Positive News Stories to Counter Eco-Anxiety

I see all too often on social media and when talking with friends how very worried so many people are about our future. People are concerned that nothing is being done to stop catastrophic Climate Change that could render much of the world in habitable for humans.  People see Governments and big corporations not acting or worse still actively promoting environmentally damaging activities, they see people being apathetic to the problems or at worst still in complete denial.  Too many may believe that there is a problem but think that either someone else will sort it out or why should they do anything to change when XYZ (insert whoever you want here) are not doing anything. Look on social media and you will see the likes of Greta Thunberg being pulled apart for standing up and demanding change and you'll see misinformation throughout the real and digital world. 

"We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it."

This quote by Barack Obama is why so many people have such high levels of eco-anxiety and I can count myself amongst those people. BUT ... it isn't all total gloom and doom and I'd like to highlight some of the ways that show there is reason to feel positive about the future.  This is not an exhaustive list and I am sure I will return to this topic again with new additions. 

Positive News Stories to Counter Eco-Anxiety

France has recently announced a law banning plastic on all fresh fruit and vegetables.  Supermarkets are also stocking increasing amounts of eco-friendly products - here in France every supermarket has sections where you can buy loose dry goods and our local one has a refill station for cleaning products.  You can buy Moocups and other reusable sanitary products, solid shampoo and conditioner bars and numerous other plastic-free alternatives to everyday products. It seems almost every shop from supermarkets to the tourist information centres stock refillable water bottles. More and more palm oil free and vegetarian/vegan products are being sold.

Beyond supermarkets there has been a meteoric rise in small eco-friendly businesses both on the high street with local and zero waste shops and online.

Climate Change is getting MUCH more coverage in mainstream media. This will partly be as a result of COP26 that is taking place in Glasgow as I type but it is also true to say that it was starting to go mainstream even before then.  A small part of the last episode of the BBC's Blue Planet programme brought the issue of plastic pollution in our seas into so many living rooms - young and old alike saw for the first time the direct consequences of our love affair with plastic and many vowed to reduce their dependence on it. And I'm not sure that even just 2 years ago we'd have had the likes of programmes such as Shop Well for the Planet (BBC) and Jo Lycett vs the Oil Giant (Channel 4). It's not only factual programmes and UK soaps and dramas are joining together to encourage discussion on Climate Change. In November 2021, seven of the UK's most popular TV dramas and soaps will each have a storyline focussing on an environmental topic and actors from each will appear in other programmes or discuss the environment as a way to highlight the issue and to act as a catalyst for dialogue. Such inter-programme collaboration has never happened before but this is unlikely to be a one off and 12 of UK's media brands have agreed to increase quantity and quality of climate change coverage in drama, comedy and daytime programming.

Young people are becoming more vocal and are not willing to be fobbed off by politicians and corporations.  It may have started with a lone Swedish girl striking outside her school but the youth environmental has grown and grown. There are young and extremely eloquent young climate activists across the globe pushing the message time and time again that for their future we have to act now.  Climate Change is covered on the school curriculum and young people are better informed on environmental issues than any previous generation.

It's not just young people. Everyone is becoming aware that there is a problem and that time is running out.  The number of eco-centric accounts and groups on social media has sky-rocketed and people use their accounts to spread the eco-message and call out greenwashing examples.  On social media and in real life it is becoming normal to talk about climate change. 

And the Royals are speaking out - the Queen was overhead dissing the Australian Prime Minister for saying he would not attend COP26 and Prince William is pushing for environmental change through his Earthshot Prize, a prestigious global environment prize designed to incentivise change and help repair the planet.

One argument put forward by climate deniers is they "believe" that the changes needed to avert climate change will result in the loss of jobs and that we will all return to the dark ages. But whilst it is true that some of the traditional jobs associated with climate damaging industries will disappear they will be replaced with millions of other jobs in the new clean energy sector, in new technologies and in urban food production, to name just three. Technology is moving fast to create an environmentally safe future. 

