How Climate Change Affects Community Health

Global scientific consensus tells us the world’s climate is changing day by day. These changes are creating some new health risks in communities across the World. Extreme weather changes, unhealthy air quality, and disease outbreaks are becoming more severe and more frequent, affecting more people in World. Changes to our climate mean our communities need to prepare for the health risks of extreme weather. Extreme heat can lead to Heatstroke, Heat exhaustion, Heat cramp, Dehydration, and Death. Anyone can be at risk. But some are more vulnerable, including, people with heart or lung conditions, pregnant women, older adults, children, athletes, and Outdoor workers. So how do we prepare for extreme weather changes? Communities can: establish cooling centers, plant trees to lower urban temperatures and educate residents to protect themselves and their loved ones such as drinking plenty of water and checking on older people and neighbors. A changing climate also means more frequent and more severe flooding and storms. That puts people at immediate risk of being injured or killed by debris, or floodwaters. After a severe flooding or storms event, possible health risks are contaminated food or drinking water by Bacteria, viruses, and toxic chemicals in floodwaters, fungus, and Difficulty accessing health care services, like emergency help, prescribed medications, and supplemental oxygen in these events, older people, people with disabilities, and lower-income households are more at risk. They may all have a harder time running away from a storm and may face more health problems if they can’t evacuate. To prepare, communities can: find out which neighborhoods, people, and resources are most at risk; upgrade infrastructures such as sanitary sewer systems and roads; and educate residents on how to stay safe during and after an extreme weather event such as avoiding driving in flooded areas. As average temperatures rise worldwide, air quality can also change. That looks like longer and stronger pollen seasons, which can trigger allergies and asthma attacks; Changing weather patterns and hotter temperatures, which can make air pollution worse by increasing the density of dangerous tiny particles; and more frequent droughts that can lead to wildfires, which release dangerous pollutants into the air. Children, people with asthma and respiratory conditions, young children, older adults, and people with compromised immune systems are more at risk of being infected. Work that can help communities includes collaborating with community partners to set up health-focused air quality alert systems and educating residents on how to check alerts to know when it’s safe to do exercise outside. Changes to our climate can also mean more risk of diseases spread by pests like mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and rodents. With higher average temperatures, diseases transmitted by pests can multiply faster, spread to more places, and infect people over longer periods of time each year. Lyme disease, Zika, West Nile virus, Coronavirus and hantavirus are examples of the resulting health risks. People who spend most of their time outdoors in areas where pest-borne diseases are common are most at risk. Communities can prepare by creating systems to track and assess people's health effects and working with local partners on outreach strategies to help residents protect themselves, such as staying out of certain areas, using PPE, and using insect repellant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is empowering health departments to prevent and adapt to the local health risks of a changing climate through the Climate-Ready States and Cities Initiative. CDCs Building Resilience Against Climate Effects framework helps health departments plan a coordinated community response. Using Building Resilience Against Climate Effects, communities are:

Identifying the range of climate impacts and the people, resources, and location most at risk

Quantifying the health problems that are associated with a changing climate

Assessing science-based interventions to address those health problems

Developing and overseeing community adaptation plans, and evaluating the process to learn more about what works.

Conclusion

An effective response to climate change is essential to prevent illness, improve public health preparedness, and mitigate risk. Today climate change has a clear impact on our health. The government has recognized this and supports the health system to take immediate action to combat the effect of climate change to optimize economic, health and environmental outcomes.

What's Your Carbon Footprint? Simplest Ways to Reduce Your Footprint

What's Your Carbon Footprint? Simplest Ways to Reduce Your Footprint

The term carbon footprint is a commonly recognized phrase today in the field of climate change. This word originates from an ecological footprint.  Determining our “carbon footprint” means measuring the number of greenhouse gases that we are adding to the atmosphere. The term was coined from carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas contributor to climate change. In simple words, we describe carbon footprint as “measuring the number of greenhouse gases that we are adding into the environment”. According to the UK Carbon Trust, a carbon footprint is "the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, product or event".   Whenever we use the energy created from fossil fuels such as oil or coal, we are generating carbon emissions, which increase the level of greenhouse gases entering the environment. Our carbon footprint is created by day-to-day personal and cooperate activities such as flying, driving, cooling, and heating our business or home and using electrical appliances. Even the products we purchase can contribute to our carbon footprint because of the energy that was required to create and transport them. There are many products available to help you reduce your carbon footprint, and in many cases reduce costs, such as recycled products, efficient light bulbs, solar energy, wind energy, tree plantation and more. When we offset our personal carbon emissions, we are doing our much-needed part in helping to put an end to climate change and global warming. We can offset our personal carbon emissions by investing in green projects that create efficient energy such as wind power, solar power, farm power, plant trees, and more. To take an active role in neutralizing our carbon emissions today use an individual carbon calculator to calculate your carbon footprint.  You might be surprised how much carbon we create each day, and hopefully learn a little about where we can make some positive good changes. We are all concerned about the water we drink, the air we breathe and the environmental legacy we leave behind for our future generation. 

As we all become more aware of how our behavior affects the environment around us, it is our duty to proactively engage in ways to reduce our individual, business and institutional carbon footprints for our future generations.  So what we can do, buying carbon credits, which result in the funding of green projects, making fewer trips to the grocery store, use the homemade dishwasher, more tree plantation, teaching our children about environmental responsibility and simply turning off the electrical appliance when we are not in the room (simplest act everyone can do easily), all these make a difference in the world in which we live.

