Water Pollution-Solutions

Hi everyone, it's Julia! So now that Stella has talked about all the different kinds of water pollution and its effects on the planet, I will be going through 5 ways you can all help. 

1. Buy Organic: it was explained in the last post that pesticides ides on farms can end up finding their way into oceans,lakes etc. The solution to this is pretty simple, buy certified organic!

2. Watch what goes down your drain: like the big factories that dump harmful chemicals into lakes and rivers, we can sometimes use the sink and shower as our own personal garbage can. We can forget that the things that go down the drain can get into water supplies and seriously damage ecosystems. Some examples are to use softer dish soaps, detergents, and to use shower products that are more natural. Also, don't wash food down the drain, put it in your compost or garbage. 

3. Buy less plastic: as mentioned by Stella, surface pollution is a big problem because it can be harmful to marine life. Surface pollution is largely made up of plastic, so the solution is to buy less of it. From plastic water bottles to most packaging, limiting the amount of plastic you buy can make a big difference. 

4. Limit you water consumption: this one is pretty oblivious, but taking shorter showers and not leaving the sink on while brushing your teeth can help in limiting your water footprint. If you want to make a bigger different, going vegetarian/vegan is the way to go. If you want to know why, this website explains the reason eating less meat helps: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140804100107.htm

5. Don't litter: this isn't a hard challenge because you shouldn't be littering in general, but when you do it close to a lake, river or the ocean it can contribute to surface pollution. The wind can pick up the trash and it ends up going into the water so that the aquatic life can eventually die choking on it.

Water Pollution

     Hey. It's Stella! This week we will be focusing on water pollution. I am aware this has been a discussed topic here on 1actaday, but Julia and I would like to go into it more since it is a very significant issue we are dealing with.

     The earth's surface is 70% water. What does that mean? Well, water is pretty important, in fact, life began in the water! This is only one reason why it makes sense to keep our waters clean! Water pollution is basically when any type of toxic or unhealthy substance enters a body of water. There are many types of water pollution that I will briefly write about since water pollution can come from different sources.

Surface Water Pollution
     This one is pretty simple. Any toxic element or trash that remains on the surface of the water is considered surface water pollution. This included various plastics such as plastic bottles and even elements such as petroleum. 

Oxygen Depletion
     This one is pretty interesting. When there is an overload or a very increased level of biodegradable matter that is in a body of water a polluting cycle begins. Basically, there are many microorganisms that live in these waters that feed off of these substances. This causes a good kind (aeoribic) to die out causing the bad kind (anaerobic) to thrive. Why are these bad? They can create certain toxic chemicals and can be very harmful to marine life.

Chemicals
     This one is pretty obvious. Harmful chemicals in water just aren't healthy for anyone! So many industries just use lakes and rivers as their trash cans often by just simply getting rid of either poisonous materials or toxic waste into these bodies of water. This is not okay...I mean why is it even okay. Even certain chemicals such as pesticides that are used for our crops can end up in water streams. This is so dangerous for human populations as well as animal ones. Finally, oil spills! Fossil fuel industries mess up many times causing huge messes and eventually contaminating oceans with dirty oils. 

     There are many consequences to these pollutions. Firstly, marine life is in critical condition since they end up consuming so many chemicals and so much trash we create. Many people consume fish and seafood, well often us humans end up consuming these chemicals and can be very dangerous to us as well. Dangerous toxins in waters can cause issues with reproduction, breathing, they can lead to suffocation (many sea creatures choke and suffocate from trash) and they just generally decrease life expectancy. A good example of how water pollution affects our earth is acid rain. It is basically when toxic elements get into the water cycle becoming rain and eventually destroying entire ecosystems. 

     We really need to act on this now. Water is essential to life and cannot be treated like a trash can. Just think of how dependent you are on water. Julia will be posting soon concerning solutions and actions you could make to take your part. 

     Thank you for caring and keep making the world a better place<3             

Love Stella

Bibliographical Sources:

Information: www.water-pollution.org.uk, wwf.panda.org

Images: www.emaze.com, www.linkedin.com, www.keywordssuggests.com

The Fashion Industry-Solutions

     Hey! Stella here! Today's post is about the fashion industry and what you could do to create your own positive impact. As you may know, the fashion industry can be very harmful to out environment considering the fact that so much waste is produced from it and that so much energy is needed and consumed.

