Ecotourism...creating a positive change

Ecotourism is defined as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." (TIES, 1990)  The International Ecotourism Society is a non-profit organisation with members in over 120 countries. They promote awareness of sustainable practice in the tourism sector, and provide guidelines on standards, training, technical assistance and educational resources. In the decade between the Earth Summit in 1992 and the International Year of Ecotourism in 2002, a web of over 100 certification and award programs appeared, (most of which are of varying quality).

The World Ecotourism Summit (WES) is organized by UNEP and the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) aiming to strengthen ecotourism as a tool for sustainable development and conservation. Separately, the World Ecotourism Conference aims to provide a networking platform for businesses and policy makers, but with little apparent impact. The European Ecotourism Network (EEN) and the European Ecotourism Labeling Standard (EETLS), which is co-funded by the European Commission, has been recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and in comparison with WEC and WES, there is more focus on certification and standardization. However, there is no single ruling body for global ecotourism certification, and this has inevitably led to considerable controversy and uncertainty. As it stands, the GSTC appears to be the most credible.

The Green Globe Standard was one of the leading certification bodies to come out of the Earth Summit in 1992 and is based on the following international standards and agreements: GSTC, Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Criteria (STC Partnership), Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas, The ISO 9001/14001/19011 (International Standard Organization) and Agenda 21. EcoAustralia, in conjunction with Green Globe, has proven to be a successful international standard and has also employed in India.

Basic ecotourism principles:

• Sustainable management e.g. design and construction, health and safety and communications.
• Socio-economics e.g. supporting local community initiatives such as education, fairly traded goods and securely integrated local employment.
• Cultural heritage e.g. protection of historical, archaeological and spiritual sites and respectful incorporation of local culture.  
•  Environmental e.g. sustainable management of water, energy, waste and protection and awareness of biodiversity.

Case Study – Lapa Rios Eco-lodge, Costa Rica

In 1993, a professional couple from Minnesota liquidated their assets and bought 930 acres of rainforest in the south west of the country. In 2013, they signed an agreement endorsed by The Nature Conservancy and CEDARENA that perpetually protects the land as a primary forest. It neighbors a National Park, which is home to 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity and acts as a migration corridor.

Although Lapa Rios eco-lodge is a leading example of ecotourism, it has not been certified by organisations such as Green Globe. Instead, they are certified by the Costa Rican tourism board agency known as the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST), following similar principles outlined above. The CST has been recognized and approved by the tourism ministries in every country in Central America, as well as Mexico, Belize and many countries in South America have expressed interest in developing similar programs. Learn more about Lapa Rios here.

It is evident that ecotourism can and does create real positive change, even when it operates outside of well-intentioned conferences, however, many resorts will often use it as a buzzword to attract gullible travellers, so beware!

Conor Dolan

Quality v. Quantity: Mindful Living...or Frugality often gets a bad rap.

 Frugality often gets a bad rap.

Why is it that so often living “frugally” is often linked mentally with want, deprivation and hardship?  Mention the word and immediately people conjure up archaic images of teabags drying on radiators, cold showers and penny-pinching, when in reality frugality is essentially a means of achieving a quality lifestyle and fulfilling the needs of the individual in society, whilst leaving minimum negative impact on community, the planet and its resources. Admittedly, the word frugal itself is hardly the most onomatopoeically-endearing of the English language, but it does certainly does lend a solid air of reality which encompasses the essence of what frugal living is about.  For me, being frugal is a means of directing the materials and resources available to me towards a goal which I want to achieve, enabling me to complete such tasks in a less wasteful, more efficient and thoroughly-considered fashion.  In no sense do I consider there to be any level of deprivation; in fact I think cutting the clutter and distraction from ones life allows for greater clarity to shine through, enabling one to visualise plainly what are the real essentials in life and how best to go about maintaining these.  In the overwhelmingly materialistic, consumer-driven society in which we live, more and more excesses of all has lead to a devaluing of quality in favour of inferior quantity.  Here frugality can act as a life raft in the sea of superfluousness, a wake-up call forcing us to examine what matters.  Giving a brief run-down through this topic does not do it justice as by its very nature greater depth of thought is required, but frugal living can be broadly addressed in three main sections:  the why, the how and the outcome.

