hormonally out of balance.
I'm not even going to go into all the issues when your hormones are out of balance. But I am going to get into what plastic could be doing to your hormones.
Plastics are first made with fossil-based fuels but other chemicals are added into the process to make them more flexible. This is not damaging at the time.
However, when plastics start to "degrade" they release a bunch of nasty, toxic chemicals into the air.
Current research has shown that these chemicals can cause hormonal imbalances, reproductive issues such as infertility, and cancers which are all on the rise today.
And the bad thing is these chemicals are not only used in plastics but they are also used in everyday beauty products that you are probably using.
So, these hormone-disrupting chemicals are in the air you breathe, the shampoo you are putting in your hair, the lotion you are putting on your skin, the food you are putting in your body, and the water you may be drinking.
This is nasty stuff, my friends and it's unacceptable. Do the right thing not only for the environment but for yourself, your family, and your friends. Stop using single-use plastics as your first environmentally friendly change.