As the clock keeps ticking governments are beginning to realise that actually it is in their own interest to limit climate change. In the 1990's Costa Rica had the world’s highest global deforestation rates and less than a quarter of its original forest cover remained. However thanks to sustainable land use policies the country has stopped deforestation and reversed it, successfully replanting half of its lost forest whilst at the same time increasing economic growth. 

In too many cases the discussion for or against climate change is a left versus right political debate but sometimes something happens that brings both sides of this divide together.  The UK Government has been increasing the amount of raw sewage dumped into its waterways and coast and whilst opposition to this practice might previously have stopped at the doors of groups such as Surfers Against Sewage and conservation organisations this has not been the case this time. Thanks to some prominent tweets by the likes of 80's pop stat Feargal Sharkey everyone has got behind the call to stop this sewage dumping and at one point the story was headlining on both the Daily Mail (right wing newspaper) and the daily Mirror (left wing). 

These are just some of the good news environmental stories that I wanted to share.  We have a massively long way to go to ensure the global temperature does not rise too much but I do believe that together we can achieve this.  To keep yourself informed why not listen to some sustainability podcasts or subscribe to either a magazine such as Positive News or an email newsletter such as Happy Eco-News.  The better informed we are the better we can make the right decisions and fight the inevitable greenwash that will undoubtedly grow in the coming years.  

How do you feel about the future? Are you filled with eco-anxiety and can you see a path to a better future? Please do share any good news stories you have some across so we can all share them.

18 green words to live by

We are at a critical point. Time is running out to stop catastrophic climate change that will threaten our very existence. It is great to see so many people making and promoting positive environmental changes and we need to build on this and we all need to change the way we lead our lives. To do his most of us need a complete change in the way we approach our lives because everything we do had an effect on the planet. We need rewire our brains so that we automatically lead our lives in a way that is sustainable. In that way we don't need to wait for Governments and businesses to make the necessary changes - we can do it first and lead the way.

Whatever we are doing we need to remember keywords that will help make our life choices the ones that don't damage our planet. 

 

Less

We really need to be buying less stuff. We need to be using less energy and wasting less stuff including food.  The worst culprits are single use, disposable items but we need to buy less of everything because when we buy new stuff older items are thrown away.  In other words we live in a linear economy (raw materials are processed into a new, often single use products that are thrown away after use) when what we need to have is a circular economy - an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. 

Circular Economy Explained. Image from Deceleration.News

We can help shift from linear to circular if we think before we buy anything: We all know the 3 Rs but there are actually a lot more words we need to get into the habit of thinking about. Reduce, Re-use, Recycle are great but let's build on these three - we also need Repair, Upcycle, Downcycle, Repurpose, Re-home, Borrow, Lend, Share, Compost, Re-evaluate (what is actually important to us), Reject (what we don't need), Long-lasting (buy quality products), Make (our own) ... they might not make a very catchy acronym but once you start applying these ideas to your everyday life you are making important steps towards changing to that all important circular economy and a sustainable future. 

These words will also help:

Local

Buying from local producers means you are cutting down of transport, supporting strong local communities and helping the people who are closest too you. Less money is lost to the super rich CEOs of mega corporations with their often excessively wasteful lifestyles from obscenely large houses to private jets etc.

Seasonal

I am old enough to remember when you could only get strawberries for a few short weeks in summer and now, when-ever I see a recipe that combines ingredients from different seasons I got so cross.  Before you buy fresh produce ask yourself if it is in season because if not you can bet it travelled from afar.  Get into the habit of checking where your food comes from as supermarkets will often import foods even when they are in season locally.

Plastic-free

It is difficult to see where we stand on the war against plastic. In many ways we are losing with plastic filling every corner of our lives but it is also encouraging to see the growth in non-plastic products. The more the public buys these the more they will be produced, siple suppy ad demand. So think plastic before you buy anything, both the product itself and the packaging and choose those items with the least plastic. But remember, if you have plastic items keep using them and only replace them with plastic free ones when they are broken and really cannot be repaired.  