Frugal living is a sustainable way of life and can be viewed as a way of guaranteeing, to the best of one’s ability, that the life one leads is truly meaningful.  My own personal definition of sustainability would run something like: “Sustainability is the thought process behind mindfully living a considered life, endeavouring to maintain an equilibrium between personal development, integrity, and responsibility, such that the needs of future generations are not compromised through mismanagement of the earth’s resources by present generations.”  Lofty ideals you may think, but unless one strives toward an upward goal there would certainly be no motivation to continue on.  In the case of any goal that requires longevity, soundly-founded motivations need to be established before anything is ventured and frugal sustainability is no different.  We need to ask ourselves “Why should I do this?  What are the benefits to me personally and what are the benefits to the wider community?  Am I ready to accept that my personal decisions can and will have a large impact on those around me?”. If these questions can be answered honestly and solidly there will be sufficient motivational undercurrents to sustain one through the practical implementations of frugal living.  Starting small and incorporating small changes on a day-to-day basis, great success can be accomplished through the setting of many small, realistic and achievable goals. 

Avoiding procrastination is a definite requirement for living the frugal lifestyle, but once this reality is accepted as a hitherto-unrecognised benefit, the sky’s the limit for the creative ways in which frugality can be lived out, making your time, money and resources work hardest for you.  From practical applications such as reducing waste in the home, buying less consumer goods and increasing productivity by utilising goods to the very end of their product-life, to more fun and unique approaches such as going on self-imposed spending ‘diets’, enjoying frugal freezer-food meals and trying out ‘Meatless Mondays’.  Certainly we must realise that there is no one magic-bullet, simplistic route to achieve these goals, but we need to take every small avenue available to us, making numerous small changes.

The outcome of embarking on the frugal living path is that it allows for greater personal freedom.  Less “stuff” means a reduction in time and energy consumed whilst absorbed in (or perhaps burdened with) said “stuff”. We are afforded more time to reflect and think on our life-goals.  We are mindfully conscious of what we are doing and why we are doing it.  Savouring experiences and enjoying simple pleasures are incomparably more fulfilling than rushing through a series of tick-the-box life goals set up on a scale belonging to the Joneses.  Paring back the excess allows us to appreciate all the more how rich we really are – after all, our attention is no longer divided in multiple different ways but rather we are free to focus and enjoy the delights of a smaller number of better-curated occupations.  Each of us are the cultivator of our own person and our personal development, which in turn is amplified and combined with that of others to create the societies in which we live.  We have the right to enjoy this, but more importantly we have the responsibility to do so - not only for our own sakes’ but for the sake of our fellow man and frugal living is a powerful way to do so.

Aoife Beglin

https://twitter.com/Nickgraytcd

Consumerism: The enemy of the environment

The first decade of the 21^st century saw the emergence of the importance of protecting our environment. Being part of the school system at the time meant watching as curriculums changed and seeing notices over light switches to remind the teachers about the new measures in place. I remember when recycling became more than just a phenomenon, it became a way of life. I recall wondering which bin my bottle went in to, until finally it all became second nature. For my generation, climate change is something that has been a part of our lives as we grew up.

Everyone knows that climate change is not something to joke about. Why is it then, that in approaches to climate change, it is always the economic impact that is considered first? Our finite resources such as oil are under risk and will run out relatively soon, yet we continue to burn through our resources at an alarming rate. Our sea-levels are rising, our species are dying out and we have reduced freshwater availability. These are only the beginning of the long list of climate change effects. Yet we constantly need a reason to make change. When considering making changes to our lifestyle to benefit the environment, the incentives are always economical – how much money will we save?

News outlets and politicians use buzz words like “environmentally friendly” or “climate change aware” but they have been thrown around for so long that they have lost all impact or meaning. No one seems to comprehend the extremities we are facing if our current pace of life does not change.  As a geography student myself, I am aware that the impact our current way of life has on the environment around us is vast. However, I was unaware of the EXTENT to which our resources are running out.

Consumerism has engulfed the developed world and millions of jobs are focused on selling the consumer products and convincing them that they always need more. Marketing campaigns that depict happiness upon purchase of a certain product place pressure on consumers to consistently be purchasing their new product, or they will not achieve this generated form of contentment.

