Pesticides 💀

     Hey.Today's post will consist of pesticides💀and their harmful effects on honeybees🐝.
     
     So, as you know, pesticides are super harmful to bees🐝, but why? Well, firstly they pretty much consist of toxic chemicals🌀 that are harmful to their health and the crops🌱 they are sprayed on. When pesticides are sprayed on plants/ crops they can get everywhere including the pollen✨, nectar and reproductive systems of plants which are all targets to honeybees. 

     Once the honeybees actually attain plants🌸 that have been contaminated with these harmful chemicals, they can not only hurt themselves, but the entire colony🐝. Usually, pesticides will individually affect the honeybee that gets into contact with ghe contaminated plant 🌱by messing with it's tracking, circulatory🤔 and memory systems making them forget their way back home🏡 to the hive, but in many cases, symptoms can be spread throughout the bees😕. When one bee returns to the hive carrying harmful chemicals🌫, all the other bees get impacted ad well as the queen👑. If you didn't know, honey🍯 is produced through the regurgitation of pollen over and over again as the honeybees take turns. Imagine how easily chemicals and pesticides🌀 can spread from that kind of contact and transmission! 

     Many studies have shown that a specific type of pesticide🌀is the main cause of colony collapses💀 They are called: Neonicotinoids. Sadly, this type of pesticide is used too often and can justify the occuring endangerement of the honeybee🐝. This is another readon why buying healthy, organic🌱 and local foods is the way to go. That way you are eating healthier 🍽and saving the bees. I mean is pesticides are harmful to honeybees, what makes them safe for humans😷? 

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

Love Stella❤️

Bee fun facts!

Hi everyone, it's Julia again! So today I'll just be letting you in on some fun facts about bees 🐝: 

1. Bees have been around for 100 million years. Ancient Egypt was the first place where people started beekeeping. 

2.  There are three types of bees in a hive: the Queen 👸🏼, Worker and Drone. 

3. A colony contains on average 50,000 bees!! 

4. One colony pollinates 4,000m2 of fruit trees 🌳 and makes an average of 14kg of honey 🍯!!

5. Bees pollinate 80% of the United States' crops. 

6. Honey had many health benefits: it has antiseptic, antioxidant, and cleansing properties.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you decide to partake in some of this week's challenges! ❤️😘

What would happen if honeybees went extinct?

     Hey. Stella here!! So, I wanted to write a post concerning the consequences and effects that a honeybee extinction would cause. As you most likely know ( I mean I hope you do ), honeybees are in huge trouble. This is mostly because of...once again...drum roll, please.............US HUMANS!!. Yup, humans are at fault once again.

    Firstly, there are many pesticides that can alter a bees state of mind, making it confused and unable to return to the hive, eventually dying. Also...of course, climate change and finally loss of habitat.
     Now I would like to give you some information about the consequences of all this like I mentioned earlier.

     What would happen if honeybees went extinct? 

1. 70% of the crop species that 90% of people in the world consume would no longer be available.

     What this means is that we would most likely not die because of a honeybee extinction except we would have a very boring, non-nutritious variety of food.

2. A variety of plants will begin to die out.

     This is bad, not only for the plants that are dying ( this is really sad because our planet is beautiful and diverse), but also because it would mess up the whole food chain. What happens to the animals that eat those plants? and the animals that eat those animals? A great example is almonds. Almonds would pretty much not exist if honeybees were to go extinct. Almonds are used in many feeds for animals such as cows and chickens. Eventually, this would cause fewer cattle and less dairy, eggs and meat for the human population (although I believe we should all be at least vegetarians).

3. Around 200 billion dollars created due to farming and the bees would go out the window.

     Although I am not a huge fan of the whole idea of money and its value and the economy being the number one priority, this is an issue as well. I believe that changing our beliefs and values for money is something that can change slowly day by day, but if the bees go extinct, drastic changes would occur. Industries would not have time o adapt and change their systems and in the end that would affect people the most. We would have fewer jobs, less food and less money to support our families.

4. No more cotton

     Why is this bad? Cotton is used for 35% of all fibre use, therefore, without cotton, we would have less good quality clothing and fabrics meaning a decrease in our quality of life once again.

     That is all I wanted to say! I hope this has inspired you to care and take action concerning the honeybees' endangerment. For ideas on how to help, consult the previous post written by Julia.

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

     Love Stella

Sources: bbc.com, AsapSCIENCE

Bees🐝

Hello everyone, it's Julia. Today's post will be all about bees 🐝! If you haven't heard yet, bees have recently made it on the endangered species list. This is really awful because they are the ones that pollinate all of the Earth's plants 🌱. If bees were to go extinct, the agriculture industry would crash which would mean we'd also die because we'd have no food! So how do we prevent this from happening? Well, I'll be giving 4 different ways to help raging from easy and inexpensive to a little harder and costly! 

1. Let your weeds grow! During spring time, many people spend hours in their front lawn pulling weeds, such as dandelions. Well, bees actually really enjoy feeding on these plants, so you can just relax inside and enjoy watching buzzing bees 🐝 go from dandelion to dandelion. 