So now I have got you thinking green and becoming more environmentally friendly.  These are general terms to where we should all be aiming and unfortunately their vagueness is seized upon by businesses and used to to Greenwash the public. 

Greenwashing

Greenwashing is behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is. Environment damaging companies run campaigns to try and improve their images but they are meaningless in terms of what they actually say.  Many businesses label their products or services as "environmentally friendly" and "green" but again, once you dig just a little bit deeper you see they are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, more damaging than something not labelled in this way. It is all just green spin.  This blog post explains more about Greenwashing. But as you continue your journey to making good environmental choices it will become easier to recognise these non-environmental wolves in sheep's green clothing especially when you apply the keywords highlighted in this blog:

Less, Circular Economy, 

Repair, Upcycle, Downcycle, Repurpose, 

Re-home, Borrow, Lend, Share, 

Compost, 

Re-evaluate (what is actually important to us), 

Reject (what we don't need), Long-Lasting (buy quality products),

Make (our own), 

Local, Seasonal, 

Plastic-free,

Greenwashing.

 Do you think these keywords will help you live more sustainably?  Have you any others you would like to add? 

Green Bog Round Up - February 2020

Each month I am putting together a post with some of green themed blogs I have come across over the preceding month. Here are my favourites for February 2020 and if you have any interest subjects such as reducing waste, plastic free living, carbon offsetting and green cleaning then you will find at least one blog post here to enjoy.

Helen from Spot of the Earth reviewed her local Zero Waste Shop
You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook

Aaron from The Busy Papa will help us reduce fridge waste with this post.
You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest

Teja on the Horizon wrote about Carbon Offsetting based on your personality
You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram

With Summer on the way Justine from Little Green Duckie talks about how to having wet wipe free festival fun!
You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter

Spring Cleaning must be in the air as two bloggers have written about natural cleaning: 

Trail  of Breadcrumbs wrote about the simplicity of Green Cleaning  
You can follow this Trail of Breadcrumbs (see what I did there?!) on Twitter and Pinterest

and so did Isabel from Sustainable, Responsible Living  - Cleaning with Natural Products

You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Whilst we are talking Spring Cleaning I wanted to also highlight this post. I have recently become aware of cleaning influencers on instagram and how they are pushing their followers to use ridiculous amounts of cleaning products. This overuse is a disaster both for anyone who uses this amount of cleaners (something I blogged about before) and for the environment. One of these influencers, a brand ambassador for P&G, has over 3 million followers and in the unregulated world of instagram is able to post stories promoting their excess use whilst also showing unsafe ways to store these dangerous chemicals aka laundry tabs.  I can see no better reason to stop using these commercial cleaning products than the facts that they need child proof lids (that should NEVER be removed) and 7000 cases of ingestion were reported in a one year period and 6 deaths since have been attributed to people eating them. (source).

Finally I wrote a post about making environmental connections:

Find A Green and Rosie Life on Facebook, Instagram (joint page with the gite), Twitter and Pinterest.

... and don't forget you can follow my #DailyGreenTips over on my A Green and Rosie Life Facebook page.

If you have a blog post you would like to be added in the March roundup please do get in touch.  Posts need to be current and on any of these subjects:

• Recipes with seasonal and/or foraged ingredients
• Organic gardening and attracting wildlife to your garden
• The 4 Rs and a U - Reduce, Re-use, Recycle, Repair and Upcycle.
• Natural crafting
• Waste and energy reduction.
• Conservation posts - helping wildlife, wild flowers and their habitats.
• Connecting kids to Nature
• Discussions on green, sustainable, ethical, organic, environmental subjects such as:
• Green hobbies
• Green technology/advances
• Green politics
• Good environmental practice 
• Greenwashing 
• Sustainability and you

.... and lots more besides.  If you have a current post with a theme that is green, sustainable, ethical, organic, fair trade, environmental, seasonal or local please do get in touch and I'll include it in next month's round-up.

Have you made the connection? Climate Change and YOU

A few short weeks ago the news was full of stories of the bush fires in Australia. Whilst summer bush fires are not unusual the number this year there were many more than normal, they were bigger, they burned longer and the loss of life (wildlife, plant life and human) was greater than ever before.