Technological advances, though beneficial in many respects, feed into this consumerist lifestyle; the consistent desire to have the latest gadget. Our daily lives are consumerist driven, even on a college basis. Walking around with coffee cup in hand is no longer a source of refreshment, but a fashion necessity. The pressure to have a smartphone is outstanding, while a new laptop every year is a must. Wearing the same outfit twice in one week is unprecedented and accessories are expected to change all the time.

 

A busy shopping mall, another example of our consumerist society.

Why is leading a sustainable lifestyle not fashionable? As a global community, we need to generalise the idea of living a life where your demands on the planet are at a reasonable rate. The phenomenon of doing more with less is not scientifically startling, but it is challenging. I am of the belief that by a combined volume of small efforts, climate change can be tackled head on. Everyone knows that you shouldn’t leave the tap on when you’re brushing your teeth and that lights should be switched off upon exiting a room, but these were the things introduced when this climate change phenomenon started more than a decade ago. Surely we have made more advancement since then?

The next decade will be challenging for economists and environmentalists alike. While economists attempt to predict the financial future of the developed world, environmentalists will be trying to predict how much longer we have on the planet before something has to give. The experts in both fields need to take each other’s concerns on board, and recognise the validity of the alternative area of expertise. By combining the knowledge of two fields of people, a more feasible way of dealing with our every changing climate can be devised. Hopefully this will come into place before it is too late.

Bredeen Rooney

Photo source: http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2008/01/ionkids_child_monitoring_syste.php?page=3#.UVGrmBwvnLc

@nickgraytcd

Environmentalism: the good, the bad and the ugly.

As an environmentalist – well, perhaps an amateur environmentalist - I would like to believe that I am part of a respected community, one which has directed the environmental movement upwards so that the earth and its billions of inhabitants can live in peace and harmony, thus satisfying my inner-hippy.  Idealistic as this may sound, the majority of activists have helped in some way to propel environmentalism to new heights.  Unfortunately, on occasion, the agents of environmentalism prove to be their own worst enemy, undermining the very cause for which they stand and representing a detrimental force in the environmental movement.

It’s 1974, and the Indian ‘Chipko movement’ catches the nation’s heart; a group of innovative peasant women demonstrate such courage and initiative that they inadvertently inspire worldwide action to be taken at the grassroot level.   Was this a step forward for environmentalism? Most definitely.  However, with the vibes of Woodstock and the ‘swinging sixties’ still ringing in the air, it did not take too long before these proactive pioneers were stripped of their glory, and instead faced a harsher identity as hippy ‘tree huggers’.  As the hippy subculture and the environmental movement grew in tandem, mainstream society grew increasingly intolerant and wary of such radicalism; suddenly, all environmentalists, as brainwashed ‘greenies’, were the outsiders, and a new wave of environmental scepticism and  anti-environmentalism surfaced.

Now don’t get me wrong, the sentiments and proactivity of these particular environmentalists must be admired, but considering that the media loves so much to highlight the more bizarre of their escapades, I cannot help but feel that they have somewhat compromised the validity of the word ‘environmentalist’.   More often than not, that word conjures up stereotypical images of long-haired, psychedelic pacifists who drive around in Scooby-Doo-esque vans solving environmental crimes, making the activities of all environmentalists easy to automatically dismiss.  The more visible efforts of many extreme or radical environmentalists have jeopardised the efforts of others, whose invisible work goes unacknowledged and unappreciated.                      

This controversial form of radical environmentalism, whether successful or not, threatens to slow down the pace of the environmental movement, but little else.   Is this annoying?  Yes.  Is this dangerous? No. What is dangerous, however, is the ever-growing threat of eco-terrorism, which is rapidly embracing its identity as the new ‘religion of environmentalism’.  According to the FBI, these environmental fundamentalists can claim responsibility for over $300 million worth of damage caused within a relatively short period of time (between 2003 and 2008).  The ‘fear factor’ which they have sought to (and regrettably, successfully) establish has made use of vandalism, tree spiking, arson and bombing, leaving one wondering how exactly they can call themselves ‘environmentalists’ if they are so readily willing to destruct the thing for which they fight.

