Conservation
Sustainability
Sustainability has developed into a hot topic, but it's also an incredibly vague, often misunderstood topic.. To summarize Suzuki's wise words, sustainability means "living within the earth's limits." It means interacting with our environment in a way that can be sustained long enough for our grand children to have the same opportunities that we have. That simply isn't the case right now. Take our water for instance; 50 years ago the Thames River surely wasn't the colour of a double double as it is now, (an observation noted by Western Biology professor Andre Lachance). In 1996 Boston's than-governer Bill Weld took a swan dive into the Charles River to prove the water was clean, but instead he contracted an ear infection that lasted three painful weeks. Our rate of environmental destruction is not sustainable, and as we begin to recognize that, sustainability becomes a bigger and bigger issue. We highly suggest reading David Suzuki's explanation of the issue, which can be found here
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
This is the biggest theme of conservation. Follow the adage and you'll make a big contribution to helping the environment. As an example of what what exactly it means to "refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle," consider how you might get a cup of coffee. The first option would be to pour it into a cup at home, and "refuse" any kind of disposable container. Your second option would be to simply drink less coffee, or "reduce". Of course your addicted, so your third option would be to "reuse" your disposable cup. Since that's disgusting, one could only wish there were another way... A cup that's both re-useable, portable, and stylish... EnviroWestern Travel Mugs! Option four, is that you could "recycle" your disposable cup; except that you can't because London won't recycle them. Case in point? Buy an EnviroWestern travel mug!
Become a Vegetarian ?
Many people assume that the only reason to go vegetarian is out love and respect for animals. However, eating less meat is perhaps the simplest way a single person can powerfully impact the environment. One need only dig a little deeper into the meat-eating practice to understand why...
The cows feed us, but who feeds the cows? Cows require an immense amount of food and water to grow into burger-ready cattle. That food consists of a variety of grains. Those grains themselves require a whole lot of water to grow. Estimates vary depending on who you ask, although one Cornell University study found that it takes 100,000 L of water to produce one kilogram of beef*. Compare that to water required to produce a kilogram of vegetables; 500L/kg for potatoes, and 900L/kg of wheat*. In perspective, humans rarely drink more than 5 litres of water per day. Other estimates differ, but the relative difference between meat and vegetables remains very much the same.
Where is all this grain coming from? The amount of grain required to feed all of our cattle requires a tremendous amount of space. In the U.S. alone, 14x more land is used for livestock grain than human vegetables**. The favourite locale for many big corporations, however, are the cheap-land rain forests, such as those in Costa Rica. The environmental benefits of the rainforests that are being wiped out (40% in Central America**) are too numerous to list, and they're fascinating from an ecological standpoint. However, they're being cleared away so we can house and feed our livestock.
But I'm hungry, so isn't this worth it? The sadest thing about devoting so land to housing and feeding livestock, is that the very same land could be used to grow food for the 14% of our planet that is undernourished*. A study of land-used per calorie of food-produced found that beef uses 100x more land per calorie than does potatoes*. The beef industry is grossly inefficient.
What happens to this food after the animal's eat it? Simply put, it comes out of them. When it does, it smells much worse, has much less nutritional value, and in fact contains a significant amount of bacteria, ammonia, and methane (which is a pollutant and green house gas). Animals in the U.S. produce 130x more waste than people do**. The waste is often stored into "lagoons," although these can sometimes break into rivers, and cause significant environmental destruction (already 27,000 miles of river in the U.S. are contaminated**). And it does more than smell bad; the manure can carry more than 40 diseases transferrable to humans**.
How does my meat make it to the local supermarket? Costa Rica to Ontario is no short trip, nor are most of the trips required to supply farm animals with the food and water they require, and then bring them back to our local supermarket. Like anything else, these goods require fuel to get where they want to go, and sometimes need refrigeration. On average, one gallon of fossil fuels is consumed in the U.S. for every pound of meat produced from grain-fed cattle**.
How does the meat make it to my plate? It gets cooked on an electric or gas stove, a propane barbecue, or in some instances sits in electrically powered oven for hours on end. Compare that to an apple you grew in your backyard and peeled with a knife. The higher up the food chain you eat, the more energy is wasted before the food even gets to your plate.
The bottom line? If nobody ate meat, world hunger could potentially become a thing of the past, water would cease to be at such a premium in developing countries, and our air & water would benefit from a significant decrease in pollution. If you, as an individual, just eat a bit less meat, you likely won't end world hunger, but you'll be making more small steps towards what will ultimately be, a big impact.
