By preserving these valuable areas, they could then benefit from tourism and possibly scientific research into these areas. I still fail to see how the global community doesn’t see the true value of these areas and how that they cannot be replaced.

What do you think ? Are there other ways to tackle this issue ? what impact will doing nothing have for future generations ?

I have just seen an advertisement for a large Multi-national company who have chosen to no longer use conventional plastic bags and are now going to use biodegradable bags and offer reusable bags too. This is fantastic, although they plan to charge 20 cents per bag, and haven’t stated what this will be used for although I suspect its to boost profit rather than just cover costs. I would love to see some of this money go towards fixing the damage the plastic bags they have sold in the past have created, but I am doubtful that will happen.

I sincerely applaud this initiative, and although a cynical person may say its at least partly green washing, its a simple but worthwhile change. I fail to understand why governments don’t become more pro-active in areas like this, and make what is obviously readily available technology mandatory.

I found this link for an Australian site about the different types of bags and their potential benefits and downsides. I’m sure there are other sites that will be relevant to where you live.

peace

Now here are a few things I have started to do that we all can, that can make a difference if more people get involved. Now most people know they should recycle aluminium(sorry that’s the aussie way to spell it), but by doing this we can save an awful lot of energy, as it takes far more energy(about 80%-90%) to make it compared to reusing it. So see if you can recycle it every chance you get. Maybe get your boss to implement a program at work.

Stop drinking bottled water, as the environmental impact this has, is staggering. The fossil fuels used in making the bottles, transporting them and the amount of landfill they create is literally mind boggling. If you do buy a bottle, reuse it as much as you can, as the bottle itself can last for years of use, and most of us are blessed with great tap water. If you have a poor local supply, get a filter jug and use that to fill the bottle.

Keep you car longer and when you do replace it, get as fuel efficient as is practical. Use it as little as possible. Walking and cycling are actually good for us, and save on gym fees. Talk to your co-workers and see if you can share a ride to and from work. Sometimes I think we all go about our lives not realizing that their are people around us, that we can share our life and its riches with, even if that’s just offering a lift to work. We need to become small pro-active groups of people, rather than our current situation of being apathetic isolated individuals.

If you are building a new house, don’t just build the same old boxes our parents built, build something that is energy efficient as possible and only as big as you need. Smaller is better as it takes less to build, less energy to run, less energy to heat or cool, and you spend less time cleaning and maintaining it. Does anyone really need 7 toilets and a gift wrapping room ?

Turn stuff off you are not using, as how many phone chargers are plugged in right now, not charging a phone ? How much power is being used for no benefit ? We all do it, including me, but if we all tried that bit harder to think a bit more, and do a little bit more, together it adds up.

Upgrade your phone, computer,car, or TV etc only when you need to, and try to get something that is well engineered and hopefully built to last. Unfortunately cheap consumer goods don’t last and aren’t economical to repair, so go for quality when you can.

OK so here is the idea. I tend to think that the real economic value of land is often only based on supply and demand rather than its true intrinsic value. I believe you can buy land in many 3rd world nations, and other wealthier nations, very cheaply, for example the Amazon basin. You could then legally go in and clear this land for farming or just to harvest the trees, despite the high intrinsic value this land may have due to its high biodiversity

The land may have incredible biodiversity but this fact is not reflected in what it is worth in dollar terms. My idea is to give land an enviro-dollar value as well, based purely on how great the biodiversity and environmental value is, like water catchment ares for example.

The rain forest’s are said to be the worlds lungs, and yet as we are polluting the air at a growing rate, we are at the same time reducing the amount of rain forest. Now to my mind that doesn’t really make sense in a financial or any other way in the longer term. If we only value our planet in a way that makes pillaging the environment profitable, and destroying long term viability, it seems we have  our values messed up, or economics wrong.

The only way I could see this working though, and its just an idea, but if we compared the enviro-dollar value to the economic value and got the first world countries(Bill Gates) to pay the difference, in aid or technology, on condition that the governments involved prevent this land being sold/destroyed. Only then may we end the destruction of intrinsically valuable environments.(I’ll add to this in separate post)

A scientific group/s would have to be formed to calculate this value, that were multilateral, to avoid manipulation by corporations or governments with specific agendas. Anyway its just a concept at this point.

Let me know what you think

copyright © Bruce J Emblin 2009

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