The need for a clean environment

I probably should have written this article first on this blog, as it's very,
very important ,but I forgot about it. So here goes:
Cigarette butts and lighters ,cans and glass bottles littering the street, candy wrappers lying forgotten outside grocery stores and empty Styrofoam cartons  cluttering up the space outside diners and takeaways-this is a common sight in our lives ,in our surroundings.
The surroundings in which we live in-that is the common definition for our environment.
But  why  do we need a clean environment ?  Do our lives depend upon it? The answer is yes,as you'll soon find out...............
Firstly,by polluting the environment we live in,we're increasing our chances of contracting deadly diseases.According to a survey done by WHO,about 7 million people died in 2012 due to diseases caused by air pollution-illnesses like lung cancer ,stroke, and ischaemic heart disease.

Air polluting gases in the atmosphere

Being exposed to viruses and bacteria in water containing human and animal waste cause diseases like diarrhea and cholera . Being exposed to toxic chemicals in water can also have adverse affects in the body.Many factories get rid of their chemical waste by dumping it in nearby water bodies .
REFERENCE:http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/diarrhoea/en/

Secondly , we are not  just destroying our environment,but the ones of other creatures.We leave birds homeless by cutting down the trees in which they nest,steal the dens of foxes and wolves ,and collapse the underground burrows of rabbits and moles.These creatures have necessary roles to play in the intricate web of lives .It is one small step away from the lives of these animals  to our own lives.
Third is the biggest reason of all-GLOBAL WARMING. Cutting down trees,burning fossil fuels, releasing greenhouse gases and burning rubbish, it all adds up to this. Global warming and climate change are what you might call the biggest side effects of destroying our environment.
By letting global warming take over, we are ultimately writing our own suicide letters.
So get to work people! Reuse reduce recycle, save water, save energy, take that one extra step. If you do you might save our planet. And if you don't...............

We need a clean environment. And we need it NOW.The lives of billions of people,trillions of species, both flora and fauna, are at stake. The future of the Earth is at stake.

Eco Friendly Tips For Around The House

AT HOME:GENERAL


-Firstly , the most common one, leave all the lights, fans, T.V.s, etc. switched off before leaving a room.
-Instead of leaving your computer on standby , or hibernate , shut  it down straight away, unless its for something really important .Shutting down your P.C means that you use less energy.
-Always try  to use rechargeable batteries , as this saves money from buying more batteries, and you don't have to throw away the old ones(batteries are hard to dispose of) .
-Instead of switching on the heater when it gets chilly, try wearing a thick jumper instead.

BATHROOM:
-Although people use clothes dryers nowadays , more often than clothes hangers , using the latter option saves a lot of energy and it only takes a couple of minutes extra to hang out the clothes. You can even get an indoor clothes hanger , so that you don't have to worry about the weather!
 -Using baths mean using litres and litres of water to clean yourself, so showering or using a bucket is the better , greener option. Contrary  to popular belief, showers use less water, as long as you don't leave them on for too long* and depending on the size of the bucket.
reference:

https://www.quora.com/On-average-does-bathing-in-shower-take-more-water-than-bathing-with-a-bucket-or-less

KITCHEN:
- Buy eatables and snacks that use cardboard packaging rather than plastic. Obviously, this can be hard, because things like crisps and cookies  rarely come in cardboard packaging.However in the case of fruit and veg, it is better to buy them loose, rather than packaged.
-Use things like potato peels and onion and carrot tops as natural manure for plants.The calcium and other chemicals in eggshells are very good for roses.

OUT IN THE GARDEN:
-Sprinklers  may save time and effort but a watering can or hose is better for the plants as  they spread out the water more evenly. Plus you can't control the flow of water in sprinklers ,so you end up wasting a lot of it.
-Do not use chemical fertilizers as these substances can have an adverse effect on the wildlife and other shrubs and bushes around the plants.
-Plant more flowering trees and plants, as they shall  attract  bees and butterflies ,who'll  pollinate the garden better.
-Harvest rainwater in buckets and vessels ,and use it to water your garden.
Try recycling some spare cardboard boxes to make birdfeeders. As a result ,your garden  will be a nice and pleasant sanctuary, and you'll have a lot less caterpillars and pests!


Hopefully ,you will be able to use these tips often, so hat you can make your household greener than ever before. Good luck!
NEXT WEEK: Why do we need a clean environment?

 

The History of Earth Day

The History -
The idea for a day to increase awareness about the Earth first came from peace activist John McConnell , at the 1969 UNESCO conference in San Francisco . A proclamation sanctifying this day to pay obsceiance  to  nature (scheduled on March 21st, the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere) was written by McConnell  and was signed by the then U.N Secretary General, UThant.
Almost simultaneously, U.S Senator Gaylord Nelson also decide to have a day to honor the Earth, and celebrated his Earth Day just a Month later , treating it as a  forum to increase Americans' awareness about  the environment. Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts.
In 1990,Earth Day went worldwide, and was celebrated in over 140 countries (141 ,to be exact)


 thanks to the work of Denis Hayes and  his organization (Hayes was also the national coordinator of Earth Day back in 1970).That  Earth Day was a huge success, and  gave an  impetus for Recycling plans of other countries all over the world. It also  gave  the United Nations the incentive to host a U.N  Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Denis Hayes's work really helped in spreading the word on Earth Day, and  its importance.