What is the Greenest Form of Travel?

For most people, summer means traveling whether it’s going home to visit family or exploring new places, travel means using some form of fossil fuel-dependent transportation. But the problem experience as browse through the various train, plane and bus tickets have been finding out which is the greenest option. It is important to at least try and figure out some environmental guidelines for deciding which transport option is best for, especially when considering that. In 2014 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change narrated that the transportation sector reports for 23% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. So, a simple question: when traveling, which form of transportation requires the minimum emissions? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not so smooth. The carbon footprint of planes, cars, and trains depends on several dependent environmental factors like infrastructure, the build of the vehicle (like electric or diesel), distance, and location. So instead of trying to decide on the best form of green transportation, we are going to look at how various factor's effects, including distance and number of passengers in the vehicle, change the emission footprint of various transport modes. So, let’s start with a relatively shorter distance: a quick business trip within the city looked at the various transportation options, and according to their number-crunching, the plane wins the award for shortest distance traveled at, 350 miles or 570 km, with cars and buses taking second place at 472 miles or 759 km, and trains chugging along in the last place with a 544 mile or 875 km transit. So, planes have extremely little distance to travel, but that doesn’t necessarily balance with fewer emissions. Instead, if we look at the number of passengers transported per tour combined with the gasoline fuel equivalent of the mode of transportation, we get some unexpected numbers. The electric car is by far the most efficient fuel-wise, but taking the bus also requires fairly fewer emissions.

It gets quite interesting when we switch our attention to planes, traditional cars, and trains. The total CO2 per passenger for a plane trip at 75.3kg and a train requires 84.3 kg. But these numbers vary a little bit depending on how it is calculated. Part of the reason why a train can be so emissions exhausted is that many trains still run on diesel. In this case, the train that reaches almost all the way from one city to another, which uses a dual-mode engine, that runs primarily on diesel, but switches to electric when it reaches some other stations. So, in short, the best way to travel within the city is by bus if you don’t own an electric vehicle, and the worst is via a flight or train. But what about longer distances? Do things change? Especially when you consider that a lot of a plane’s emissions come from take-off, landing, and taxing it seems like the longer the distance traveled the more efficient the flight becomes. According to a peer audit report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the emissions associated with a 1,000 mile or 1609 km solo trip reveal some interesting results. Taking the bus is still by far the best option due to its ability to transport a large number of passengers on a comparably small amount of gas. surprisingly, however, flying in an economy seat has approximately the same carbon emissions associated with it when compared to a typical train. As flights get longer, and if the flight is non-stop, the carbon emission becomes smaller per mile, but if you are flying out of a crowded airport with constant delays, that footprint can balloon in size. Essentially, the more time the plane spends in the air going from point one to another, and the less time it spends circling the airport waiting for runway clearance, the more efficient it will be. Ultimately, the “greenest” of travel is massively dependent on context. There is no hard and fast answer to the form of travel that is best for the environment. But, if you are in desperate need of a rule of thumb here’s a conditional green transport lineup for a solo traveler: In general, a bus is better than a train is better a plane which advantages the average car. But that order can vary depending on the distance traveled and the number of passengers within that car. Ideally, an application like google maps could estimate the various emissions associated with your particular route and transportation choices. That way you would be able to quickly understand the environmental consequences of your journey. Right now, however, we have to rely on a carbon footprint calculator, for emission estimation. At the end of the day, we can only do so much to cut down our carbon footprint when traveling. Calculators are great, but innovations for infrastructure and technology are necessary to quickly detach emissions from transportation. Rapid electrification of cars, buses, and trains and the creation of reliable clean grid energy will make the uncertain process of green transportation much more certain. One of the keystones of any clean energy grid is solar power. And to understand how to best harness the yield from the Sun, we need to understand the physics behind this clean and green renewable resource.

What is minimalism? And its Relation with Sustainability

 Minimalism is about owning less stuff, about owning less. But it's actually far more than that when you start to study it. We live in the world of social media where we see 1000 plus advertisements every single day, and every advertisement calls for our attention and it calls for our affection. Minimalism is about rejecting those advertisement messages and taking back control of our own lives and being loyal with our time and our money, and our energy. We need to renegotiate the thought of minimalism the term was originally conceived in the late 1950s. The ability to choose less today minimalism has become and then point towards a minimalist lifestyle that moves away from aesthetics and into politics ultimately minimalism has promised for socio-economic and environmental reasons. But we need to understand that its current state is more than a continuation of consumer culture than a movement toward an environmentally and materially conscious society. The trend of minimalism has inspired a lot of people in recent years. Somehow it has become the inverse of what it was trying to be now for certain minimalists. The lifestyle means a firmly selected wardrobe of expensive clothes in an aesthetic of white while using minimalist as a style. Take for example the buy less but buy better attitude that is encroach minimalism. Yes, buying a $500 pair of shoes might in some cases be more environmentally friendly than buying four sets of $60 shoes because the pricier shoes will most likely last longer and produce minor waste than four pairs. However, most people don't have the money for that so this minimalist philosophy uses the excuse of having little to buy the most expensive things perhaps minimalists are purchasing less. But they are still buying into the idea of creating status through expensive items thus if you don't have the means or the money to rid yourself of your belongings and purchase just the right things then minimalism must not be for you. 

