Thank you for contributing to the Tellus Think Tank quest of sharing ideas to inspire others!
We gathered 22 voices on Doing It Yourself – Saving Earth.
Can we continue living in this way?
In the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, about 1815, Earth was inhabited by one billion people.
Two hundred years later, there is currently seven billion people on Earth, a number still increasing.
Humanity is using more and more of Earths resources in not altogether constructive ways.
The current human way of life is causing problems such as “Global Warming” but also decreasing the diversity on our planet. Many animal- and plant species are already extinct and many more are on the road towards the same unfortunate future.
In December 2015, at the COP21 UN climate conference in Paris, an international environmental agreement was reached. It shows that our politicians are working on finding environmental solutions. However, they are often also part of the vast amount of environment problems we need to tackle:
- Green house gas emissions are still increasing:
Peak hour traffic Photo: AnnVixen -The amount of fossil fuelled transports causing massive carbon dioxide emissions.
-The growing market for beef and lamm meat are causing massive methan emissions. - The lacking of clean, natural land and nature, that give people, animals and plants the possibility to thrive and grow.
- The pollution of our lands and oceans because of waste and toxic contamination.
- The Depleting of agricultural land, allowing the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
- The list goes on, read more about the challenges of Earth here…
22 voices – Do It Yourself – Save Earth
What if it’s up to You and me? Not everybody can do everything, but together we believe we can save our planet!
DIY #001 – Ashish, 21 years old, from Gujarat, India: I have worked for several NGO’s to try and help people in different ways and today I often take the role as a mentor at my workplaces to help people by visualising how to do things in a good way and avoid mistakes and waste.
DIY #002 –Vincent, 12 years, Stockholm, Sweden: I sort all my waste in piles; food, plastic, paper and metal.
Then once a week I take all that has been sorted to the recycle bins on our block.
DIY #003 – Kate Raworth, founder of Doughnut Economics, 45 years, Oxford, United Kingdom: I am a vegetarian for sustainability reasons. I try not to fly for privately. I try and influence the way people understand the world but providing them with new pictures and paradigms. I try to inspire my children by talking to them on why we don’t fly and why we don’t fill our house with plastic toys and why we rather take the bike than the car and why we have solar panels on our house.
DIY #004 – Josefina Skerk, vice president in the native Swedes parliament/Sametinget, 28 years: I moved back to the back-country / country side to be able to learn about traditional Sami ways of living – how to gather food in nature, fishing etc. And I support anyone to look further than to strive for a glamorous looking urban life. I question what is considered normal and promote slow living. Work is not the purpose of my life.
DIY #005 – Niclas, 28 years, Södermalm, Stockholm, Sweden: I have chosen not to buy or drive a car. I do the
usual stuff like recycle and I also eat both organically branded food and locally produced food. I sometimes feel it is difficult to chose between the two – which one is best from a sustainable perspective? I also try to eat less meat.
DIY #006 – Juste, 18 years, Kaunas, Lithuania: I recycle trash at home and do not to throw rubbish in the streets. I would really like to know how to live more sustainable and I would like our government to help provide more sustainable ways of living.
DIY #007 – Johan, 15 years, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. One thing I do to be conscious about the environment is turn off the water from running in the sink, while I brush my teeth. This can waste over a gallon of water and is a huge waste of energy. To reuse materials, I recycle paper materials I am done using. When I am out camping, I use newspaper clippings for fires (to keep warm), which I got from the newspaper I read.
DIY #008 – Max 12 years, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Our family is really good at recycling items in our home, such as empty food containers, loose papers, metal in cans and cardboard boxes etc. Every week we have a completely full and even overflowing recycling can. While our trash can is usually only filled about ¼ of the way with trash.
DIY #009 – Bonny, 8 years, Stockholm, Sweden: I sort all food scraps that can be composted in a special bin and take it out to the family compost. I encourage my
parents to take me to school by foot and not by car, even when it is raining.
DIY #010 – Faith, 44 years, Taiwan, Taiwan: I recycle trash and food and I don’t use plastic bags.
DIY #011 – Rebecca, 25 years, Stockholm, Sweden: I ride my bicycle to work, spend a lot of my free time in nature and I try to live healthy by eating healthy food and exercising and meeting friends.
DIY #012 – Mikael, 45 years, Stockholm, Sweden: I try only to eat locally produced food when available.
DIY #013 – Kerstin, 25 years, Tullinge, Stockholm: I knit my own dish cloths of linen wool, instead of using dish cloths of plastic!
DIY #014 – Agata, 38 years, Södertälje, Sweden: I try to live a minimalistic life and use my stuff, such as Jeans and
mobile phones, until they break or are teared and don’t worka anymore. I prefer sustainable meat from organic free-cage poultry and use the public transport to the furthes extent.
DIY #015 – Alexandra, 42 years, Stockholm, Sweden: When shopping home and clothes cleaning products or body- and hair products our family normally tries to find products with an official environment trademark on – here in Sweden we often choose from “Svanmärkt”, “Astma & Allergiförbundet” or “Bra Miljöval” to mention some. Classifications like this give us the impression that the product substances are easily recycled!
DIY #016 – Yasmine, 25 years, Christchurch, New Zealand: I use my bicycle to avoid using vehicles that run on petrol!
DIY #017 – Margareta, 62 years, Vallentuna, Sweden: I have down-sized my living quarters from 75 to 47 square meters and I buy organic food. In the process of down-sizing I took all the stuff I wanted rid of to Starcycle as they distribute everything to organisations like the Red Cross or Womens Aids etc. I prefer to buy services from company’s that have a green- or peoples rights profile.
DIY #018 – Eric, 51 years, Edinburgh, Scotland. I don’t waste food or eat meat, and I
cycle or walk around my home city.
DIY #019 – Matilda, 12 years, Stockholm, Sweden: I recycle paper and other things at home, take my bottles back to the shop and I don’t litter!
DIY #020 – Raz State, 43 years, Stockholm, Sweden. I avoid products containing uncertified palm-oil, to give some examples Nutella and Palmolive products. They use palm-oil from uncertified plantations mainly in Indonesia and are the direct cause of the diminishing habitat of the organutangs. I have also taught my children to be ambassadors, among their friends and in school, for CERTIFIED palm-oil.
DIY #021 – Maja, 68 years, The Old City of Stockholm, Sweden: I recycle trash and avoid wasting more than necessary and I try to consume and buy as little stuff as possible.
DIY #022 – Frida, 26 years, Lund, Sweden: I make an effort to choose food of good quality and not just buy the cheapest alternative available. I also try and buy food from smaller producers and not just from big-chain-brands.
Join in – Save Earth by sharing ideas!
1) What you are doing to save the planet
2) your name
3) your age
4) your country of residence
5) picture
Read about one of Swedens first eco villages, Understenshöjden! Built by people that actively have chosen to live in a more sustainable way!
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