These fanatical ‘eco-warriors’ live up to their name as they engage in battle, whether against the survival of

our own species in ‘the voluntary human extinction movement’, or as members of the infamous ‘earth Liberation front’ which, in the past, has topped the FBI’s domestic terror threat list.    The indirect consequence of such detrimental action is the further depletion of respect for environmentalists and their field of study; by taking such drastic steps towards environmental sustainability, this set of radical environmentalists achieve the opposite of what they believe in and prevent environmentalism from reaching its true potential. 

As environmentalists, we must not presume that all acts on behalf of the environment should be supported.  While the majority of us are good, it goes without saying that the world of environmental protection has experienced it fair share of bad and ugly alike.

Conor Grehan.

More than just a pretty face? Yes, a sustainable face!

Mother Nature always knows best. But for those of us who what to enhance what she has given us, there’s makeup. And thank God for that!  Yet, I wonder, what cost is the environment paying for our beautifully made up faces? The answer, it appears is a high one.

Most common makeup brands produce their products using a concoction of various different artificial chemicals such as parabens and petrochemicals. In particular, parabens have been shown to have very worrying effects to A) humans and B) fish that they come into contact with. It is a little known fact that up to 60% of the makeup that you put on your face is absorbed in to your body. So much for beauty being only skin deep!

It is therefore unsettling that chemicals, such as parabens have been shown to affect hormones and mimic estrogen in the human body, especially since excess estrogen has the potential to cause breast cancer [1]. Once off your face, these chemicals can then enter the main sources of lakes and rivers etc. This can be detrimental to the marine life of these waters and cause permanent damage to ecosystem. In fact, parabens have been shown to cause male fish to be transformed into ‘intersex fish’ – male fish with female characteristics. Mother Nature would not be impressed.

The next concern I have with makeup is its packaging. The packaging is often made of non-biodegradable plastics. So where does it all end up? The answer is a landfill site. Landfill sites are the horrible spots on the face of this planet. And concealer is not the answer! In fact, beauty products make up approximately a third of landfill waste [2]! Finally, the way makeup is manufactured can have a huge carbon footprint, not to mention the carbon cost of sending these products to the consumers world wide.

So what is the solution? The obvious answer is to go au natural and just forget about makeup all together. Realistically, however, this is never going to happen. And thankfully it is possible to look good and allow the environment to look good too. There are brands out there that sell natural cosmetics, such as Futurenatural. Its founder, Emma Pezzack, promises that the makeup she sells is made with 100% natural ingrediants and is sold in recycled packaging [3]. Once finished with your products you can then recycle them. Origins retail store accept empty cosmetics containers for recycling, regardless of the brand. The best part is that you get rewarded with a free sample of one of their high-performance skincare products in return.

To further reduce the carbon footprint of your pretty face, you should choose a brand the manufactures its products in an efficient way. Apparently, Eastman GEM technology is the way forward. GEM technology is better than conventional manufacturing processes in that it uses enzymes and closely controlled manufacturing conditions to produce its cosmetics. This in turn reduces unwanted by-products, consumes less energy and can lead to a 52% reduction in CO₂ emissions. ‘The beauty is in the process’ [4].  So behind the pretty picture, there is an ugly truth. Makeup can cover up your flaws but it can create flaws in the environment. So, if you want to continue looking fresh-faced and beautiful well into the future, there is a need to evaluate what’s in your makeup bag. And remember, sustainable is always beautiful!

Megan Pendred

---

References:

[1] http://toxicbeautyblog.com/dangers-of-parabens/the-problem-with-parabens/

[2] http://blog.myskin.com/insights/beauty-and-the-environment-–-the-cosmetic-impact/

[3] http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/fashion-beauty/green-cosmetics-460407

[4]  http://www.eastman.com/Company/GreenProcess/Pages/Overview.aspx

Re-educating the Family

 “Aaahhhhhhhhh….”. The exasperated sigh of a man whose eco-friendly advice falls on deaf ears. As a student of geography I find myself more aware of the current and developing problems associated with the environment in modern life and attempt to do what little I can do (without going completely out of my way, I’ll admit I’m not fully dedicated to the cause) to alleviate some of the stresses I personally inflict upon the environment. The little things such as short showers, flicking the light switch off, ensuring the recycling is done properly and plugging out all unnecessary plugs. As you can clearly tell, I’m not claiming to be the most eco-friendly person that’s ever lived but I’m certainly putting an effort in.