     What can you do? There are many things you can do to reduce the negative effects the fashion industry has on our planet. 

1. Thrift Shop

     Thrift shopping is a great way to help this cause. By thrift shopping not only are you getting cute vintage clothing, but you are also consuming way less energy, creating less waste and are not supporting fast fashion. You see, by buying something used, you aren't buying something new that can be associated with the consequences I mentioned previously.

2.Clothing Swap

     Having a clothing swap is a great way to meet up with friends and have some fun. It is always great to give some clothes that you may not like anymore to someone else who may love them. This way you are giving your old clothing away to a new owner who can get something new out of them. Also, you may get some nice pieces from your friends as well!

3.Buying Locally/Ethically

     Buying locally is the way to go. If you must buy clothing, it is way better for the environment, to buy from local businesses that are ethical.The quality is most likely way better, you know where the product is being made (avoiding issues like child labor), you know who is being paid and also you are avoiding fast fashion.

4.Dazzling Up

     What I mean by this is getting creative and giving your clothes a new life. By either adding accessories such as buttons or embroidering on you old clothes, you can make then new again. Sometimes you get bored of that same old piece of clothing, but by dazzling it up it becomes fun and interesting again. Also, nobody will have the same thing as you since your clothes will be completely authentic. 

5.Donating Clothing

     This is a way to be eco-friendly, but also to help others in need. Start donating clothing to organizations and you may make someone's life a little better. Maybe you do not like certain clothing, but I am sure someone else would be very thankful to take it. As they say: "One man's trash is another man's treasure". You can also donate clothing to thrift stores!

6.Borrowing Clothing

     Instead of buying a new dress for that dance, borrow it from a friend or loved one! It is really not necessary to go out and buy a new item every time an occasion arises. By borrowing clothing, you are getting closer with friends or loved ones and can find some really fun and different pieces. Also, you are helping our Earth<3

7.Avoid Fast Fashion

     When shopping, the best thing to do is to avoid fast fashion. Many huge companies that are considered fast fashion industries such as H&M will do anything and everything to produce their products in the cheapest and fastest ways. This includes enormous amounts of pollution from factories, child labor, workers in horrible conditions (that are mostly from developing countries such as Bangladesh), and bad quality clothing so they can get destroyed after one wash making you shop more!! This is a very serious issue so avoid companies like these. Check the labels and what country they are made in, Also aim for organic and natural material such as 100% cotton.

     That's it! I hope this has inspired you to be more conscious of the decisions you make the next time you go shopping! 

Thank you for caring and keep making the world a better place<3

-Love Stella<3

,

Fast Fashion 👕

 Hello! It's Julia. So last week at school, an Earth committee that Stella and I are apart of planned a bunch of things for the students to celebrate earth week. Every year there's a theme, and for this year we chose to talk about the fast fashion industry. I thought it would be cool to talk to you guys about the same thing. You might be wondering what fast fashion is, it's simply inexpensive clothing that is designed in a way that will fall apart quickly so that consumers have to go back to stores and purchase again. Another question you might have is how it's bad for the environment ? Well, first it means that we are throwing out more clothing. According to Value village (a second hand store), Canadians produce 10.5 million tons of textile waste per year. We also have to keep in mind that the fashion is the second most polluting industry after oil. That means the more we buy, the more we contribute to that pollution. Countries like, China or India, where most of this clothing is manufactured also don't have many laws protecting the environment. For example, to power their factories they are allowed to use extensive amounts of "dirty energy", such as coal, which creates green house gas emissions. This is one of the reasons why there is a layer of "brow cloud" that hangs over the northern Indian Ocean and parts of South Asia. Companies situated in these parts of the world are also allowed to dump untreated toxic water into rivers and streams. Another thing to remember is that cotton needs a lot of water, for example it takes 400 gallons of water to make one cotton shirt and 1,800 gallons to make one pair of jeans. So again, having to repurchase more clothing because it keeps on falling apart contributes to this water consumption. This is all awful, and it's not even to mention the ways to workers are treated. Now I'll will list the top 5 stores to avoid because they are know to produce fast fashion.

1. H&M

2. Zara

3. Top shop 

4. Forever 21

5. Gap

Thank you guys so much for reading, tomorrow we'll post some ways you all could help!