The new trend of minimalism as a visual aesthetic has now been merged with a surge of self-optimization by using the right technology and paring down your life in the right way minimalism can portably deliver happiness financial security and free time to those who follow its path, unfortunately, it can only be viewed as a key to happiness by those who already have more than enough for low-income people buying Inexpensive clothing or owning less furniture isn't a choice Its structural reality minimalism. However, it can offer so much more than a stylistically slimmed-down wardrobe it can instead mean a purposefully anti-consumerist and environmentally aesthetic lifestyle that works against the power of capitalism. The focus with minimalism then is not necessarily working to edit your daily choices and activewear down to the cream of the crop but instead on working hard to critically check your consumption choices. Day to day this looks like choosing not to buy the latest hundreds-dollar iPhone or if you are cleaning out your wardrobe choosing not to sell your clothes if you don't need the money and instead donating them to a progressive organization if you do in fact need to get a new pair of pants to consider buying secondhand the idea is to know that consumption feeds a system that affects overwhelming harm on the environment and marginalized people minimalism can offer guidance, not as a stylistic choice. But as a mindset that helps reroute our unconscious purchasing habits into a well-informed consumption critical stance. Minimum has slowly grown more popular so it's important to remember that as an aesthetic trend and a way to find happiness minimalism can sometimes be just another tricky form of conspicuous consumption. As a pro-environment list and anti-consumption choice, however, minimalism can offer a way to guide us along the route of an economic system that constantly pressures us to buy more. Having and buying less do not need to be status symbols or the subject of a social media post, they can instead be radical political and environmental acts. Of course, this needs to be done in a balanced way and without giving up your comfort.

Is Online Shopping Sustainable?

 It is important to look at the exact effect caused by this new trend of online shopping and instant shipping on climate change. The carbon footprint of online shopping greatly depends on the actions of customers. As shoppers can be divided into several different categories that span from a traditional retail shopper, modern shopper, and cybernaut known shopper who exclusively shop online. Online shopping with lower shipping options has a smaller footprint than driving to a retail store to search purchase and return a product. The highest effect shopper is actually a mix of both ones that go to the store to compare prices and then buy online with quick shipping. The greater number of the reason why traditional shoppers have such a huge footprint is that they are using cars to reach brick-and-mortar shops. The Cybernaut as for the who shop online when they choose shipping options like two-day mailing, they are more than doubling their transportation-related emissions especially within the last couple of years. Companies like Amazon started to send vans out to deliver packages that are only half full to fulfill customer expectations this ultimately means more emissions because trucks and vans have to make numerous trips between homes and hubs as opposed to slower shipping options which fill up trucks with cargo and make a single trip to fill orders.

Packaging Waste

Packaging also has a significant role to play when it comes to environmental impact often when you select the overnight shipping option the products that you want aren't bundled together in the same box because they are usually coming from two different facilities across the country, as a result, you receive a new cardboard box for every product you buy and the carbon emissions of products are on average 35% more. When shipped separately in addition many products are packaged efficiently. Average boxes contain 20% of wasted space which shipping facilities then fill with papers Styrofoam or bubble wrap ultimately creating more waste that finds its way into landfills but there are many choices on both the retail and consumer side that could help lower emissions for companies. Cutting down emissions means digging shoppers towards slower shipping options or making in-store purchases. When appropriate it can also mean bundling items together in one packet or even reducing the amount of packaging for a product by right-sizing its box. But as individuals, we also have choices to make for one if it's possible to find a way to get to your local retail store without using a car you will not only drastically lower your footprint but shopping locally. It also allows you to connect with other people face to face which helps build community resilience in the long run if you don't have that luxury consider using slower shipping choices which allows the online retailer to optimize shipping routes because they don't have to rush to get the item onto your doorstep. This necessarily means fewer miles traveled for trucks and planes because they can fill up with packages and only leave when they are full. Online shopping isn't something to be demonized it's an important resource for people who may not be able to shop in person for several reasons however it's important to think seriously about our individual relationships with online shopping. Think before you shop that an online shopping spree not only has negative consequences for your wallet but it also has lasting effects on the natural world that we have come to rely on.

Online Shopping

A Healthy Diet Plan that Helps to Fight the Climate Change

 Billions of people around the world eat food every day. Food is more than energy whether it is sugar, grease, or carbs. But how big of a problem is what we eat daily? So, we have got these two factors coming together. One is we all need to eat healthier, and on the other side, we need to eat more sustainably because food production and consumption have a footprint on the environment. About 25 percent of all the global climate change problems we are seeing can be associated back to the food and the choices that we are actually making about what we eat daily. This is higher than all of the cars on the planet. In fact, it’s about two folds as much global warming pollution as cars. A lot of people feel really powerless when it comes to climate change like they can’t make a difference. And researches show that your personal decisions can really make a difference. Global food production accounts for 40 percent of land use 30 percent of global gas emissions. So, what a healthy and sustainable, diet looked like. The important thing to remember though is a healthy diet isn't absolutely the same as a sustainable diet. It's not just the foods themselves that might be the issue. It can be the way food is produced and eat.