2. Buy organic! Pesticides are useful for killing insects that feed on our crops, but they also hurt bees who are really there to help. Buying (certified) organic will mean that those harmful pesticides were not used. 

3. Plant bee friendly flowers 🌸! Unlike tip #1, this will need you to spend some time in the garden. Flowers such as thistles, sweet clovers, black eyed susans and sunflowers 🌻 are also great to plant for the bees 🐝 because they like to feed on them. 

4. Become an Urban Beekeeper! Urban beekeeping has become a new hobby that Stella and my school has actually started. It's basically adopting a hive and collecting its honey 🍯. We are both dying to get our own but it is a little expensive. If you're interested and live around Montreal, then here's a website that provides more info and sells the supplies. https://www.alveole.buzz/en/ 

5. This is an easy bonus challenge! Share this post to spread awareness 😝

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you've all been having a nice spring break! 

Love ❤️ 

Julia 

Do It Yourself

Hello! It's Julia and for today I'll be talking about zero waste toiletries. 

When buying products such as shampoo, body wash and conditioner, they will often come in plastic bottles that we throw out after use which becomes very wasteful. Also a lot of body washes, hand soaps and toothpastes that are supposed to exfoliate the skin actually contain something called micro beads. These are tiny pieces of plastic that goes down the drain and ends up finding it's way to the ocean and pollute it 🌊. Products containing micro beads are now ban in the United States 🇺🇸, but in Canada 🇨🇦 it distribution will only be stopped by mid 2018😭😭 . So for now, just please try to avoid them. 

So these are some ways to reduce toiletry waste: 

1. Buy or make bar soap: this is perfect because it will have less packaging. If you make it, that will also mean that the soap will be more natural! Here's a recipe if you're interested: 

https://thethingswellmake.com/recipe/making-a-basic-beginner-soap-and-then-making-it-fun/#_a5y_p=5865261

2. Buy or make shampoo/conditioner bars: like the bar soap, shampoo/conditioner bars have zero packaging. I've used 2 from Lush before and they were really amazing! They outlast three bottles of shampoo/conditioner , so you'd also be saving money because they only cost about 9-12$. I also have a recipe for making them that Stella and I are dying to make. Here it is: 

Shampoo

http://www.humblebeeandme.com/shea-butter-citrus-shampoo-bar/

Conditioner 

https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/ingredients/how-to-make-your-own-diy-conditioner-bar/

3. Buy in bulk: some bulk stores now sell body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Basically you would  just fill up a jar and reuse when done! 

Thx so much for reading!!! Once Stella and I get the chance to make some of the recipes, we'll definitely post pictures here and on our Instagram ( @_1actaday_). If you end making them we'd love ❤️ to know, comment or post a pic and tag us on Insta! 

Love, 

Julia 😘😘

Use Less Packaging

     Hey! Stella here. I hope you are having a beautiful day❤️. So as I mentioned in yesterday's post, Julia and I will give you some inspiration and tips throughout the week concerning the idea of using less. 
What I will write about is a way of using and wasting less packaging when purchasing and eating food🍞.
     I am aware that this was the theme/idea for the challenge a few weeks a go, but a reminder and some new tips will not hurt. You probably eat food 🍽if you are anything like any human on our planet, and that food probably comes with so much unecessary packaging which is bad for you and the environment🌎. By purchasing less packaged foods, you are reducing your carbon footprint🌀, eating healthier, capreating less waste and of course using less! 

     Here are some ways to use less packaging when purchasing foods:

Buy in bulk:
     This may seem quite obvious, but not many people actually do this enough. Try finding a local store near you where you can buy various foods🍚, nuts and dry fruits🍍 without any waste. This way you are choosing healthier😊 options and are most probably supporting less polluting companies.

Have a Checklist: 
     When grocery shopping, having a checklist 🗒of what you need to buy is always a good idea. Firslty you are being more organised which is always a bonus, and you are avoiding over consumption. Also, by having a grocery list, you can focus on buying organic🌱, healthy and less wasteful/packaged foods. 

Bring a Reusable Bag🛍:
     Using reusable bags for any situation or cause is the way to go. Firsly, plastic bags are made of plastic which is basically petrolium☠, and if you didn't know, the extraction of this ressource is very harmful for the planet🌎. Secondly, after using a plastic bag, it most probably gets trown away into the trash🗑 and ends up polluting our soil and waters while harming many animal species. Finally, it's way more convenient and can be mire beneficial since it lasts long and will probably last almost forever.

Avoid Plastic Bottles💦:
     I' e talked about this a million times...let's make it a million and one! Plastic bottles are costly💸, are made of petrolium, contain harmful chemicals🌫 that affect our health, and pollute out earth ans oceans🌊Purchase a reusable bottle. Trust me it's worth it.