Make The Difference

     Hey. Today I'll be writing about what you could do to reduce the effects of air pollution. Air pollution is a very serious issue and creates a huge impact on global warming and climate change. As Julia explained in the previous post, there are many causes and effects of air pollution, but today Ièm asking the question: What can you do about it?

     1. Conserve as much energy as possible.
Sadly, there is a huge relation between energy consumption and air pollution. 80% of all our energy worldwide comes from fossil fuels which, as you know, are burned to produce this energy. Think of it, almost every single thing we do requires an enormous amount of energy. Turn off your lights more often. Reduce your screen time. Air dry your clothing. Use less hot water. There are many things you can do. (If you would like me to write a post one day of all the ways to reduce your energy consumption in your day to day lives, please let me know in the comments or feel free to send me a message on 1actaday's Instagram account)

     2. Greener Transportation.
If you are anything like most people, you move around a lot throughout the day. You are either going to work or school, or maybe simply just running some errands. There are about 1.2 billion people that drive cars which is equivalent to 16.4% of everyone in the world. This may not seem like a lot but our transportation contributes to 12% of all the greenhouse gases that are emitted. If you can start walking or biking to where you have to go. It's more eco-friendly but is also way healthier for you. If this is an issue, try public transportation whenever you can. The bus is on its way anyway so really, you are polluting way less. If you really can't explore any of these methods, at least don't be that person who leaves their car running when they aren't driving. Every action makes a difference. 

     3. Make your voice heard.
Start looking into different ideas such as carbon tax and spread the word. Even by raising awareness you can really leave a mark. Post about issues such as air pollution and climate change on social media, or contact authorities and companies about these issues. You may think that this won't do much, but even if only one person is now aware of something serious like this, they may think before they leave their room and turn off the light. In the end, this blog is based on the same theory. There aren't as many people who read these posts, but as long as I see that there is at least one person, I know I am making my contribution and doing everything I can. 

     Thank you for caring and keep making the world a better place.

Love Stella<3

Air Pollution

Hey everyone, it’s Julia! Sorry we haven’t posted in a while, Stella and I were away on a school trip to Washington DC and didn’t have time. Moving on, today i’m going to be talking about air pollution and its causes and consequences, then tomorrow we’ll be posting some solutions to the issue. 

Air pollution is created in many different ways. Many of you might think that it’s mainly created from us driving our cars, but the biggest contributor is actually to process to make all of the products we purchase on a daily bases. From the pollution created by all the factories to the transportation in between, it adds up to be a lot. Of course cars contribute a fair amount, but they are nowhere near as bad as some other things according to http://www.cleanerandgreener.org/resources/air-pollution.html . Farming is also top on the list, especially to farming of bovine which we've gone into detail about becoming vegetarian in a older post (which I'll link down below). Keep in mind that all the pesticides need to be included too because they do end up affecting the quality of our air. The last point I'll go over is the production of electricity. The main way our society produces electricity is by using fossil fuels, which causes a lot of air pollution to refine. According to research done http://www.science.smith.edu , United States electricity production is responsible for 62.6% of US sulfur dioxide emissions, 21.1% of US nitrous oxide emissions and 40% of US carbon emissions.

  

So now I'll go over some consequences of air pollution (which won't only be environnemental). So for starters sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide are the cause for acid rain which leads to damaging lakes, forests and soil. These two gases are also very damaging to our health. They lead to urban smog which is responsible for a sickness like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (which is common with heavy smokers). Lastly, there's carbon dioxide which is of course a greenhouse gas, which leads to climate change. There are countless posts on the blog explaining climate change, so gain I'll link one down below. 

So please make sure to read tomorrow's post which will go over some solutions :-) !

-Julia

Here's a link to the vegetarian post: http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2017/01/eco-friendly-diet.html 

This is the link to a climate change post: http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2017/03/climate-changecatching-up.html 

Carbon Tax

Just a note before you read this, I wrote this for my English class (like Stella) so please don’t copy it or anything. 

Julia Ortiz 

ELA 3-01

Mr. Northey

Monday, March-27-17

Carbon Tax

            Did you know that according to NASA, 2016 was the third year in a row to have high record-setting surface temperatures?  I’m sure that it’s no surprise to you all that climate change is a big problem for our generation and the ones to come. As the planet’s temperature increases so do the sea levels leading to natural disasters and eventually landmasses being submerged under water. How do we stop this from happening? Well, there is a long list of things we can do to stop global warming, but I’m mainly going to be focusing on adopting a worldwide carbon tax. 

