Eco Lifestyle

All about eco friendly lifestyle and sustainability

Table of Contents
    Introduction:

    With our plastic way of life, the beautiful oceans, seas, estuaries, rivers, lakes, soil and atmosphere are polluted with plastic debris.  These plastic debris or plastic wastage come from different materials and are in different sizes.  Micro plastics are any plastic waste which is less than 5mm (milimetres) in length.  Their impact on health is significant.  As many of you know plastics take about 500 to 1000 years to bio degrade.  As such, these micro plastics also take a minimum of 500 years to degrade so once consumed they remain in your body for a very long time. 

    In 2019, there was a scientific literature review conducted on micro plastics pollution on seas, estuaries, rivers, lakes, soil and atmosphere.  More than 200 papers on the Web of Science database, published between 2006 and 2018, were reviewed.  It was then noted that further work needs to be undertaken before we have exact information about the amount of micro plastics that are released into the environment.

    Fig 1 (part of Reference 1)
    Where do these micro plastics come from though?

    Sadly they come from you and me, the human.  Plastics and micro plastics were introduced by us.  Micro plastics come from our consumables and habits.  One more reason we have to be careful about our behavior.  

    Micro beads are a type of micro plastic.   They are extremely small pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic.  Unfortunately many of the exfoliators and health and skincare products such as cleansers and toothpastes have these.2  Now do you understand why Go Eco Love is so into natural skincare?! Can you imagine what you are putting on your skin? There is a whole series of skin care education tips on Go Eco Love about what to watch out for when you buy skin care products.

    Anyways, these micro plastics easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in the ocean and Lakes because of the fact they are so tiny.  So what do you think is the end result? They end up back into our body!  An example is the sea salts we intake – they get back into our body through things we ingest.  Once they are back into our body, they cause multiple health issues resulting in endocrine deficiencies and stomach problems.  They are also very harmful to aquatic life. 

    Upon ingesting these, synthetic particles smaller than 150 μm can enter the gastroinstinal system. Scientists speculate that 0.3% of these particles should be absorbed and particles bigger than 10 µm can even pass through the blood–brain barrier and placenta with potential consequences to an unborn child. 3  These digested particles result in toxicity and inflammation to your stomach.  See below image on all the harms to our body.

    Fig 1 (part of Reference 3)

    Let me tell you a real story! Recently we were on a trip to Cuba, sailing away on a catamaran.  Whilst we were all enjoying themselves under the scorching sun, the bartender served everyone a pack of snacks which had sandwich, few nuts and biscuits.  These came in plastic wrapping.  We were also given plastic cups for our drinks and there was an announcement to put all our rubbish into the bins.

    Many were out, lying on the netting of the catamaran enjoying the beautiful sun, seeing the sparking water with the air blowing on our faces.  However, right in front of us, we saw many families and children throwing their waste through the netting of the catamaran.  As soon as the adult in the family started doing this, the children followed.  How sad is this? When will people ever learn? This is why we at Go Eco Love are passionate about education and awareness. 

    The netting of the catamaran

    We believe the more we keep educating and repeating about conscientious behavior, people will change.  The change has to be in the way you think.  It has to be in your attitude.  Let’s all join together and make a positive impact on the environment.

    REFERENCES:

    1Akdogan Z, Basak Guven B.  (2019) Microplastics in the environment: A critical review of current understanding and identification of future research needs. Environmental Pollution, Volume 254, Part A, 113011

    2The National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

    3 Barboza LGA, Vethaak DA, Lavorante BRBO, Lundebye AK, Guilhermino L. (2018) Marine microplastic debris: An emerging issue for food security, food safety and human health. Mar Pollut Bull.133:336-348.

    LET’S EACH ONE OF US TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY AND ACTION INDIVIDUALLY.
    Introduction:
    Table of Contents

      What does sustainability mean? Nowadays, it’s fashionable and chic to use this word. Everybody is talking about it! We read about it everywhere, we see it on Social media, and on our televisions. It’s a cliché topic these days. There was a time feminism was such a cliché topic. Now, it’s sustainability. But what does it mean with regard to our everyday lives?  Simplified, it means that your environmental footprint has a huge impact with regards to sustainability.