I have tried to instil some of these morals to the rest of my family but they either love to ignore my increasingly persistent advice or simply choose to do the opposite of what I’ve suggested. Each family member has their own bad habits that they just refuse to break. My sister and I have had more fights over her leaving the shower running for 5 minutes, with no one in it, simply to “warm it up” as she says. Apparently it’s different to when I take a shower because when I do it warms up in a matter of seconds. She also is a fan of leaving lights, TV’s and stereos perpetually on. Sometimes I feel that my only job in the house is to turn objects off after her. My Mam seems to have a particular disliking for the recycling. No matter how many times I show her that cardboard, tins and types of plastic go in to the green bin, I’ll still find the aforementioned objects in the kitchen bin when I’m throwing something (within the right category) into it. My Dad has a particular attachment to his car and has been commuting to work for it in years. I can’t remember the number of times I’ve told him to start using public transport at the very least and he has stoically ignored. This is the one place I’ve seen improvement however as one day, out of the blue, he bought himself a decent bike and began cycling to work and has kept it up since. Up until that point I felt my mission of attempting to “green” up my family was futile as no one listened but if I could convince my dad to make a pretty dramatic switch, I feel the rest is within my reach too. I understood, to a minute degree, what it felt like to be an environmentalist in the world we live in today. The majority of your advice is being ignored, simply for convenience purposes, but occasionally you can get through and make a difference. No matter how insignificant it may seem, a drop of water still changes the level.

Andrew Garland

Sharing is caring

Image

We all know that using public transport is more environmentally friendly than driving your own car alone, but it is also often more costly, time-consuming and inconvenient. So to make life easier, but still make a difference, we should share; share the car, and share the journey.

Public transport options are vastly more environmentally friendly than private transport options. But if we simply share the journey, then emissions are similar to public transport:

·         Car (medium-sized) with driver and two passengers (40g CO₂/passenger km)

·         Car (medium-sized) with driver and single passenger (60g CO₂/passenger km)

·         Taxi (medium-sized) with two passengers (80g CO₂/passenger km)

So with simply adding a passenger or two to our car/taxi journey we can greatly reduce the carbon footprint per passenger, even sometimes surpassing public transport options.

The idea of carpooling for the daily commute has been around in popularity since the 1970s but popularity faded over the years due to the fall in gas prices, lack of flexibility in routes/times, and lack of reliability among participants. However nowadays it seems to be making somewhat of a comeback, facilitated by the internet and mobile phones.

Dynamic carpooling takes advantage of smartphones` GPS to determine the route, match up drivers and passengers and use social networking for establishing trust and accountability. A number of popular websites exist globally and in Ireland to enable the success of dynamic carpooling: carpooling.ie, zimride.com, erideshare.com.

But instead of sharing just the journey, how about going one step further, and also sharing the car itself? Sounds crazy, right? Well we`ve all been doing this for years already, whenever we go on a holiday abroad and hire a rental car. Only this time, we hire the car for our commute/shopping trip/weekend away.

By paying a nominal annual fee and then per-mile rates, 24/7 access is granted to a fleet of cars parked in various spots all over a city. The beauty of the scheme enables customers to only pay when they actually use their vehicle; no insurance, VRT, road tax, NCT are payable by the customer. In fact, privately owned vehicles tend to only have a 5-10% utilization rate anyway, so why would you pay so many extra charges to only rarely use your car?

In addition, not owning a car might make us actually consider our transport choices and choose the most efficient means available. We could end up walking, cycling or taking the environmentally friendly public transport options if they are accessible to us, and only resort to the use of a shared car when we absolutely need to, thus reducing costs and CO₂ emissions further.

Some of the more popular carsharing companies include gocar.ie and zipcar.com. Customer feedback indicates that up to 15 privately owned vehicles are taken off the road per shared vehicle, either when customers decide against purchasing cars in the first place, or from selling their car. This amounts to a substantial saving in the CO₂ emissions that arise from the production of motor vehicles in the first place (via sourcing of raw materials, or manufacturing).