Before I begin talking about how implementing a carbon tax could help fix the issue, I’m first quickly going to explain what it is. It’s simply a tax put on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated from burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. A number of countries, including Canada, have carried out a carbon tax, but it really must be adopted faster and worldwide to make a difference. 

Now that I’ve briefly clarified what the tax is, I’m going to talk about what kind of differences it would make if the world started charging a hefty amount for fossil fuels. 

First, more people would start using other forms transportation because it would be much cheaper than buying gas. This would take a lot of cars off the road and would start lowering carbon emissions. Then, there would be an immense growth in demand for electric vehicles. Although they are very expensive now, companies would definitely lower the price because of the increased demand. Third, the world would make a shift to renewable energy, because again it would be much less expensive than using fossil fuels. According tolandartgenerator.org it would take 510,000 km2 of land to power the earth using solar energy. This might sound like a lot but it’s only 0.05% of the unpopulated area of the Saharan desert. All of this would create no need to mine, drill or dig up the earth’s soil anymore. 

This whole domino effect to finally reach the outcome of stabilizing our climate wouldn’t be the only great thing to happen. There would be no more oil spills affecting aquatic life, no more air pollution to affect our health and the P.H of our rain would neutralize. I could go on forever, but the main point is that nature is connected and doing one thing leads to many others.

To conclude, our society really must make an important shift to renewable energy by implementing a carbon tax to provide a future for not only the next generations but also for all the other living beings on our planet.

       

       

Bibliography

http://www.iflscience.com

http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca

http://rameznaam.com

https://www.nasa.gov

http://landartgenerator.org

Water

     Hey. This week's theme/challenge concerns water and water pollution. This is a significant topic because water is used in our everyday lives and is essential to our survival. After all, life did begin in the water itself. 

     Our top priority as a species is potable water. Did you know that only 2.5-2.75% of all water is fresh and 1.75-2% of that water is frozen within glaciers? Our life creating water is being harmed and abused by our species and we need to do something about this serious issue.

      Water pollution is not only throwing trash in the ocean but much more. Oil spills on surface waters are a huge danger as they harm us humans, animal species (marine life and land animals), and the environment. Another cause of water pollution is fossil fuels. As an example, the exploitation of tar sands can be so harmful. There is a lot of waste that is dumped into clean water surfaces. They may also interfere with sources such as underground aquifer systems that supply a lot of our drinking water. This interference is mostly occurring because tar sands or petroleum can be found underground as well. 
      Farming can be as harmful to our waters as well. Many farmers use pesticides, chemicals and fertilisers on their crops that later on get washed by the rain finally leading, to streams, rivers lakes and other water compounds. Although this may seem unlogical at first, air pollution can lead to water pollution as well. Acid rain is one of the consequences of air pollution. Chemicals in the sky interfere with the water cycle and contaminate the rain, eventually polluting whole ecosystems and water sources.Toxic waste such as chemical and radioactive waste is often dumped into lakes, rivers and ocean contaminating them and creatures living by. Finally, plastics and garbage being thrown into oceans is a harmful type of water pollution as well. This trash kills so many innocent creatures daily, and wildlife.

     How can you help?
1. Educate yourself and others concerning this topic,
2.Supporting the idea of laws and boundaries to companies and industries that pollute waters.
3.Supporting the idea of fining such industries in cases of water pollution. 
4.Not creating as much trash, by looking into alternatives (ex: no more plastic bottles and bags)
5.Using less water generally to conserve as much as possible (shorter showers...)
6.Contacting authorities and taking a stand.
7. Signing petitions protecting these water sources and marine life.
8.Not supporting industries that pollute waters by not purchasing their products or services.

Thank you so much for caring and keep making the world a better place<3
Love Stella<3

Climate Change...Catching Up

Hi. I want to apologise for not posting in the last couple of days.I had the idea of catching up on last weeks challenge concerning climate change. I decided I would post a speech I wrote for English class concerning climate change. I feel like it really captures the whole topic. Please do not use this or take it. It is written by me: Stella Eleftheriotis

You have probably fantasised about your future several times. Maybe you have thought about your first day of college, your career, the type of family you would like to have, and much more.  I am assuming that harsh and dangerous weather patterns such as flooding and extreme heat waves were never a part of your master plan. Today I will be talking to you about climate change. You may be thinking: Why should I care? Well, you should because climate change will affect our whole planet and all its creatures including every single one of us.

