Green Living

Facts about Carbon Footprint

Urbanisation has created vast developments in terms of economic, social, cultural aspects of a country. It provides employment opportunities, home improvements, and economic uplifting for the people. One of the results of urbanisation is the increase in the number of cars and automobiles in the streets; expansion of factories and power plants, and the change in the lifestyles of people.

Having said that, there is something called carbon footprint. It is the measure of the negative impacts of human activities to the environment. It refers to the amount of greenhouse gasses produced on a daily basis through burning of fuels for electricity, heating, transportation, among others. The total amount of greenhouse gases produced is most of the time expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). In other words when you are driving a car, the fuel burned by your engine produces a certain amount of carbon.

Below is a sample of how you can contribute to your personal carbon footprint. Each of the activities add up to 1 kg of CO2:

Travel by bus or a train on a public transportation of a distance between 10 to 20 km
Travel by plane for a distance of 6 km
Operating a computer for 32 hours
Production of 2 plastic bottles

Understanding carbon footprint is the best tool to estimate how our personal activities and appliances contribute to the current amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The good thing about carbon footprint is that you can calculate how much carbon you have contributed in a day. Calculators are available online.

By knowing how much you can add up to the current environmental problems is not just plain awareness. You can do something to lessen your impact on nature. You can educate yourself about what you can do to improve your lifestyle. Here is a list of simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint:

Recycle water. You can use it to water your plants.
Do your weekly shopping in a single trip.
Turn off the lights and electronic devices not in use.
Walk or ride a bicycle for short journeys
Buy fruits in season and purchase locally made products

Keywords: carbon footprint, carbon dioxide, greenhouse gasses, waste, pollution, mobile sources

Commune with the Nature To Ward Off Stress

Stress. The word itself gives a variety of definitions. It can be associated with anxiety, lifestyle, food, work, responsibilities and the list goes on. Stress has become a common complaint of people who live busy lifestyles. According to recent reports almost 75% of adults suffer from adverse health effects of stress and other stress-related ailments.

Stress as defined by an Australian-born Canadian physician, Dr. Hans Selye, is the “non-specific response of the body to any demand placed upon it.” He said it is not the stress that bothers us but the distress or how we feel towards a deadline, a busy lifestyle, or a number of responsibilities to attend to.

Stress can take a toll to both body and mind and finding ways how to cope with it or how to handle it is pompous. The question now is how to manage stress and still perform the tasks and jobs at hand. Here is how:

1. Meditation.

Look for a quiet place and a comfortable area. It is recommended to do meditation in a garden or any place with trees and with chirping birds. You can focus your attention on the sound of the chirping birds. The scent of the flowers and the trees will soothe your stressed body. Sit down and close your eyes; relax your body and muscles starting with your feet. Take deep breaths in and out, slowly and deeply. You may do this for 15 to 20 minutes. You can practice this twice a day or when you are feeling stressed.

2. A Walk in the Park.

Research has it that when you exercise, your body is producing natural endorphins. These are chemicals produced by hormones which cause feelings of happiness or relief. When you are feeling down or burned out, get your pair of running shoes and find your way to the park. You will feel a lot better after a 30-min walk or jog.

3. Talk.

If something is still bothering you, the best way to ease your mind is to look for someone you can talk to. Someone you trust and would listen to you. A conversation will help you ward off the negative thoughts you are harbouring and will help you to lighten up.

4. Treat yourself.

An organic spa, a haircut or even a new pair of shoes can be stress-busters too especially for mothers. When you are married with kids, normally the daily chores and responsibilities will consume most of your time. It is quite difficult to look for a silent moment to be on your own. An hour in the spa will be beneficial or self-rewarding after a busy week. The stones and organic materials used in the spa can provide relief to a tired body and a stressed mind.

5. Have A Moment Under the Trees

Studies have found that trees can absorb negative energies. If you are feeling sad and anxious you can sit under a tree or have a few minutes in the garden. Talking to your plants can release your negative thoughts and you will feel good right after!

Keywords: stress, busy lifestyle, meditation, organic spa, green environment

How to Live a More Environmentally Friendly Lifestyle

Thanks to the intense awareness programs and the consequences of our careless actions we face nowadays, more and more attention is being given to environmentally friendly lifestyles. The damage careless human activities have done to the environment is intense. However, with careful planning and taking one small step at a time, we can contribute to reconverting nature into its original paradise. How can we live environmentally friendly lives, the easy way? Most of us do love nature, but our business and thus, the lack of time doesn’t really allow us to go green. Here are some simple solutions that will not require you to alter your lifestyles, but will help alter the environment for the better.

How being vegetarian or vegan helps to save the planet

More and more people are waking up to the fact that this world is in a terrible mess due to human activities and realising that we can all play a part in helping to save the planet. Going vegetarian or adopting a vegan lifestyle is one of many ways it is possible to play a helpful and responsible role in creating a green and sustainable future.

The Emergence of Eco-tourism

When humankind started to realise that beautiful natural resources could be profited from, environmental degradation began to take centrestage. Although, it is fun to have a vacation in some exotic destination, the fact remains that the tourist lifestyle tends to take its toll faster in the surrounding environment. For instance, a fishing community of 100 families in a remote island has a very small impact but if you add a couple of hotels, bars and yachts; there is a huge chance for pollution to triple.