Green Services Direct

As we all know too well, headlines grab our attention on a daily basis, while thousands of mundane events take place around us every day which are never reported or brought to our attention. Damaging our environment can be a similar scenario. We hear the headlines around CO2 emissions from vehicle exhausts and the dangers of deforestation, but what about the damage we cause to our environment by washing our faces or brushing our teeth?

Burning fossil fuels is undoubtedly the biggest, headline grabbing, environmental destroyer. We drive petrol and diesel vehicles up and down our motorways and sit in traffic congested streets in our town and cities, all the while pumping lethal carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere. 

Many of us are being persuaded to join the electric evolution as electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, although EVs are still viewed by many as rich man’s toys because of the high purchase cost of both the vehicle and the home charging points. Even EVs are not totally ‘green’ as much of the electricity generated to power them still comes from fossil fuelled power stations rather than renewable sources, such as wind or solar

Until we reach a renewable energy saturation point, the majority of power that we use domestically is liable to be causing the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel power generation plants. The more we can cut our energy consumption at home the less effect we will have on the environment, with the added bonus of cutting our energy bills. These can be simple things like 

• Only boiling enough water in a kettle for your needs rather than filling the kettle every time. 
• Keeping doors closed to cut down on draughts 
• Switch lights off in rooms or areas not being used. 
• Turn your heating down a couple of degrees 
• Switch appliances such as televisions off at the sockets when not in use
• Hang washing up/out rather than use a tumble dryer.

These are all small changes but will make a difference to your power consumption and therefore, your environmental impact.

The use of plastics is a major environmental concern. The majority of items we buy in shops and supermarkets are packaged in plastic containers and most carrier bags offered at the checkouts are also plastic. Food packaging accounts for almost three quarters of all household trash and waste that eventually end up in landfill. Plastic is a problem as it does not bio degrade and will remain in a landfill site for decades, polluting that site. Light plastic, like plastic bags or netting can get blown way easily and often ends up floating in our oceans where it can be ingested by marine wildlife. Marine life can also get snagged in plastic netting discarded by fishermen.

One of the problems of recycling plastics is that not all plastics are recyclable. Read the label on the supermarket packaging for your favourite ready meal and very often it will tell you that the sleeve is recyclable being cardboard, the plastic tray can be recycled but the plastic film cannot be. One type of plant pot can be recycled but another cannot. All very confusing and sadly the outcome is that many people simply throw everything into the same bin. It would be good if the packaging industry would get its act together on materials.

Plastic is also present in toothpaste which we use regularly to clean our teeth. It is in the form of minute plastic beads, which give the toothpaste the abrasiveness to remove plaque from the surface of our teeth and as we rinse our mouths, the beads are washed away. They are not large enough to be caught by treatment works so end up in our rivers and seas, where they are ingested by the fish that we later eat.

Exfoliating face washes are even less environmentally friendly, as they are made up of small abrasive plastic micro-beads which are carried from our bathrooms into our waterways where they are eaten by fish and other river dwellers, damaging their organs and in some cases their gills. These plastic micro-beads will still be present in fish when they are served up on our plates.

Toilet flushing is another domestic action which we tend to carry out without a great deal of thought. While some flushes are obviously necessary for hygiene purposes, we do tend to flush our toilets for other reasons and every time we do that we literally flush good clean water down the pan. That water then goes through the sewage system and is treated in a treatment works before being recycled into an adjacent waterway. 

Some people place a brick into their toilet cistern which means less water is needed to fill and less water is used per flush. We also have a tendency to let our water tap run while we clean our teeth. As a society, we very much take fresh running water as a given, but wasting water is harmful to the environment and if your water is metered, it is also the equivalent to flushing money down the toilet.

The majority of the population of developed countries are aware of global warming and the long term damage greenhouse gases do to the environment and most seem to accept that renewable energy is the only way to generate our electricity in the future. They are on board with cutting down on carbon dioxide by switching to electric vehicles, even if they are not able to afford one at present. These are the headline issues affecting our environment which politicians constantly remind us of and do their best to convince us of the benefits.

One of the most harmful greenhouse gases is methane, which is produced by cattle being farmed for our consumption. Adopting a more plant based diet will cut down on the number of methane producing animals we breed for human consumption. Such a move would also mean that we require less acreage for the grazing of animals, reducing the need to cut down forests which soak up carbon dioxide.

Issues such as those above, and others such as cutting down our paper usage, properly recycling our waste such as used batteries and printer cartridges which will do untold harm to the soil and wildlife around landfill sites None of these are big steps for individuals or families but all of these small steps in the right direction will lead to a healthier environment.