I wanted to list my thoughts behind the sketch above and give "eco" alternatives in a factual way... no intentions of being preachy were put forth in the text below. And I included
links!
Left:
- Almost all soaps and detergents end up in oceans, rivers, and streams Most skin exfoliants use plastic beads instead of water soluble ingredients that then are flushed into the ocean and fish consume (bad!).
Instead: "green" soaps, detergents and face washes made with organic material
exfoliants, you can make your own too! Brown sugar is great!
- An estimated over 50 million
water bottles are disposed of each year. While you can recycle cans and bottles, they only can be recycled 1x.
Instead: reusable water bottles that can be purchased anywhere (look for the
"BPA Free" sticker)!
Middle:
- Only
10% of what you donate sells at thrift stores and goes back into use. 60-90% sold to textile recyclers in Africa and used as industrial products (rags, etc...). Clothes cannot be composted either because they are treated with chemicals and washed so many times their organic materials have no nutrients left.
Instead: spend responsibly.
-
Fish are filled with mercury. Sharks have the highest levels of toxins because they are tertiary consumers. They eat all the small fish with mercury.
Instead: look up
fish charts and avoid large consumption of secondary and tertiary fish, and
avoid eating sharks (and suspicious fish tacos).
Right:
- Recycle! Compost! And make sure your
e-waste does
not go in regular trash bins, but is
recycled responsibly.
- Lots of our trash ends up in the ocean and
circulates due to
ocean currents.
Birds and fish alike are found with all sorts of trash inside them that kills them because it doesn't decompose but just sits there clogging up their system.
Instead: be aware of your trash and packaged item consumption.
Happy Earth Day 2013! But isn't everyday earth day?