Vehicles are responsible for over a quarter of total greenhouse gas emissions
in U.S.Reference:https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources.html

Earth Day 2016 -


This Earth Day,177 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) members signed the Paris Agreement, which deals with matters such as reducing the global average temperature, mainly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions . An agreement on the  language of the document was negotiated by delegates of 195 nations at the 21st Conference of the parties of the UNFCCC in Paris ,and was adopted on the 12th of December 2015,although the agreement has not come into  force yet.
Reference:www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth day , Wikipedia
Earth Day isn't just a day where everyone smiles and plants a tree  and then ,the  next day,everything's the same again .It's a day when we realize how much we owe the Earth,for its air,water,fruit,all the creatures-essential for our survival .Earth Day the day we pay some of thet debt back. That's why we all should celebrate Earth Day,and that's why it all began.





My list of Top 10 environment -related facts

This is my list of environment-related facts, which, in my opinion, every environmentalist should know:

• Most polluted country in the  world:

 The most polluted country in the world is also the most populated one, China .Of the top ten most polluted cities on Earth, seven are in China, including Taiyuan, Beijing, and Urumqi.
Reference :  Pollution Index, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution_in_China

• Greenest country in the world:

The greenest country in the world is Sweden, one of the first countries to place a heavy tax on fossil fuels, in 1991. It 's also interesting to know that  about seventy-five percent of Swedes  recycle their garbage , and that Sweden actually imports garbage from other countries to burn as renewable energy.
Reference : Wikipedia, theridgefieldpress.com

• Most poisonous greenhouse gas:

Most of us would think it was CO2, but according to scientists and researchers at the University of Toronto, a new chemical , perfluorotributylamine
, or PFTBA , has the equivalent climatic impact of   about 7,100 carbon-dioxide molecules. It is used in electrical equipment , and has an extremely long lifespan in the atmosphere ( over 100 years).
Reference :america.aljazeera.com

• Most eco-friendly creature

There are several contenders in this category, but in my opinion, the greenest animal is the earthworm.
This tube shaped creature burrows through the soil, turning it and enriching it (its excreta is a very good fertilizer).Some say that earthworms are a gardener's best friends!
Other green animals inclue honey bees,which help plants in pollination, especially flowering shrubs.

• Tree which absorbs the most carbon dioxide:

Again, there is no ranking for this but a few trees which are especially efficient at absorbing CO2 are:
-Yellow Poplar
-Silver Maple
-Oak
-Horse Chestnut
-Pines
Reference: eartheasy.com

• Country with most deforestation:

Indonesia is the country with the highest deforestation rate, at least  two times the rate of Brazil .From  a forest cover of 170 million hectares in 1900 , in a 100 years this figure has been reduced to less than 100 million hectares . Wow....
Burning these forests to clear the land for cultivation has contributed to Indonesia being ranked  third  in the world for emitting the most greenhouse gases.
Reference: zeenews , Wikipedia

•  Dirtiest city in the world:

If you read the first fact, then perhaps you wouldn't be surprised to find out that the dirtiest city in the world is Linfen  , China . Located in the heart of the Shanki province , this city has numerous factories, owing to the filthy ,polluted  air here. It supplies coal to the rest of the country,providing about two-thirds of China's energy.
Reference: topdocumentarryfilms.com ,http://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/22

• Cleanest city in the world:

Here's an interesting question. Would you expect the cleanest city in the world to also be the country's main oil and gas industry? Ironically, you could, as the cleanest city ,Calgary, Alberta, in Canada, proves. With  around seventy-five percent of the total energy used in the city being renewable, and heavy fines for littering ,Calgary serves as an example in cleanliness (and " eco-friendliness"!) for the rest of the world.
Reference : huffingtonpost , mbctimes.com

• Most polluted water body in the world:

Several rivers and lakes are seriously contaminated and have toxic chemicals in their waters, but in my opinion ,The Citarum river, Indonesia, takes the prize. It is the largest river in West Java, and is severely polluted, mainly by human activity. The textile factories  and other industries located on its banks also  contribute to toxic waste contamination.In some places the garbage covers the water surface, so the you can hardly see the actual river .
Reference: indefinitereality.wordpress.com, Wikipedia

So,that brings us to the end of this post. If you like this post,please comment below.
P.S -Happy Earth Day!
NEXT WEEK-THE HISTORY OF EARTH DAY 

Why the environment?

As this is my very first blog ,I was looking for topics to base the posts on. Life style? Travel? Then it came to me. The environment. I've always wanted to write on that. And since  a clean environment is the need of the hour ,why not write about it? So that's how Earthbeat was born - a blog about the environment in its current state of decline ,and how to turn that  around.

Keep checking out this address for  my next post!

 NEXT WEEK : TEN ENVIRONMENT-RELATED FACTS EVERY ENVIRONMENTALIST SHOULD KNOW.