My response to the fires in the Amazon

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deforestation SOS .jpg

Fellow humans living together in this planet we call earth, mother earth, our home:

The conversation around the environment is no longer about climate change, change is the only constant, the climate is all-ways changing, we are in a climate CRISIS.  

Crisis - “ a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. A time when a difficult or important decision must be made. “ The dictionary

A crisis can be a catalyst for positive change, if we take action. It can be the turning point of a problem when an important change takes place, indicating either recovery or death.

Are we willing to do try something new when we hear about a world crisis or are we choosing to stay the same?

Two actions we can take:

  1. Feel sad, maybe share a post about it, and forget about it, and move on with your life.

  2. Take constructive action. Do something about it. Research. Change.

Deforestation

Regarding deforestation in the "lungs of the earth" the amazon, and all the forests and green spaces that cover mother earth, here are some things to think about and some action steps.

Deforestation is the clearance, clearcutting or clearing is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land which is then converted to a non-forest use. 

Our planet is covered by more than 10 billion acres of forests, which is over 30% of its entirety. Now, people are cutting them down at a rapid rate (about 15 million acres per year) in order to make room for developments, such as roads, buildings and other man-made structures. This has been happening since the early 1990s. Concrete jungle anyone?

At current rates of deforestation, the world’s rain forests could disappear in 100 years. Forest destruction produces as much as 15% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions — more than from all the planes, trains and automobiles on Earth, according to The Nature Conservancy.

Top Industries Practicing Deforestation

Here are the top industries practicing the removal of the earth's lungs.  Are we funding them? My guess is yes we all are.

  1. Logging

    1. They cut down trees in a forest to harvest timber for wood, products or fuel, is a primary driver of deforestation. Here are the products you probably buy every day

      1. Things to consider - Toilet paper, paper towels, tissue, wet wipes, printer paper, online ordering (boxes), charcoal for bar-b-q (they use pulp), paper bags, register receipts. If we’re buying paper or wood made products we are saying yes with our dollars to more deforestation from logging.

      2. What can we do? - In your daily life you can control these things. Say no to paper bags and receipts, purchase tree fee toilet paper, paper-towels, tissue etc, Try bamboo not recycled paper or sugar cane (same same), try a bidet in the bathroom instead of paper. Research before you buy. Are these products certified by a third party for sustainable practices? Learn about the Rainforest Alliance

  2. Agriculture

    1. Farmers clear the land for crops or for cattle and often will clear acres of land using slash and burn techniques.

      1. Things to consider

        1. Omnivore - how much beef do you consume a year, a month, a week, a day? Do you know where it comes from? How was it grown? Do you care? Learn More

        2. Vegan - did you know the demand for soy products has increased by like 150% since the mid 90’s because of all the fake meat soy based products demand? and Brazil grows 82% of the worlds soy, yeah where the amazon fires are happening right now. Are you eating soy based products? Learn more

      2. What can we do? - Stop buying soy based products, or take your time to research the company and see where this soy is coming from how is it grown? Eat less meat, and buy from sustainable sources Try ButcherBox

  3. Palm oil

    1. Used for biofuel and in many packaged foods and beauty products. Indonesian and Malaysian farmers destroy acres of trees to harvest it. Learn more

      1. Things to consider

        1. Read your labels - go to your kitchen and your bathroom cabinets and see how many items you have that have palm oil. When I read a label and it says palm oil I immediately put it away. But wait! Palm Oils has like 30 other names! Click here to see them

      2. What to do?

        1. Read those name for palm oil in the link above, and do your due diligence to say no to products that list these items, take it a step further and write to that company. Learn more about companies following not following suit for responsible palm oil harvesting

  4. Mining

    1. Digging a coal, diamond or gold mine requires the removal of all forest cover, not just for the mines but also for trucks and equipment. Learn more

      1. Things to consider -

        1. Do you wear gold, diamonds? Do you know where they come from? blood diamonds?

        2. Coal is mainly used in electricity generation, steel production, cement manufacturing and as a liquid fuel. What kind of car do we drive? electric? hybrid? does your city use coal energy?

      2. What to do?

        1. Would you consider ethical and sustainable diamonds and gold? Click here to learn more

        2. Turn off the lights. About 25% of the electricity we use at home goes to power our lights. Use energy-saving bulbs. Unplug computers and other electronics. Plug into a power strip.

Now what? How does this make you feel? What are you willing to do about it?

Earth is our home, we live in it. It provides us with are most basic needs to survive, food, air, and water. How do we care for it? Think about the industries dominating these energy sources for us.

  1. Food - poisoned with chemicals

  2. Water - also poisoned

  3. Air - wait also poisoned

I think there are a few ways people respond to the #bigtruth

1) Fear - they turn it in to worry or worse, apathy.

2) Rage - either express vocally or a a share here and there or use it to get shit done

3) Love - do the work to start reversing the effect that he/she has on that issue by taking personally responsibility to change his or her ways of contribution to the problem.

#chooselove

Change must begin at the root cause not at the superficial level. If we are funding these industries they are going to keep supplying, basic Supply and Demand.

Now is your turn to take action!

  1. Comment below and share your thoughts and ideas regarding what we can do to be better humans to mother earth.

  2. Share with someone you want to talk to about this.

  3. Take as many action steps that I shared as you can to send a message to these industries.



    Here is a Spotify playlist to inspire you

Thank you so much for reading!

Remember, eat Healthy, think Sexy, live Green!

Barbara