For example, if you are eating a single serving of beef, you wind up emitting about 330 grams of carbon footprint. That’s like driving a car three kilometers. Now, if you chose to eat chicken instead, there’s more than a five-fold emission drop. Shift to fish and you see the number go below even more. Livestock accounts for a bit over 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If that sort of looks low to you, consider it about compares to transportation. We are taking all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships on the planet combined! This is partly because ruminant animals like cows and sheep – they are just gassy! And the methane they produce is at least 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Plus, it takes a lot of fertilizer, land and about a billion tons of grain to feed all that livestock. And you could feed 3 billion people with that grain; if we were just directly eating these grains ourselves, it would eliminate a lot of the CO2 that comes out from cattle production. So, it’s clear that meat has a pretty big carbon footprint, but it’s also worth remembering that not all livestock is raised equally. So, the point is vegan is the way to go for the least impact on the planet, but it’s not that pretty different, in terms of emission. So, fish and chicken a few times a week; meat maybe once a month, plenty of plant-based foods, and of course, loads of olive oil. Exclude off like 90 percent of your meat intake is more important than ignoring all of your meat. We don’t all have to be vegan completely. If we can just reduce our meat intake, every little effort helps. And if you can bring it down a lot, you can help mitigate climate change. Just bringing down your portion size to 4 ounces can reduce your emissions by half. That’s a huge impact! In fact, the doctors are telling us we are eating about twice as much meat as we really need for a healthy diet. The good news is, we are paying attention to our doctors. In the last decade, there’s been a 19 percent decrease in the amount of beef we eat. All these things that you are already being told are good for you also happen to be good for the planet. 

A healthy diet plan includes less meat, less dairy, fewer potatoes, and a lot more plants. However, to be a true converter, you need to pretty much give up meat, chicken and fish and move into nuts, legumes, and seeds. So, what would this diet look like on your plate? Well, around half the plate would be filled with fruit, nuts and veggies. And the other half would have things like whole grains, plant proteins like lentils and beans, some veg, a very small amount of dairy and meat and some plant oils, maybe some control sugars. This diet allows for around two and a half thousand calories each day. If you were following the diet, you could have one boiled egg once a week. Just a glass of milk a day covers all your daily requirements. Globally, the diet means that we need to reduce our consumption of red meat and sugar and double our intake of veg, pulses, nuts and fruits. So, it's not just about the food we eat and the way it's produced. It's also about the way we behave this food. We also want to look at the packaging, for example. Plastic has a bad impact on the environment, but it's lighter than glass and therefore for transport it can have a lower carbon footprint. And also, the volumes of things. So, if you compare, for example, concentrated orange juice to fresh orange juice, because it’s lower volume, you don’t have the transport costs and the environmental footprint of that. Buying seasonally and locally can also make a big difference. All these things that you are already being told are good for you also happen to be good for the betterment of the planet. So, what we eat daily is a big part of the climate puzzle. This means, we may not all be able to afford solar panels on our house, an electric car but we all have to eat every day. And choices we make can add up to really big impacts. And since meat has a pretty big carbon footprint, we need to be thoughtful about how much we eat. We know that in the future, we might have more mouths to feed. If we are going to eat sustainably in the years to come and the decades to come, we are going to have to change the way we eat.

Air Purifying Plants For Your Home

Every human on the earth wakes up to a day and works hard to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams consistently. As a result of this lavish modern life, people are disconnecting from nature. In the former days, every home is filled with saplings and trees. But now it’s difficult to find a person who has plants in the house due to this busy lifestyle.

The best indoor plants you can get for your home will look beautiful and aesthetic and purify the air in your home, so it's a win-win situation. These plants can take your home to next level and proves that you are a real adult.

Fiddle Leaf Fig

 Let's start with fiddle leaf fig. The fiddle leaf fig is known for its large, glossy-shaped leaves. These fiddle leaf figs love bright and indirect sunlight, and you know when to water it when you wedge your finger in the soil and the top one inch is dry.  Kept a microfiber cloth to wipe any dust off of the leaves, maybe once a week or so, so that the leaves can absorb the sunlight better. Fiddle leaf figs love humidity. If you have a humidifier, you can use that to organize the humidity in your room. The leaves will grow towards the light, so if you want your plant to grow more evenly, you should rotate it whenever you notice the light is. The proper drainage system is also very important to prevent root damage, which is when the roots sit in the water for too long. If you have a pot without holes, then put rocks or pebbles at the bottom of the pot under the soil so that any extra water will flow into the rocks and not remain in the soil.  

Peace Lily

It is a super easy-to-care-for medium-sized plant known for its fresh lily flower and beautiful leaves. One top list of plants that purify the air is known to reduce the levels of toxins in the air. Peace Lilies grow well in shade and cooler temperatures, and they also tolerate low humidity. This makes them good for dry apartments or houses that get less natural lighting.

Snake Plant

Next is the snake plant, also known as "Mother-in-Law's Tongue". These plants are so popular. They have a clean structure, so it goes really well with the minimalist vibe. Snake plants don't require much light or water to survive, so they are great. They basically grow anywhere. They are the best choice for any corner of your home. They are the best air-purifying plants. This plant absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen during the night, while most plants do that during the day, so you could put one in your bedroom for an oxygen boost at night. It also removes the nitrogen and formaldehyde present in the air. Snake plant is the best indoor plant because it takes less space and has low maintenances. 

Golden Pothos

Moving onto the Golden Pothos, also known as "Devil's Ivy". Best recommended indoor plant in every home. These are fast-growing decorative plants, so they are good for hanging pots. But if you don't want to hang them, you can also put them on a rack and let the leaves hang down. Or put them on a table and let the leaves overflow over onto the table. These cute, heart-shaped leaves and the different varieties of variegated leaves, which means the marbling on the leaf. It's so beautiful. It also improves the circulation of oxygen in your home.