That is all I have to remind you of when it comes to using less when buying food🍞

A few other tips: 
Try using less electricity💡 ( turn off the lights when you exit a room, unplug apliances that aren't being used...)
Be mindful when using your things ( try not to waste any materials, avoid throwing things away and explore alternatives such as recycling♻️ or reusing)

Also Julia will be writing a post about using less of your toiletries🛢 and making your own istead of buying overpriced ones that come with way too much packaging. 

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

Less is More

     Hey everyone! Stella here. So I will be filling in on the post Julia did yesterday just to elaborate a bit more and clear things up. So basically, the challenge for every day if this week is to use less of everything. What I mean by this is to be more conscience when making your decisions every day. 
     The thing is, us humans use more than we need. We over-consume. This is a serious issue especially since it is the number one cause of climate change🌊. And yes, I know you may be thinking that fossil fuels are the main cause...which is right, but think of it...why do we need so much electricity 💡in the first place? To produce all the products that are advertised, sold and bought by us humans. We need to change our way of thinking. I am aware that this is difficult because we are practically born into our world being told that we NEED this and that we NEED that, when really, all we need is food🍞, water 💧and a roof 🏡over our heads. This is why this week we are focusing on using less. 
   There are many benefits to using less actually. Firstly and most importantly, you are making an enormous difference concerning the environment 🌱and your carbon footprint 🌀, secondly you are saving money 💸, thirdly you are valuing your belongings much more, fourthly you are not participating in the support of child labor 👧🏻as much as before (this will be explained throughout the week), fifthly you are getting rid of uneeded clutter and making your life less stressful....I can go on forever, but I believe you got the idea. There are so many more reasons to use and buy less than the opposite. I mean will that seventh sweater 👚really make your life better? I don't think so. So think more critically and carefully. 
     Throughout the week Julia ans I will be inspiring you to take action (hopefully), and will be giving you tips and ideas to make this a bit more fun and interesting while also giving a lot of information concerning many topics. Some being: the food, clothing, and toiletries we purchase. 
     Anyway, that is all I wanted to say, and I hope you have a beautiful day❤️

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

Using Less

Hey guys, it's Julia! So sorry that we haven't posted in forever, we were both just really busy with science fair. Anyways, this week's challenge is to produce less waste. Canadians generate 4 pounds of trash per day. The challenge is simply to just buy less packaged stuff. For example, buy things in bulk using reusable containers. Stella and I actually went to one of these types of stores last weekend. These are some adresses for bulk stores if you live in Montreal: 

https://m.yelp.ca/biz/fleur-sauvage-aliments-naturel-montréal 

http://www.bulkbarn.ca/en/Home

http://bio-terre.com/en/

Clothes and Minimalism👕

Hi everyone, it's Julia and today's post will be about minimalism and how it is beneficial for the environment 🌏. So it's no surprise that we are a consumer society, which is one of the contributors to climate change. Becoming a minimalist means to own less and buy less, one of which would be clothing. The production of clothing is actually the world's second greatest polluter. According to http://www.senseandsustainability.net/2016/03/02/the-fashion-industry-and-its-impact-on-the-environment-and-society/ ,cotton uses 2.6% of global water and 53% of the world's textile produces and discharges about 40% of all dyeing chemicals worldwide (most untreated). By becoming a minimalist, you'd be buying less clothing, which wouldn't be contributing to some of these nasty effects that the fashion industry has on our planet (not to mention the way bigger compagnies treat their workers in third world countries). 

So for next time, try and ask yourself if you "really need this new cotton sweater", and just try and stick with what you have. It is also important to remember that there are other alternatives, like going thrift shopping ! 

Anyways, this so much for reading and make sure to read Friday's post, where Stella will be talking about the steps of owning less. ❤️❤️

Minimalism

     Hey. I'm very sorry about not posting last week. It's just that last week I had exams and a bunch of studying to do as well as for Julia. Anyway, so I have a challenge for this week so don't panick.🤗 
     The main theme/idea is minimalism. Basically what this means is having the least amount of unecessary things in your home. We live in a worl filled with the idea that we NEED to buy that or we NEED this, when in reality, all we need is food, water, a shelter and clothes👚👕. This week's challenge is to eliminate that consumerist idea from our brains. 

     Your goal is to go through as much stuff as possible and get rid of all the things that you don't need or that don't make you happy. Also help someone else by donating your unwanted things to charity. 

     How is this related to the environment? Well, firstly, when buying anything really, so much packaging is involved. Most of this packaging🎀 is harmful to our environment and also is bad when being produced. Another thing, think of all the factories 🌫there are out there producing so many green house gases. By buying only what you need, you are reducing your carbon footprint and are not supporting the destructive idea of consumerism🛍 I mean look at all the things around you. Every single object has it's own factory somewhere that is polluting the air with carbon🌀

     Throughout the week, Julia and I will be guiding you one step at a time, tackling different parts of your home, so you can try out the minimalist lifestyle. Anyway that's it for today😘
Thank you for caring and keep making the world a better place❤️.

Love Stella❤️❤️