Photo Credit

Now the news is full of a completely different natural disaster with catastrophic floods affecting many parts of the UK.  As with the fires in Australia there are more floods than have been seen since records began, they are deeper and have lasted longer.  Whilst deaths due to the flooding have thankfully been kept very low there have been deaths caused by falling trees etc in the storms than bought the flooding.

It is not just the UK either. In January 2020, 66 people were confirmed dead in Jakarta as a direct result of flooding and there are countless other examples of extreme weather events leading to loss of life, property and damage to land.

Image credit

The bush fires started earlier than usual and with greater ferocity due to exceptionally hot and dry weather.

The UK floods were caused by extremely heavy rain brought in on 2 severe winter storms.

These and many other extreme weather examples indicate that the overall climate is changing. Australia is becoming hotter and drier and whilst the UK is experiencing warmer and drier summers but having more winters with severe storms.

Climate Change is the result of increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  One of main ways this happens is through the burning of fossil fuels.  Fossil fuels are burned to create the electricity used to create all the stuff we buy and what it is powers aeroplanes.  Our excessive consumerism and addiction to flying are 2 of the main reasons we have bush fires and flooding.  We are therefore all responsible and have each played our part in these disasters played out around the world.   

Is your addiction to so much STUFF (clothes/imported food/electronics/cleaning products/plastic etc.) and the desire to FLY to a foreign holiday destination really more important than leaving behind a planet for our children to thrive in?

You can pin these images:

Embrace change, don't be negative.

Something I've noticed a lot recently is how quickly people are to jump on new climate friendly ideas with a whole heap of negativity.  It is always good to question new ideas and technologies to ascertain if they will really work and work out if they are going to be more damaging to the environment than what we already have but this is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the knee-jerk negativity that so often plagues innovative ideas. Let's talk storm drains.

I recently saw this innovative and simple way to limit how much rubbish is swept down storm drains, rubbish that ultimately ends up in our waterways an oceans.

On the original Facebook page (Tramore Eco-Group) where it was posted there were some really positive comments from the public and councillors looking to see how they could implement trials of this idea ... but in other groups where it was shared there was far too much negativity without any thought for finding a solution to the perceived problem.  Top of the list and most frequently cited was the fact that the baskets would need emptying on a regular basis to prevent flooding.  Cost was also cited and how they would block with leaves in autumn. Some just said they were dangerous and people would fall down them.

Baskets would need empting

It's a fair point but it is not enough to stop what could be a really simple way to limit how much rubbish gets into the drains and ultimately water courses. The problem of them needing cleaning out is not difficult to remedy and it's as simple as employing people to clear them on a regular basis.  As we tackle climate change there will be many new jobs created and many old "polluting" jobs will disappear.

Cost

To this I simply say we cannot afford NOT to tackle plastic pollution and we owe this to future generations.  As Abraham Lincoln said:

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.“

Dangerous

Quite simply anyone writing this had not taken on board that they would have a normal drain cover over them as shown in the top of the photo.

Trials would be needed to find the optimum size of basket and holes but this ridiculously uncomplicated addition to storm drains could massively limit how much rubbish reaches the sea. They could be used to compliment regular road sweeping and work alongside increased education to reduce littering.  Alternatives may be needed in areas with lot of trees where autumn leaves could block them.  But the simple fact is this could work. Let's be positive about ideas like this, not knock them down at the first hurdle.

Social media is a great place to share innovative ideas and I was so pleased to see local councillors talking about how they could set up trials for these drain baskets.  The negativity and unwillingness to change saddened me and I see this so much on social media.  We need to embrace innovation and be ready to change our world for better.  I'll leave you with this poster from World War Two and my namesake Rosie the Riveter. We can do anything if we put our mind to it as many thousands of men and women did during the war.  Let's all be Rosie!

Have you seen many examples of negativity towards eco-friendly ideas? 