Chines Evergreen

Next is the Chinese Evergreen plant with its beautiful leaves. It is very easy to take care of these plants. They grow in low light and will grow in places where other plants won't grow. Because they are tropical plants and they do like humid air. So, if your home air is too dry, their tips might start turning brown, so you want to mist the leaves occasionally. They also do a great job filtering out a variety of air pollutants, and if you care for them right, they can live for more than ten years. 

Spider Plant

Next, we have the Spider Plant, another very common, very easy to grow plant. One of the best air purifying plants and also a safe houseplant if you have pets or children in the house. Spider Plants grow in cool to average home temperatures and prefer dry soil. They also like bright and indirect sunlight, so keep them close to an open window. 

Rubber Tree

Now let's talk about the Rubber Tree. This tree has big, dark green bright leaves that definitely make a statement. They are like the perfect minimal, structured plant to have in your home, especially if you don't want things to be too colorful. They also like indirect and bright light. And keep in mind that these trees can also grow very large. 

Gerbera Daisy

Next, gerbera daisy is another house plant due to its beautiful and bright colors. Grow in sunlight and moderate temperature. These plants require the bright sun to bloom and release oxygen at night and remove benzene so best for bedroom and living space

Aloe Vera

Next, we have Aloe Vera, another one top air-purifying plants. It is an easy-case succulent that has elongated leaves. Aloe vera actually has a history of being used for medicinal objectives. The gel inside of the aloe plant can help heal cuts and burns and has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties so multiple other benefits too. Aloe vera loves full sunlight, so it's a great choice for a sunny kitchen window and bathroom. Also, aloe vera is known as an oxygen Bomb which is popular for the production of a large amount of oxygen compared to other indoor plants. The Aloe Vera is also able to cut down toxins like formaldehyde which are present in the air. Lastly, succulents are super cute and super easy plants to bring into your home.  there are so many different varieties. Succulents love bright sunlight, and you barely need to water them. They are the lowest maintenance plants on this list.

Hope so this inspired you to bring some life and color into your home.

What is Ecofeminism? Is Ecofeminism Still Relevant?

 Melting glaciers, extinction of insect populations, wildfire, floods. Climate change is upon us whether we accept it or not, and the environmental, economic and social damage in its leaving in its wake is catastrophic. Many regions in the world drown under storm waters while the Earth continues to heat up. Globally, we are well on our way to beat a tipping point that will change our climate for good. It’s easy to lose hope when you see this glance of what's to come. But often that doom and gloom make us start searching for a better way to navigate our connection with the environment and ourselves. Ecofeminism is a possible thought through which to view our current environmental crisis, and it’s important to see what it has to offer as a theoretical framework. So today, we are going to know two questions: What is Ecofeminism?  And is it a useful thought for understanding our current social and environmental circumstances? So first, what is Ecofeminism? Ecofeminism is a term formulate by Francoise d’Eaubonne in 1974. Ecofeminism is much more than just a title, however, it’s a framework that seeks to combine, re-examine, and amplify the environmental and feminist movements. Like other frameworks, especially in the feminist journey, ecofeminism has grown and evolved in the last 40 years since it was formulated. But at its core, ecofeminism seeks to tell the connection between the injustice of women and the demolition of the environment. In essence, a primary challenge within ecofeminism is that women’s liberation is connected with the liberation of the environment from human demolition. And there are two key ways that this crossroad is explored in ecofeminist value hierarchical thinking and oppositional duality. These sound pretty complex so let’s immediately break them down. Value hierarchical thinking is simply the idea that cultures establish certain troops as inherently more valuable than another troop. Oppositional duality is a way of understanding certain cultural and social binaries. For example, in many civilizations, men and women are seen as fundamentally different from each other and actually being opposites. We talk about “opposite genders” all the time. But that idea is itself composed, instead of being a dual, gender exists on a spectrum. In U.S. culture, humans and nature are another conflicting dualism. And in most cases, civilization attitudes place more value on one side of the binary than the other side. Often, this value duality expresses itself in language. For example, nature is defined as feminine in the phrases fertile ground or mother earth, both to be liberated, sown and extracted. While slang phrases for women tend to be animals, like chick and vixen. Ecofeminists seek to look for that this oppositional and hierarchical thinking helps justify the opposition of both women and nature. But ecofeminism has experienced an acute resistance since it rose to conspicuousness in the 1990s, and indeed, it seems to have lost its following as a consequence of this pushback and its lack of use by activists. One of the main critiques of ecofeminism is that it lacks analysis about race, disability, class and more movements like environmental justice. Many ecofeminist critics point out that ecofeminism does not have an interchangeable framework; because ecofeminists tend to focus only on nature and women, they miss the differences that exist between women. As a result, much of ecofeminist analysis tends to neglect most women. A scholar-activist Gwyn Kirk justifies this claim in her explanation of a weekend workshop in 1987 in New York. She writes that the first of the workshop was led by a group of influencers of color talking about environmental racism and community organizing in their neighborhoods, and it was a very lively debate, but Kirk notes that on the second day she was involved in a workshop on ecofeminism. She describes it as “a small, white group that focused on feminists devoutly.” So, when compared to a framework like that of environmental justice, ecofeminism seems inappropriate for many activists and thinkers. Although environmental justice drives are admittedly often less focused on gender, they seem to build stronger affiliation in frontline and marginalized societies because they focus on issues like toxic waste, pollutants, and food issues affecting people in their immediate circumforaneous. 