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
--------Albert Einstein
You don't need to quit eating meat, (humans have relied on meat as a source of important nutrition for millennia), but you should be aware of the price being paid environmentally to let you eat that meat. When it comes to land and water use, cows/beef are the worst offender by far, and when it comes to waste contribution, pigs/pork take the lead. If you want to make a small sacrifice to help the environment, lowering your meat consumption could well be the best place to start.
*Statistics provided can be found at the Vegan Society website, which offers journal citations for all data used.
**Statistics provided from a World Watch Magazine article, (July/August, 2004) which makes for an excellent read.
Consider taking a closer look at these sources, which each offer a very complete and illuminating look at the issue.
Energy
Also see the Ontario governments comprehensive flyer for how to conserve energy, available online here.
Walk, ride your bike, or take the bus. It's obvious, but it can accumulate to make a big difference, not just for the environment but for your own health and your bank account's well-being.
Take the stairs! The elevator uses an enormous amount of energy, so if you're going up two floors, please just take the stairs.
Don't leave lights, tv's, or other electronics on in rooms when you're not in them. It couldn't be easier to turn lights on and off, and over time the energy savings can accumulate to make a real difference.
In the living room and office, plugged in electronics often use energy even if they're turned off. Consider purchasing power bars to plug the big electronics into, and then flipping the off switch whenever your not using them. If it's important that your computer remain at the ready, have it configured to go on standby or hibernate automatically.
Set your thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter and higher in the summer. Even a single degree's difference won't make your life any more uncomfortable, but it will save an enormous amount of energy and money. If you find yourself wanting to put on a sweater in the summer when its 30 degrees outside, or sweating in the winter when its -5 outside, you need to notice you're doing something really wrong.
Be mindful of your water heater settings. If you find its hotter than you'd ever need it to be, turn it down. If you're leaving home, be sure to put it on "vacation" mode until you get back. Your water heater costs you around $500 a year* in energy costs, second only to heating and cooling.
Check to make sure your fridge and freezer aren't unnecessarily cold. Also, if you have an extra fridge, or a "beer fridge" in the basement, only plug it in when you're actually using it.
The kitchen stove uses a lot of energy. Don't use a bigger pot than you need for cooking, and put the lid on the pot whenever possible. When possible, an electric kettle is also much more efficient for boiling water.
When washing clothes, use cooler water wherever possible. As much as 90% of a washers energy use is actually in heating the water*.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, it does not take more energy to turn electronics on and off than it does to leave them on, in fact it's not even close. This is a myth, and a pretty stupid one at that; I wouldn't be surprised if it were an invention of the power companies. If you don't need it on, turn it off!!!
*Figures used are from the Ontario government's energy conservation flyer, linked above.
Water
Clean water is an undervalued asset in our part of the world. In addition to saving you some money, conserving water is also an all-around responsible thing to do environmentally.
For more, see http://www.h2ouse.org/, a site which capably devotes itself to showing you ways to conserve water.
Take shorter showers. Get wet, get clean, and get out. It's irresponsible to dance and play around in the water and sing your heart out. Even just shaving off a couple minutes can save hundreds, or even thousands of litres per month. Also consider a new water saving shower head. They generally accomplish the same affect, perhaps with even more pressure, but use significantly less water.
Don't be obsessive about having "the perfect lawn." People excessively concerned with having the greenest lawn possible tend to over-water their grass to the tune of several hundred litres a month. Watering with a hose instead of a sprinkler is a great way to use less water. Even if your lawn isn't perfect, don't worry. I swear, it's not that big of a big deal.
If you have an automatic sprinkler, be sure to adjust it manually to keep from watering on rainy days.
Put down layers of mulch, or wood chips around your larger plants. These help to keep the water from evaporating out of the soil, so you won't have to water them quite as heavily in the future to keep them healthy.
Don't leave the water running while you brush your teeth or shave. Bathroom faucets use about 10 Litres/minute of water at full capacity, compared to the roughly 3 litres of water humans require on a daily basis.
Don't "hose things down" as a method of cleaning. Either sweep or fill up a bucket and scrub. You could use the exercise, (sorry, somebody had to say it).
If you have one of the older, water guzzling toilets, an easy way to save water is by dumping something like a sealed, full bottle of water into the tank. This will trick the toilet into refilling less water after the next flush. Some toilets also have a little mechanism in the back that controls the water level. Over the course of a month this could save a great deal of water.
Get a water cooler. A significant amount of water is wasted by "waiting until it gets cold," and this can be resolved by using a water cooler. The water is also much cleaner, and generally very affordable.
*Figures used on the volume of water you can save are general estimates, and not exact figures.