     Firstly, what is climate change? Technically it is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time, but what is causing climate change in this case? This is when I introduce the greenhouse effect, sunlight is reflected off of the Earth or is absorbed by it, but what happens when there is a barrier not allowing that sunlight and heat to escape back to space? The answer is climate change. And the barriers are the greenhouse gases such as water vapor, methane and the most popular carbon dioxide. These greenhouse gases are produced by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas for the purpose of creating electricity. Of course, there are other ways of producing electricity, but humans would rather put the whole planet on the line to make some money. Sadly, this all boils down to the selfishness, greed and lack of empathy humans possess.

     The one thing that is worse than the reason why climate change is occurring are its consequences. Climate change is responsible for harsh conditions such as flooding, harmful weather patterns, the endangerment and extinction of animal species and far more. As Ice caps continuously melt at a rate of 13.3% per decade, sea levels rise, causing flooding, the destruction of ecosystems and loss of habitat for many creatures. Our planet will be entirely consumed by these waters in less than 20 years if we continue at this same rate. There are also many harmful consequences when exploiting the main cause of climate change. The exploitation and use of fossil fuels not only pollutes the air, but is also the main causes of water, soil and sound pollution. Our planet is in serious danger and if we do not solve this problem, our lives will be at stake as well.

     We have been aware of the issue of climate change and our being responsible for it for decades, and not enough is being done concerning the support of change and difference. For these reasons we need to act now. Many of us hold scientists accountable for solving these issues, and may believe that one little non-ecofriendly action won’t hurt that much, but if we all think this way, an accumulation of actions occur. Many small actions build up to one big one. This concept is not the issue, but it is how it is being used that is the issue. What if we used this in a positive manner? If everyone were to start performing small eco-friendly actions in there day to day lives, once again an accumulation would occur and this would result in one large positive difference. But what are these positive actions? There is a range of things one can do to reduce the effects of climate change and lower their carbon footprint. Of course, the ultimate solution would be to switch to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind powered energies, but that cannot be directly changed from home. By supporting the idea of a carbon tax (which is a fine for emitters of greenhouse gases), and contacting authorities such as the government you can make a huge difference. You can become a vegetarian or vegan, or take more eco-friendly transportation methods such as biking. Even by generally consuming less and only buying what you need you can make a bigger difference than you think.

     In the end, we have to look at the theme of environment VS economy. Which is more important? We only have one home that we know of, the beautiful planet Earth. Is our whole planet and existence really worth the money? Will money give us the oxygen we breathe, the crops we grow and all the elements essential to our survival as a species and as living creatures among many more? Money has no value compared to these necessities. It is literally dead trees, or is also known as paper. This is why we must act now, before we lose everything that is of true value for ourselves and generations to come.

By Stella Eleftheriotis

I hope you liked this. Thank you for caring and keep making the world a better place.

Solutions! 🌱

Hey everyone, it's Julia! Today I'll be talking about climate change. Wow! I know, an environmental blog talking about climate change, what a shocker! Well, it's a very important topic and a lot of old posts have to do with the subject, so what I'm going to be doing is listing the top posts that help prevent climate change the most. I'll post the link to each individual post so that you don't have to go scrolling forever. 

1. Adopting a different diet: http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2017/01/eco-friendly-diet.html?m=1

2. Consuming less: http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2017/03/less-is-more.html?m=1

3. Eco friendly traveling: http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2017/01/eco-friendly-travelling.html?m=1

4. Using less electricity: 

http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2016/11/electricity-use.html?m=1

5. Buying/making things with less packaging (2 different links)

http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2017/03/do-it-yourself.html?m=1

http://1actaday.blogspot.ca/2017/03/use-less-packaging.html?m=1

6. Sign petitions: If you feel powerless in decisions the government takes that have an impact on environment, signing petitions can help. This is a link to a website that has a lot of different petitions concerning the environment and ones that have to do with other political issues. 

I hope you have a great week and tune in for Friday's post 😘❤️