Ecofeminism, as critics say has lost its relevance in part because it only functions at this high theoretical level that groups women of all identities into one class. In short, critics of Ecofeminism write that it's not a useful thought because it only allows us to look at how nature and gander are connected, and in doing so it, leaves out an analysis of how racism, ableism, classism and other ways of domination are associate with environmental demolition. Ultimately, ecofeminism is a way through which to view and connect the invasion of the environment and women. It can definitely be a useful lens to understand how discrimination and the destruction of the natural world are connected, but it often leaves out another crucial pathway of subjugation, including class and race. But ecofeminism can be more than just a structure, there is a very real case where gender and environment strike in the world. So, for more on a real-world look at the relationship between gender and climate change.

The Environmental Impact of Food Waste and How We Can Stop it

Curries, Beef burgers, Sushi, Pizzas, Cakes, Pastries, Pasta, Platters, and Tortillas all these food items everyone loves to eat have a big impact on the environment. As a community, food is central not only to our existence but also to our cultures. All of us love food. But as much as we have affection for food, we also love to throw it away. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization calculates that almost ⅓ of food produced for consumption never gets eaten globally. And in the United States, that number is even more. 40% of the U.S.’s available food supply gets wasted each year. According to a report, like buying five bags of groceries at the store and then just leaving two of them in the parking slot every time you shop. So today, we are going to look at food waste with three questions: Why is excessive food waste happening? What are its environmental consequences? And how can we fix it? If all the food that is currently getting thrown into the landfill every year was instead averted into meals for those in need, we would feed as many as 1.8 billion people who need food. On top of the list is that food waste has been estimated to be responsible for roughly 8% of global emissions worldwide. If it was a country, China and the United States ranked third for yearly greenhouse gas emissions. So, food waste is one of many problems at the crossroads of social justice and climate action. Its huge emissions footprint comes from all the energy needed to ship, process, and produce the food that ends up in the trash and from the forceful methane fumes that food emits as it decomposes slowly in landfills. But food doesn’t just grow out of the ground and then suddenly end up in the trash, there is a long chain of consumer interactions and businesses that at any point might turn up your perfectly edible food into waste. Simply put, food transforms into trash in two general areas as it travels from farm to plate: Before the point of buying and after the point of buying. The majority of food waste generated in the United States comes after the point of buying, but let’s look at food loss before that on farms and in grocery stores. One of the best ways to market food is through the illusion of profusion. People shop visually, and to most, that last piece of fruit on the shelf was left there because there was something wrong with it, not because it just happened to be the last one. To appear plentiful, grocery stores often overbuy food to tackle people into purchasing more items. So, at the grocery store and farmers' markets, vendors face an uphill battle against the old quote “Pile it high and watch it fly.” They need to create an excess of food to sell their items, but that excess can at times lead to more waste. After the point of buying, the plague of food waste continues. Indeed, household, restaurant, and foodservice waste account for 70% of the United States' annual food waste. As a consumer of food, it’s our reasonability, we have tried hard to minimize our waste, but it can be easy to cook or buy excess that ends up in the compost or trash. For a family of four, household food waste costs $1,700 annually. With the average plate size expanding by 35% since 1960 and refrigerators growing 30% in volume since 1972, it’s fascinating to buy more food just to fill up space. Overbuying, and the certain “cleaning out the refrigerator activity” that comes with it, can also be attributed to buy-one-get-one-free promotions or purchasing in bulk. Our appliances, supermarkets, and even our plates are all pushing us to buy more and more. In addition to overbuying, in the United States, there is also a serious lack of clarity when it comes to dealing with expiry dates and spoiled items. There are no federal laws regulating sell-by or expiry dates. As the consequence, labels can mean basically anything depending on where you purchase your food.

The lack of clear information regarding when a product actually goes bad means that households throw out perfectly edible food well before it expires. In short, there are marketing, labeling, psychological and cultural forces all coming to play to make food waste a major issue in the United States. Ultimately, there are many points by which food becomes waste, whether in your own home or even before it makes it onto a supermarket store shelf. But there is hope. There are many solid solutions to these problems at all levels of the supply chain. At the individual level solutions look like creating a plan to use all the food you buy or giving it to needy people and truly understand when your food has expired and then composting it instead of throwing it in the bin. You can even get involved with people who are voluntary all over the world that recover food from local restaurants, cafes, homes and stores and give it to those in need. On the supply side, solutions look like lowering food demand by eliminating buy one get one free promotion, donating food that’s not fit for marketing, or even using props and boxes to maintain the illusion of profusion without needed excess production. And on a policy level, actions like standardizing expiration dates accurately reflect the science behind food-borne diseases and illnesses. Food waste is an avoidable problem, and addressing food waste means tackling both climate change and hunger in the process. We don’t necessarily need fancy farming technologies to create more food for people who go hungry; we need to work together on every small level to more equitable distribution of resources we already have, and in doing so we not only mitigate climate change but also create healthier communities.

