World Environment Day; Why We Should All Care

I spend a lot of my time thinking about our planet, wondering what we can do to help it and how our small decisions have an impact on the world around us. You see, I have always believed that just because my actions may be small doesnt mean they don't matter. I hear many people say 'well, it's not like I can make a difference' but you see you can. We all can.

Our planet has undergone significant change because of people, each of those were individuals too yet they shaped the world we live in. Charles Darwin was just a man running away to live on a boat and turned out to be one of the most influential figures in natural history, Jane Goodall just wanted to help look after a species she loved and David Attenborough, well, he needs no introduction. Each one of those individuals and so so so many more that you have never heard of have tried to discover, learn and help the environment and succeeded.

This years World Environment Day is all about saying no to plastic, an issue that we each interact with every day far more than you ever realise. From toothpaste tubes, and shower gels used in your morning routine, to your fruit and veg wrapped in plastic you use in your lunch, your afternoon chocolate bar or the odd ready meal for tea. Plastic is EVERYWHERE.

Just because plastic is everywhere though, doesn't mean we have to pick it. Every time you choose an item without plastic, you're not unwrapping something that will then take up to 1000 years to decompose, your not using a straw for 20 minutes for it then exist for another 600 years and you're not adding to the 9 million tons of plastic that is dumped into the ocean every year.

We talk about not feeling powerful and yet these decisions are important, especially considering 50% of plastic produced is only used once, yep once! With plastic using 8% of the worlds oil resource its time that we all started to care about its impact a little more.

So this World Environment Day, why not start with the little things:

When grocery shopping, dont put your veg in one of those thin plastic bags.

Dont purchase plastic cotton buds, instead use paper ones

Buy matches instead of a lighter for your candles.

Buy a canvas bag as most bags for life are still plastic.

Instead of buying chewing gum buy mints because chewing plastic isnt quite as appealing.

Invest in a few nice glass jars for storing food in the fridge, they look great and are so much easier to recycle.

Try shopping at your local farmers market, they often use paper bags or, you can bring your own.

Invest in Beewax clothes instead of cling film

If you need new clothes hangers, buy wooden ones

Go charity shopping for new garments on the odd occasion, many clothes contain plastic fibres and so purchasing vintage means you extend the life of these products.

Try to find biodegradable bin liners (don't worry they dont degrade quick enough for them to fall apart in your house).

Finally, the easiest thing we can all do = See some litter, pick it up. If theres a plastic bag on the road, grab it and put it in the bin, if you're on the beach, try and clear away a little bit of rubbish and if you're at a park don't leave your rubbish behind, no one likes a litter bug.

So here's to all of us, trying to make little changes that really do matter, for the environment around us and for the wildlife that plastic kills. After all, you could save an animals life. Surely thats a good enough reason if you need one!

Love
Erin