Finally, whether we choose to carpool or carshare, the net result would be a decrease in cars on the road, thus reducing emissions, traffic congestion, and parking demand, allowing us to commute cheaper, greener, quicker and more stressfree

In the end, we all have choices to make that will affect our wallets, but also the planet we live on. So if we truly want to start thinking and acting in a more sustainable manner, choosing to share is one way of showing we care.

COLM DUFFY

Reduce your carbon Paw print: Tips for greening up your pet



I can be green too!



In 2009, a couple from New Zealand, Robert and Brenda Vale, wrote a book called ‘Time to Eat the Dog?’ in which they discussed the devastating effect that being careless with how you care for you pet can have on the environment.  According to the book, the carbon paw print of a pet dog is double that of your standard SUV, making man's best friend the environment's worst enemy. Other pets targeted were hamsters, which were compared to a plasma television, and goldfish, which actually burn energy equivalent to two cell phones. With a few small changes to how you care for your animals, you can help reduce your carbon footprint by reducing their carbon paw print.

1: Adopt Pets

There are plenty of lovely pets just waiting in animal shelters to find new homes. As well as doing good, by adopting you are also reducing the demand for pets from mills, which have large carbon footprints due to their use of low-grade food (the production of which has high carbon emissions).

2: Recycle and Reuse

Lend a helping hand. Instead of binning your old toys, beds and accessories when your pet grows out of them (or just tired of them), drop them up to your local pet shelter. Not only is this better for the environment but you will also be helping out very worthy charities. You could also swap old pet accessories among your neighbours or friends who are also pet owners.

3: Pick up Waste

Instead of using plastic bags to pick up your dog waste, opt for biodegradable bags that break down in about a month – a lot better than the 1500 years it takes plastic to degrade. If you have cats, think about switching to an organic, plant-based litter.

4: Walk to Walks

Why drive your dog around to bring them for a walk? Look for parks and open spaces nearer to your house to reduce emissions. If you need to drive, try to carpool with other dog owners.

5: Buy them Green Goods

These days, eco-friendly pet accessories are everywhere. When buying your pets toys, look for toys made from recycled materials or sustainable fibres such as hemp. You can also buy hemp collars and leads, which are much better than the more common plastic or leather. You can also get beds made from organic materials or recycled PET bottles. Failing this, use old towels or cushions to make your own eco-friendly pet bed.

6: Be Careful about Food

When buying pet food, opt for higher-quality foods, which have used sustainable methods and are conscious of their carbon footprint when producing it. Take the time to read the labels on all pet food packaging, and look for foods that do not contain synthetic ingredients or chemically altered natural ingredients. Buy chicken and rabbit flavours over beef, which will also lower your pet’s carbon paw print. As well as this, try your hand at using up scraps of old food and vegetables to make your own dog treats. You’ll save money and also reduce your waste by using up odds and ends and not having excess packaging from store-bought goods. When you are buying pet food, buy in bulk to reduce the packaging.

Ailbhe Smith

Maybe creating an army of mini Eco Warriors can help?

Image by Art Revolution

The picture says it all, we talk so much about leaving a better planet to our kids, that we forget about leaving better kids to this planet. With our climate recently becoming more and more unstable, there seems to be a lot of concern and general talk about the environment. Phrases like ‘global warming’ and ‘sustainable resources’ are appearing more frequently in the media, so much so that we no longer take much notice of these articles.

Should we really be paying more attention to these issues though? Becoming desensitised to these common phrases isn’t going to make the problem go away now and it never will. It is our responsibility, whether we wish to acknowledge that fact or not, that this is our planet and what happens to it and its vital resources is down to us. But what can we actually do?

Reduce, reuse, recycle? Yet another common phrase often recited in response to questions about protecting the environment, which has lost its meaning for a lot of us. What about education as an answer? Education never seems to be brought up in relation to protecting our planet. We only end up learning about environmental issues when we already have bad habits in our daily lives. Driving to the shop that’s less than a mile walk away, throwing out plastic bags instead of reusing them or bringing your own bag shopping, leaving the tap running when brushing your teeth or washing up after dinner and buying way too much food in the weekly shopping, thinking that you’ll eat it all. Sound familiar? We all do it. We get to this age, living on this planet, using its resources without care like they’re never going to run out, purely because we have never had cause to worry before and because we didn’t know the bad effects our behaviour can have on the environment. It’s not down to ignorance that a lot of us young people have such environmentally unfriendly habits; it’s down to a lack of proper education around the topic.