Other posts you might enjoy:

   

7 eco friendly things you can do this week

More and more people are now aware that we need to make major changes to our lives to stop a climate catastrophe and it is going to take more that buying a reusable coffee cup or rejecting wet wipes.  Millions across  the globe are striking today to support action - are you?

Strike against Climate Change

This movement started when Greta Thurnberg was a sole person striking outside her school but it has now grown into an international movement supported by hundreds of thousands of people of all ages.  Joins students and adults alike on Friday 20th September 2019 to tell governments and businesses we not only want change we absolutely need it.  There will be other dates for direct action if you are reading this after September 20th so click on the link above to keep up to date.

Photo credit

Electric Vehicles are not the answer - we need a more radical solution

We all know that driving a traditional diesel or petrol car releases CO₂ that contributes to Climate Change.  These cars also release pollutants that can be damaging to our health.  Many countries are pledging to phase out the production of diesel vehicles urging the car drivers to switch to electric vehicles.  But are electric cars always the greenest option or should we be concentrating on a different approach altogether?  Whilst electric vehicles undoubtedly produce less CO₂ when being driven they are far from being as environmentally friendly as you might think.  For that reason I believe that we should we actually be pushing for a massive reduction in overall car ownership because the negative effect that all cars have on the planet goes far beyond the CO₂ they emit whilst being driven.

How to Overcome Negativity to Climate Change

It is a sad fact  that many people are not engaged enough with the issue of Climate Change to make the changes in their lives to tackle it.  The more I see of attitudes, especially on the Internet, the more I worry.  Let me give you three examples:

I was recently made aware of social media accounts pushing people to extreme cleaning with a massive arsenal of often toxic products all supplied in plastic packaging.  If you suggest an eco-friendly alternative or mention health concerns you will be labelled a troll and more than likely find yourself blocked.

Then there is the petition asking to being back plastic straws to MacDonalds.  Thankfully many more people have signed the ban plastic straws petitions but over 44,000 still want to drink their milkshakes with a plastic straw.

And very recently someone reading this blog was clearly not able to accept my point of view: In my last blog post, I wrote about how the world cannot support a growing population that over eats and wastes food. Whilst many acknowledged this, one reader was clearly very upset and accused me of being a sanctimonious vegan who spouted crap and was now turning on people.

"Ouch!"

I don't believe she properly read what I wrote, not least because I am not a vegan and my whole reason for writing this blog to to help people make simple green changes that can have far reaching positive effects - it is something I am passionate about but it appears this lady was very much against my view this time - or at least read it that way and so turned on me in her comment.  I have no idea exactly what sparked her anger but people will use various defences or strategies to justify why they do not need to do anything to something and she will have used one or more of these.

Gardening in a heatwave

I recently wrote a post explaining what all the effects of Climate Change will be and included this point about agriculture:

"Drought, flooding and changes in seasonal temperatures will mean farmers having to cope with either too much or too little water and increased levels of pests and diseases.  These negative effects on agriculture will result in increased food prices globally, food shortages and more famines."

As we bid farewell to the heatwave summer 2018, where temperatures rocketed and rain was almost non existent it seems like a good time to assess how one hot summer affected my vegetable garden at Eco-Gites of Lenault and consider how the heat will have affected farmers.

Why going vegan won't save the world ...

... but not wasting food, changing what meat we eat and altering our lifestyles will certainly help.

Some proponents of a vegan lifestyle state that if the world's population were to turn vegan we would save the world from climate change and cite the following reasons why they believe this is the case:

1. Livestock farming (especially for beef) produces methane (a greenhouse gas) via the natural digestive process of the animals ie cow farts. Methane is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO₂.

2. Areas of rainforest are being felled at an alarming rate with the cleared land used for cattle farming.  The forests previously would have absorbed CO₂ and when the soil is cultivated before being turned to pasture, it releases nitrous oxide and methane that are both stored in the soil. Nitrous oxide is 300 times more potent than CO₂ as a greenhouse gas.

3. A hectare of land can feed many more people if it produces plants as opposed to animals.

Sounds convincing but there is another side to these arguments.