Kenya: Water

Case Study on Kenyan farmers now saving water after implementing a new system.

 

Long-Term Environmental Care Does Not Equate to Automatic Taxation and More Metaphorical Hands In Your Wallet

The province of Ontario recently scrapped a proposed eco-tax on goods and services that negatively have an impact on the environment. This was largely due to public outcry, compounded by the installation of the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) on the same day.

Evidence is growing to support the belief that we are running out of space to live on this planet and that we should help maintain what space and water we have to promote a sustainable future for generations to come. Simply enter the term “global warming” your search engine of choice and you will be bombarded with everything from Global Warming For Dummies to documentaries recording human instigated damage on our environment. Ultimately, caring for this planet we call Earth should not be a chore. Education should be instigated at an early age to bring children closer to the environment so they have that initial connection.

Staying in Ontario, it is customary that high schools require students to complete a minimum forty hours of community service in order to graduate. Taxation by force should be the only way to care for this planet. Encouraging volunteers to plant trees, or creating jobs which promote the local environment are just some of a long list of potential solutions which will have both short-term and long-term benefits, more jobs and a healthier environment for your children for your family. We are all in this metaphorical boat together. We can either continue on course to that iceberg or we can alter destinations to suit our cultures. We are a diverse race, but a united force capable of living in a variety of places. Towns should consider what needs to be improved, whether it is the water supply or smog levels, and work with communities to foster a stronger partnership.

 

Use Chemistry, Save the World

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes upgrading is best. Say you went shopping for a new car and found out that you can purchase the best model on the market for free, you probably would not hesitate in your decision to say yes. However, in the documentary, Addicted to Plastic directed by Ian Connacher, the concept of downgrading for the betterment of the humanity is explored through the use of chemistry. For you see, most objects are formed when molecules bond together and by studying that bond, scientists can better analyse the relationship and environmental implications associated with that object. In the case of a vehicle, which is a compilation of several objects constructed individually, one can apply some fundamentals of chemistry such as degradation and decomposition to brake down a seemingly large object into a very small one.

If one were to change the object in question, say move from a car to a plastic bag for example, the impact of undergoing chemical processes would be very positive as it would in turn, result in less plastics going into the natural environment where animals and fish could potentially be killed by the exposure to this material. However, before mass amounts of plastics are dropped into a bucket of chemicals, scientists and chemists alike, need to make sure this process, once developed, is safe and does not result in greater amounts of damage to our ecosystem and environment.

Ultimately, in a new age of technology and the ability to engineer chemicals for manipulation, the real lesson that came out of this documentary was that the childhood phrase of,  ”reduce, reuse, and recycle,” is becoming increasingly more significant as our awareness as human beings in regard to our environment, Planet Earth, increases.