      At Go Eco Love, we consider sustainability to be an integral concept of living, a part of our daily lives. So let us explore some thoughts around it. First and foremost, sustainability is personal, which means it is different for each one of us. It’s a dynamic definition and we shouldn’t make the mistake of pinpointing and judging others about their interpretation of sustainability. We’re all different and we all make our contributions indifferent ways.

      Basically, as citizens of this beautiful planet, we should all strive to look after the Environment, the Community, the World, our Mother Nature, and our Earth. By educating ourselves, we are better able to educate our children, their children and all future generations. There is an American Indian proverb we love at Go Eco Love. We think it’s beautiful and aptly captures important element of sustainability and children.

      However, does it stop there? Looking at it from a holistic perspective, which is what we aim to do at Go Eco Love, sustainability is a rounded concept: it reflects the community from macro to micro organisms, from finance to the air we breathe. Yes it also means cows matter. It also means rats matter. It means Covid’s impact on everyone’s finance matters. Everything matters. It means that behavior and ethics matter as well.

      The 3 Pillars of Sustainability

      In general, there are three pillars of sustainability (Fig 1). These pillars are Social, Economic and the Ecosystem. Of great importance is the relationship between these three pillars. Each is pillar is vital, and indeed they are by necessity intertwined and impacting one another.

      Fig 1: Three Pillars of Sustainability

      You might have heard the word conservationism used synonymously with sustainability. Conservationism can be broadly classed as a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to protect natural resources, animal and plant species, and their habitats for the future. Interestingly, a lot of people think that climate change and conservationism are the be all and end all to sustainability. Thus, these words are used interchangeably. Although the underlying principles are the same, these two, are in essence, different concepts.  Therefore, greater care should be used when using these topics. The RSPB, UK, an organization, we support whole heartedly, has a fantastic page on conservationism and sustainability.

      It is absolutely fantastic that we have these movements and concepts. Nevertheless, the ultimate responsibility lies with you. At Go Eco Love, we sell handmade products, especially jute bags, herbal cosmetics and cards made by charitable organizations. This way we are utilizing the basic principles of sustainability and revitalizing the community financially. Our company model tackles the 3 pillars of sustainability. We also ensure we have a holistic perspective on sustainability.

      We significantly involve ourselves in education and awareness and work with children and young adults so that future generations are nurtured. The purpose of our eco products is to reduce the pollution by reusing all the containers in which the products come in.

      However, sustainability does not stop or begin with us. It requires help from all of you.​​ Each one of us can start with simple things like gardening, planting, using water and electricity carefully, making home improvements and buying less. The R concepts of recycling, repurposing, reducing, reusing, up cycling are fundamental to being sustainable.

      Robert Swan is a British polar explorer, environmental leader and public speaker. His quote aptly captures what we should all be doing in a nutshell: the greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.

      Let’s each one of us take accountability and action individually.

      At Go Eco Love we work with charities. We also put in effect sustainability mechanisms into our social entrepreneurship model.

      Watch the space, we are going to be putting out a magazine soon discussing some important topics and providing tips and help!!!!

      Sustainable
      Table of Contents
        PART 1: How to begin without spending!

        Starting a sustainable living doesn’t mean you need to dispose everything that is non-eco-friendly in your home and replace them with eco-stuff.

        With the kind of living we have now, we are to go down into the basics we knew since we were kids:

        REDUCE

        REUSE

        RECYCLE

        Sounds boring and cliché? 

        Let’s put some drama to it, shall we?

        Meet three kinds of friends while following three simple steps in starting your sustainable living journey!

        3R Cycle Step 1:
        Hello, Plastic PLASTICS

        If Plastic is trying to be your friend, you are not being mean if you turn them away. They may be clear, light, and clean looking, BUT let me tell you – they are plastic (figuratively)!

        Sadly, we all got hold of A LOT of them, plastics. Since we can’t get away with them that easily, let us use them for a somewhat advantage.

        Reuse reusable plastic bags. 

        Sounds a bit redundant but there is a fine line between single-use plastics and those reusable ones, so, be aware of those!

        Reusable plastics are quite sturdy, can be reused a lot of times, and can be sanitized, too! 