Maybe if we had been better educated about the environment and its decreasing resources from when we were little, we would have different habits and different views now, at this age. It wouldn’t be a case of having to try and change how we live; more that we grew up being contentious, saving resources and trying to protect and appreciate the environment around us. I don’t mean to try and turn kids into mini eco warriors; I mean to better educate them earlier about what’s actually going on in the environment. What are the resources we need to be worrying about? Which resources are running out and what are the more sustainable options? Maybe try and make things like recycling and water conservation normal everyday things rather than a bonus, which is how they’re seen now.

Maybe if parents stopped worrying about infections and cuts and bruises and threw their kids outside during the summer to enjoy nature and have fun outdoors rather than letting them stay stuck inside playing with plastic toys and expensive electronics which are causing even more damage to the environment. Maybe if nature actually meant more to us from when we were little, we would be more bothered about getting out and doing something about environmental issues rather than sitting inside reading about and talking about global warming and sustainable resources on our smartphones and laptops.

Katie Smith

Photo reference:

http://www.anonymousartofrevolution.com/2012/09/we-talk-so-much-about-leaving-better.html#!/2012/09/we-talk-so-much-about-leaving-better.html

Posted 24th September 2012 by Art Revolution

Labels: Anonymous Art

My Earth Hour – The need to go beyond the hour.

When I heard about Earth Hour, I was surprised to learn of its global reach and participation level. Earth Hour was hosted on 23^rd March 2013 8:30pm local time in each participant country and saw renowned landmarks switch off their lights for 60 minutes. The Eiffel Tower and Times Square, even as far away as Sydney Opera House, had turned off their lights as a show of support.  Initially, I thought it was an incentive to save electricity, turn off your lights for an hour and you would see the difference in your electricity bills. It was only when I investigated further, that I saw the concept behind it. Earth Hour was not just about saving on your bills but a global initiative that shined a beacon for the requirement, particularly on developed nations for action in energy conservation and sustainability on the global community. It marks the beginning for this action and is a great step in the right direction, even if it seems like an impossible battle. It highlighted the need to go beyond the hour, part taking in this initiative once a year for an hour will have little results; it is the change in thinking about our energy consumption that this initiative offers. Having never participated in Earth Hour and with this class raising my awareness to such issues, I thought there was no better way to show my family and myself the requirement to change attitudes to energy consumption.



 

Eiffel Tower; during and after Earth Hour.

(http://ldsearthstewardship.org/2012/03/celebrate-earth-hour-after-general-conference/)



As I sat in darkness with only a little candle light, I wondered what I could do for a whole 60 minutes without any electricity. Looking back at me were my family, also perplexed as what to do for the next hour. With a large family with an endless list of electronic gadgets, multiple televisions, X box, Wii, Playstations, iPods, iPads, Laptops, mobile phones and any other you can think of, all were turned off. I must admit, it felt very strange and a little lost as to what to do with myself. When I had brought up this idea with my family about taking part in Earth Hour at home, I received a mixed reaction. My little brothers were not impressed, having grown up with everything at the touch of a bottom. On the other hand, my parents were pleased and said they wanted to do their bit and it would be a unique experience. Deep down I knew it was the expected reduction in our electricity bills that they were must looking forward too. On the surface they hid that well. Eventually, we all agreed that a family game of Monopoly was in order, a game that was sure to last the hour and bring everyone’s competitive side out. After ten minutes, all our eyes had adjusted to the dark and we forgot that we were playing in near darkness. As the game continued well past the hour, everyone forgot about a typical Saturday night was like in our house, as we were so focused on becoming the winner. When it eventually ended, 2 hours and ten minutes later nobody really wanted to turn on their gadgets, having realised that there still is a fun to be had without them. Slowly as time passed, only the one T.V. went back on, a huge improvement for my house, to watch the news and see the extent to which Earth Hour had occurred this year.  I feel it was of huge benefit, as I stood back and realised my family’s heavy reliance on electronic equipment and it made me take notice of our large energy consumption. Having participated in this year Earth Hour, I will definitely be doing again next year, only this time getting some more people involved.

Rachael Kelly