The topic of this article may seem boring and mundane to many, and the proposed methods are too mundane. Nevertheless, this problem concerns everyone and only joint efforts can be somehow solved. By following just a few simple rules described below, everyone can contribute to saving our planet from an imminent threat that is getting closer and closer.
The crossing of native borders can always be recognized by the ever-increasing piles of garbage outside the window. I do not know what this is due to the poor performance of public utilities, the legacy of the Soviet past or the special breadth of the Slavic soul, but our people always litter, everywhere and with great pleasure. Although, however, the peculiarities of the Slavic soul probably have nothing to do with it — in the same Belarus there is almost perfect cleanliness.
It would be half a pity if these mountains of waste brought only aesthetic discomfort and moral feelings — it would still be possible to reconcile with this. The problem is that the garbage that exists today has an incredibly long life span and will outlive all readers of this article many times. Judge for yourself, a simple piece of paper will decompose for 2-10 years, a tin can – 80 years, plastic bags – more than 200 years, plastic – 500 years, glass – 1000 years. Just imagine, you will be gone for a long time, and the plastic cup you threw will lie in the forest for five centuries! Are you sure you want to leave such a message to future generations?
However, I am sure that most of the readers of Lifehacker are highly moral, educated and thinking people (otherwise how would they be here?), who definitely do not litter anywhere and clean up after themselves. However, this is clearly not enough. It's time to take a more active position and declare a boycott of all manufacturers of plastic poison.
The problem of plastic is not only in its longevity, which leads to the accumulation of these wastes in nature. Its unconditional cheapness leads to thoughtless one-time use, drunk -thrown away, broken — into waste. The production of plastics itself cannot be called environmentally friendly in any way, and as a result of even their proper disposal, such a bouquet of harmful substances is formed that you can study the periodic table.
This family demonstrates all the things made of plastic that they found in their house.
Thus, throughout the life of plastic products — from production to disposal — it is possible to state a huge harm to nature and man. There is only one conclusion to be drawn from this — we must strive to reduce the use of plastic products to a minimum. I'm not calling on you to give up plastic completely, as the family did in the photo above, but following just a few simple rules we can make life around us cleaner and better.
Today, when you wrap up at the nearest supermarket on your way home as usual, try to calculate how many plastic bags will be used to pack your purchases. Most of them will fly into the trash immediately upon arrival home, the rest after a while. It's just a senseless destruction of the environment at your expense. Take a convenient shopping bag with you and put everything there. And if you find a vintage item called «string bag », then not only save the environment, but also show yourself a fashionable, stylish person.
Yes, somehow imperceptibly we lived to the moment when it became dangerous to drink tap water. Many people use bottled water for drinking and cooking. However, no one guarantees the quality of this water, and you could read about the harm of plastic containers above. Therefore, it would be much more reasonable to use filters for water purification, the variety of which is simply huge on the market.
Pay attention to how many products around are enclosed in bright and beautiful plastic packaging, the only purpose of which is to be immediately thrown away. However, most products can be purchased without it. Try to buy cereals and tea by weight, take a walk to the nearest market where you can buy milk and butter, vegetables and herbs without harmful industrial packaging.
The list of tips about «life without plastic » could be continued further, for example, this article contains about a hundred tips on this topic. However, all of them, in general, can be reduced to one general principle: look around you and try to replace plastic things with something else.
We have watched large-format American films many times, where a spectacular superhero in a tight leotard saved our planet from a thermonuclear war, an alien invasion and a chemical threat. Unfortunately, this is a fairy tale, no one will come, no one will save. Only we ourselves, by small steps, by joint efforts. So far, a dense layer of plastic garbage has not completely overwhelmed us.