Covid-19, Plastic Pollution and Environment

The global pandemic (Covid-19) presented an opportunity to check on the health of the planet. Initially, there had been hoped that the slowdown in the world economy would be beneficial for the planet. As air traffic completely stopped, ships were stuck in port, and industrial pollution was completely reduced. But this pandemic has had negative consequences for the environment too. Waste piling up, disposable protective equipment, plastic packaging everywhere. The world was already going under a sea of plastic waste, but covid-19 has made the situation even worse: a face mask can stay in the environment for up to 500 years. It takes that long before they change into invisible microplastic. As environmentalists say the plastic trash levels rose by 50 percent in April and more of that trash of plastic come from food containers water bottles cups and disposable packages when the pandemic hit. In this pandemic, the number of online purchases rose by 240 percent. The wider impact of this plastic pollution on the environment is now starting to become apparent.

There are piles of garbage everywhere the problem is that plastic is very light so it easily flies up by the wind and settles down rivers where it ends up in the ocean. The plastic waste problem has gotten worse day by day. When the coronavirus outbreak began everything's got bad before this pandemic, we would start using less disposable plastic packaging but now people are purchasing even more plastic wrapped items because they are scared of getting a viral infection. Disposable single-use masks and gloves that people are now using we're seeing start to appear on our streets in our countryside on our beaches which is a real concern. You know you can't help but see plastic pollution everywhere and inevitably that's single-use throw-away plastics. We see lots of plastic bottles, masks, plastic cotton bud sticks, tissue paper and confectionery wrappers in this coronavirus pandemic. This really had an impact on the use of plastic and the types of plastics we are seeing in our environment now. Disposable plastic gloves are common in markets they are light and easily swept away. The pandemic has led to a waste crisis now even environmentally conscious people feel safer buying plastic-wrapped products. Plastic bags floating everywhere the tiny plastic particles which made plastic bag you can only see under a microscope are even more dangerous. This tiny plastic passes through the food chain through fish and ends up in our bodies too. It seems like this pandemic should serve as a reason for us to generate even more plastic waste. If we damage the environment, we also endanger our own health. We are seeing this now during the coronavirus pandemics we're not thinking ahead not conserving the environment and not treating animals like we should. It’s our responsibility to cut back on single-use plastics but these days due to the pandemic the very opposite is happening it takes some 500 years for these materials to decompose so they will be with us for generations. Some people choosing plastic packaging for their food because they think it's safer to use plastic in this pandemic crisis. But there is a danger that this pandemic is making our day-to-day lives less ecologically sustainable. Restaurants with a lot of customer mesh use more disposables now than they used to directly before the pandemic. But there's of course also another part of the story and that is we saw a lot of changes in patterns of behavior and consumption that actually move towards more sustainability. As we start with food in for example in many countries the consumption of regionally and ecologically produced food has increased during the pandemic best for the environment and for the economy too. We saw lots of changes in mobility patterns less business travel less commuting to work more house office some of those probably will be maintained after the pandemic and of course due to lockdowns which is not a positive thing for the economy and the humans but consumption and production went down and therefore also energy use and raw material use and therefore stress on the environment went down. So overall it's more the opposite that we didn't see patterns change in a way that is environmentally more destructive although disposables are probably one point so that's in terms of individual behavior but globally can we say that this pandemic has been good or bad for the environment. So, we have seen lots of plastic go into our oceans we are seeing a much less resilient ocean so animals and wildlife being impacted habitats and ecosystems being impacted and that makes it less resilient and able to withstand the shocks of climate change so it's all interconnected. The biggest concern is that the plastics industry can sort of getting itself off the hook of the action that we have been working so hard to deliver so the action on plastic bottles or on straws the sort of interventions is legislative at a systems-level that can stop plastic pollution from ending up in our ocean in the first place so our oceans are absorbing millions of tons of plastic every year. We really need a whole new approach to how we are packaging things a whole new approach to a single-use culture. We need to be much more of the reuse, reduce and refill mindset and we need to make sure that the plastics industry is fully accountable for the sort of packaging they are producing and stopping it from ending up in the ocean. It is really important during this global pandemic crisis that where people now have to wear masks, they think reusable rather than single-use when it comes down to masks and of course, instead of wearing gloves the advice should be just washing your hands regularly and we need to curb this throwaway mindset that we have within society. Protecting the environment should be the priority but experts worry the pandemic and its economic impact may push environmental pollution issues off the agenda.

Importance of Planting Trees for Environment

 One of the most important elements for the environment is tree planting. It is impossible to think of an environment without trees, so it is essential to consider the trees transplanting for landscaping, land reclamation of the forest.

Most importantly, trees plantation helps reduce the ozone levels trees take in carbon, thereby removing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases from the air thus the earth remains cool. During the process of photosynthesis, plants produce oxygen using water, light, and carbon dioxide and animal used this process fuel as food.

Planting three trees strategically around a single home cuts air conditioning needs in summer up to 50 percent so trees conserve energy. Brind down the energy demand for cooling houses, we decrease carbon dioxide and emission pollution from power plants.

Trees are necessary as they provide us with enough oxygen, without which we cannot live. In fact, we need trees right from the food we eat that helps us to live to the medicine that is given to heal a disease. This also includes furniture we use in office and home for comfort and dress we wore and also the vehicles and cars that help running our life smooth. Considering all these precious benefits of trees, at the end of the day tree plantation cannot be ignored.

Planting trees as per the essential requirement and demand of the environment is known as tree plantation.  At least 25% of each country must have woody and plant areas that help to keep in balance with the environment. In fact, many countries do not have the essential wood area and this is not desirable. Thus, realizing the necessity and the actual need of trees for the environment, it is obligatory that everyone is conscious of the importance of tree plantation. 