        Going for a grocery run? Why not bring those previous bags you got and reuse them as grocery bags again! And again.. And again.. until it wears off. 

        “Hey, can I just use my cloth bags?”

        By all means, YES! Just in case you don’t have one, YOU DON’T NEED TO BUY. Reuse whatever you have.

        Reuse reusable plastic containers.

        Same concept applies with the plastic bags. 

        Remember those take-outs you had for weeks? You have piled up a ton of food containers, right? BUT not all containers are made the same, so, do some research first to which can be used again for food. If not, reuse them as containers for other stuffs! 

        “Uhm, like how to reuse them?”

        Be creative!

        You can reuse them as storage for trinkets, some medicine, dry herbs, and a lot more! You can even use them as a potting container for planting! 

        Just make sure to wash them thoroughly before reusing!

        3R Cycle Step 2:
        Ditch the Singles

        For the record, there is nothing wrong about being SINGLE—except for SINGLE-USE PLASTICS.

        If our previous friend can be a friend for months or years depending on our care for them, this single friend of ours cannot be kept for long. Ooops, sorry! And a grave sorry for Mother Nature!

        For us not to pile a lot of convenient-but-not-friendly friend, we must practice Bring Your Own (BYO)… utensils! (spoon, fork, knives, straws, reusable food containers, etc.)

        First of all, you don’t need to buy new set of utensils for you to bring out. You can always use those extra spoons and fork (and whatever you need) you have at home, place it in a clean container, wrap in clean cloth, or put them all in a small bag, then you are good to go. 

        This step just needs a bit of practice and diligence for it to be a habit. Don’t shy away because you seemed different from the crowd! Make them see how your small act could be beneficial. Be the influencer!

        3R Cycle Step 3:
        Skip the Tissue-issue

        his last friend has been the star of the night (pandemic). Who could’ve thought that she was the sought-after or go-to friend of everybody? She was a star… but have fallen from grace. Why? She was just used to wipe all our problems and then thrown away.

        Remember, tissue paper is not reusable. Miserable. 

        Next to plastics, tissue paper is a convenient product to use. Just tear-wipe-throw, and your problem is done! Magic! But do you know the gruesome reality of your wastage? 

        In 2010, 27,000 trees A DAY are wiped out just for tissue paper use1. What more a decade after?

        So what to do? We should take our action, NOW.

        Skipping the use of tissue paper is just very simple. 

        When eating out, you can use your handkerchiefs or any small towel you may bring.  

        “Wet wipes??? “

        (rolling eyes)

        Let us not even start talking about that! And NO, don’t use it as an alternative to tissue! 

        Instead, you may use some cotton towels, reusable pads, or clean cloth cut-outs, soak them in a minimum amount of safe disinfectant, soap solution, or alcohol that can be used for cleaning. Store them in your reusable containers.

        These can we reused again just by washing them like how we wash our clothes. 

        “Hey, what about toilet needs?!”

        Why do we choose tissue over soap and water for this? If the latter is not available, you may use the alternative wipes and may dispose them properly OR store them until time for cleaning.

        With this simple step, your tissue friend would rest peacefully from all our dirty issues.

        Too much effort? 

        Well, nature already took its toll and it is presently backfiring. Why complain now? 

        Living sustainably starting from what is at hand is truly challenging. You don’t need to start from scratch. We can reassess what we aready have and start:

        REUSING whatever we have now. Reuse until it all wears off or cannot be fixed.

        Through the simple step of reusing, we are mindlessly REDUCING the consumption of plastics and tissue paper.

        Making use of plastics for other functions or using alternatives to tissue paper is already RECYCLING.

        And somehow, we are now set to be consciously taking action to whatever we consume and use.

        Starting something doesn’t have to be grandiose. From these small simple steps and making it a habit and influence others to do the same would make a big IMPACT! 

        START SMALL, START NOW! 

        (Even without spending)

        REFERENCE:

        1. Braun, D. (2010, April 16). Toilet paper wipes out 27,000 trees a day. National Geographic Society Newsroom.               https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2010/04/16/toilet-paper-wipes-out-27000-trees-a-day/

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