PLASTIC STRAWS, STIRRERS AND COTTON BUDS TO BE BANNED from Metro

Hi again,

here below another dramatic article that describes the plastic pollution of our planet. I really believe that more needs to be done specially in terms of education and recycling.

Enjoy the reading and text me you thoughts.

"PLASTIC straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds are to be banned in England from next year to tackle pollution.

Environment secretary Michael Gove confirmed the supply of the items will stop from April 2020 after ‘overwhelming’ public support for the measure.

Exemptions will allow those who need plastic straws for an illness or disability to buy them from pharmacies or request them in restaurants and pubs, and will let cotton buds be used for medical and scientific purposes.

More than 80 per cent of respondents in a public consultation backed a ban on plastic straws, 90 per cent wanted stirrers banned and 89 per cent supported getting rid of plastic cotton buds.

Mr Gove said: ‘Urgent and decisive action is needed to tackle plastic pollution and protect our environment.

‘Today I am taking action to turn the tide on plastic pollution, and ensure we leave our environment in a better state for future generations.’

It is estimated that 4.7billion plastic straws, 316million plastic stirrers and 1.8billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used each year in England. There are an estimated 150million tons of plastic in the world’s oceans, and each year 1million birds and more than 100,000 sea mammals die from eating and getting tangled in the waste"

Full article: https://www.metro.news/the-final-plastic-straws-stirrers-and-cotton-buds/1567621/

ECUADOR'S WAORANI FIGHTS FOR THE AMAZON

Finally good news for the Amazon!!

The Waorani protected hectars of Amazon from oil drilling.

In April 2019 there was a court trial that saved 32,300 square kilometers (12,500 square miles) of Amazon Rain Forest and indigenous land from oil drilling in the southeast of the Ecuador. Experts say the drilling could have lead to contamination of the forest due to oil leaks, spills, and waste dumping.

Luckily this did not happen!!

The full article can be found: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/historic-win-by-ecuadors-waorani-could-re-shape-extraction-activities/

KENYAN INNOVATION TAKES PLASTIC BAGS OUT OF FORESTRY

Hello All,

please find here below an article I recently found in a BBC link which was talking about plastic pollution and reforestation.
Kenya already banned the use of plastic bags in 2017, what are we waiting for?

Great highlights and new points of view form Kenya, enjoy the reading!!

"KENYAN INNOVATION TAKES PLASTIC BAGS OUT OF FORESTRY

Plastic bags are known for their environmental impact. They slowly release toxic chemicals once in the soil, for instance, and find their way into the guts of animals that often choke and die as a result.

Kenya banned the use of plastic bags in 2017. And thanks to a 43-year old Kenyan, Teddy Kinyanjui, an innovative afforestation and reforestation method for developing seedlings without using plastic bags is in place.


A resident of Nairobi and founder of Cookswell Jikos Limited, Kinyanjui has invented small, portable seed balls to grow and easily disperse seedlings. He is working in partnership with Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), which certifies seeds.This photo gallery shows Kinyanjui’s ingenuity in using the seed balls instead of the usual plastic bags.

When tree seedlings are grown in plastic bags in a nursery, he explains, the roots get squeezed and this limits their ability to grow fast. The seed ball method enables roots to adapt easily, with less disturbance.

Kinyanjui says he has engineered a method of coating each seed with charcoal dust, and corn or cassava starch, to bind each ball so the seeds are protected from prey, pests and diseases.

He says he has the capacity to make one tonne of the seed balls per day. So far, since the project’s initiation in 2016, about one million seeds of different species of certified indigenous trees have been dispersed throughout Kenya through partnerships with locals and with a germination rate of 60 per cent.

“People use charcoal every day, necessitating for more trees. Climate change has also caused community conflicts, especially among pastoralists in Northern Kenya who fight over pasture for their animals,” says Kinyajui. “Good environmental management is, therefore, crucial for peace among these communities.”

He hopes to partner with like-minded organisations and youth who herd livestock with slings to disperse more seeds in arid lands.

“We would [also] like people to see the value of this simple technology as a contributing factor in combating and adapting to effects of climate change, as this is the cheapest way to encourage tree planting, especially in arid and semi-arid areas,” adds Kinyanjui."

Full article can be found:

https://www.scidev.net/global/environment/multimedia/kenyan-innovation-takes-plastic-bags-out-of-forestry.html

WHERE DO THE FLOODS COME FROM?

http://www.ziarpiatraneamt.ro/de-unde-vin-inundatiile


This amazing short video shows an experiment made in order to prove where the floods come from... Food for thoughts!!! 

It explains the importance of having trees that with their roots protect from landslides, slips and most important they help to purify water.


Please watch it and let me know what you think!!

WHAT ABOUT... PLANTING A TREE!!