1. Polyvinyl Plastic (PVC)PVC is in everything you see-clothes, toys, iPods, shower curtains, the cute plastic bag you get from any shopping outlet.
As any human being with half a brain will tell you, PVC is hard to dispose of and totally toxic. So we have to cut down on our dependency on plastic bags and stuff.
Bring your own canvas tote to shop. Blook, Treats, Jusco and Converse give out their own canvas totes with purchase, and these bags are too cute to be left at home to rot, so put them to good use.
Next time you buy a pen or a candy bar, say no to the plastic bag and drop it with environmental conscious style-o into your tote.
2. Ancient Forest Pulp
What's ancient forest pulp? It's stuff that makes up some of your tissues, office papers and paper napkins made from 10,000 years old ecosystems like the Boreal Forest in Canada.
What can you do to avoid the lumbering of these historical trees?
Reduce, reuse and recycle. It doesn't get any more simple than that.
Use your school announcement papers to calculate maths problems. Print documents on both sides of a paper. Use both sides of toilet paper when you're in the toilet. lol.
3. Genetically Engineered Food
There have been no long-term tests done on the impacts of GE food on human health.
Some potential health risks associated with GE food include the development of antibiotic resistance, allergic reactions, nutritional changes and the creation of toxins.
Say no to food which genes have been manipulated by money-seeking companies!
4. Excess Packaging
I cringe when I see a perfume wrapped in plastic film, placed in a thick cardboard box with bubble wrap surrounding the bottle. I think, dang, don't these manufacturers have brains?
Think about it. All that plastic comes from petroleum, which is a very very rare resource these days.
And where do these packaging stuff go to after you sift through them? TO THE DUMP. Maybe even to the rivers, or the seas, where some poor otter or dolphin would choke on it to death.
That's why I shop at Body Shop-they don't have packagings for their products. WOOT go Body Shop!
(Also at Body Shop, they practice fair trade blah blah blah which supports poor communities. And that's a different matter.)
Besides that, Body Shop is also having this promo-reject a plastic/paper bag from them this month and they'll donate 50 cents to the Malaysian Nature Society.
(Return your empty Body Shop bottles to them and you'll get a 10% discount on the same item!)
You can also take your own coffee cups to your coffee shop to avoid packaging, BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) and shop and take a spare food container the next time you want to take away some food.
5. Meat
Meat wastes other sources of food. The Worldwatch Institute estimates that the total amount of food and grain fed to livestock in the US each year could feed everyone on the planet five times over.
Animal production also wastes massive amounts of land, energy and water.
Did you know that by eating steak, you actually contribute to the emission of gasses much more than driving a car? It's true!
I thought it was bullcrap at first until I thought of the amount of methane a cow farts in its lifetime till it gets chopped, marinated, oiled and cooked. Bad cows.
Say no to steaks!
Go green at least once a week.
Try out vegetarian restaurants.
Eat a fruit salad with honey and yoghurt for a change.
Conclusion:
Take care of the Earth. Shoulder the responsibility and reduce your carbon emissions. Watch The Inconvinient Truth and get scared, because it's going to happen sooner or later.
All info edited and copied from:
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/take-action/greentips/what-to-avoid-when-shopping
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