In tree plantation week everyone should promise to plant at least one tree as a benefaction to the environment that is always granting you something or the other in one form or the other. Tree plantation along with roadside and near your home in the open spaces or in fields is recommended. However, to make sure a healthy environment, the second action to be taken is to stop deforestation, besides they should authorize tree plantation as it maintains balance in the environment and makes sure we live in a better place. Thus, there is a healthy need for everyone to come forward and to look at tree plantation that is best for all.

Trees are helping the environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate betterment, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife habitat. In the process of photosynthesis, trees take carbon dioxide in and yield the oxygen that we breathe. 

Tree plantation and environment

By the few simple steps, we can help save trees include:

Using paper carefully, thus saving trees from getting cut down for paper manufacturing.

Borrow, share and donate books, so that you don’t go for a new one.

Visit the forestry area to know the value and importance of trees in the environment.

And also learn new concepts and ideas to deal with trash, thus to save the environment tree plantation is a must.

Tips for Zero-Waste lifestyle

 I have always liked the philosophy that we have not inherited this planet from our ancestors we're only borrowing it from future generations so we wanted to make sure that our impact was sustainable for our future and our kid's future as well. This article is for beginners who are looking to urge into the zero-waste lifestyle, and it’s for anyone who wants to be more conscious of their ecological footprint. Anyone can start using this now, and you will truly make an impact on the environment. Here are different ways to live with less waste. First, it's important to know the 5 R's of waste management: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot, in that order. We shall start with refuse. Refusing is the first rule to live a zero-waste lifestyle. Think before accepting any shuffle into your home. Reduce junk mail, party favors, freebies and any other junk that will most likely go into the trash. Each year, Americans discard 100 billion plastic grocery bags which take about a thousand years to break down. Instead of using plastic bags and creating more demand for them, use reusable cloth bags or even no bag, whenever possible for you. I used to think it was mandatory to use plastic bags for your grocery, but recently I discovered you can just use your own bag or even no bag, which is even good because why bring home extra plastic? You could also bring your own glass jars to grocery stores to avoid bringing home any unnecessary plastic containers. I really like when grocery stores sell things in bulk so that it’s really easy to do some zero-waste shopping. You can either weigh your jars at the front in advance or bring an additional of the same jar so you can weigh it at checkout. Next, rather than using a one-time disposable plastic straw, you can either say no to the straw completely or use a steel and acrylic straw instead. I personally like to drink my drinks and juices with a straw, so I have a steel straw for that specific purpose. Instead of using a plastic cling cover in your kitchen to freeze your food and leftovers, switch to use reusable and sustainable food wrap. These are all-natural, organic, and compostable. I believe they are produced out of beeswax, and these wraps actually do a really good job at keeping your food fresh and healthy, even better than plastic wraps. Instead of purchasing disposable plastic water bottles, go for a reusable water bottle that you can fill up again and again. Steel and glass are probably the best choices for your water bottle. So, if you have them already, reuse what you can, if you discard your plastic bottle and buy a new one, this will put pressure on the environment for producing more items. Do your best to avoid using disposable kitchenware, whenever you go to a picnic, you can bring silverware from home or use portable utensils made out of bamboo or stainless steel.

Over 4.7 billion toothbrushes that are made of plastic will never biodegrade and are dumped in landfills and oceans each year. So, you can just switch out your plastic toothbrush for a sustainable bamboo toothbrush. Considering all the plastic toothbrushes that you use in one lifetime. And imagine avoiding that plastic waste completely, just by switching to something biodegradable and compostable. I am a huge tea lover and I have always opted to choose loose tea leaves or tea powder instead of tea bags as they always contain plastic lining which makes it wasteful and makes sure to use a steel strainer instead of the plastic ones as plastic isn't good to use with anything hot. I love the environment but I also love skincare and makeup and my favorite thing is to swap in my skincare routine instead of using cotton pads and makeup wipes I use a face scrubber. I use it with my oil cleanser which does an amazing job of exfoliating and breaking up all of my makeup and sunscreen. It is also super easy to clean and it is antimicrobial so you don’t need to worry about it getting dirty and greasy. I also use it with my regular facial cleanser which feels amazing like little hands deep cleaning your skin and this product is great because it's 100 recycle able so I totally recommend switching to something like this instead of single-use products Lastly, reduce the amount of paper you bring into your house by switching to paperless whenever possible. Do this with your mail, your notes, your books and bills. I personally love reading eBooks on my iPad, but I know some people love traditional books, so just do whatever works well for you. I hope you people liked these ideas on how to live with less waste. I just want to remind you though: Just take it one step at a time. Just don't be so hard on yourself. It's a journey. All the things that matter is that you're becoming conscious of the environment, more aware of the environment and you're doing your best for the environment. Everyone's journey is different. I'm not perfect and I'm totally not zero waste yet. But I think the first step is awareness about your environment. And then after that, you'll start to reduce your waste little by little. So, let's create a non-judgmental, warming space where we can just open up the discussion around reducing our waste. And let's not judge others who are not aware of this lifestyle. The best thing you can do is just be a living example of what you want to see in the world, and let your actions speak louder than your words. It all begins with awareness and let this awareness flow into your actions, and then others will see what you're doing and then they will be inspired to follow along. Alright, that's it! we can do it all as a community to reduce our waste and a better planet will leave behind for our future generations.

The Link Between Global Warming and Climate Change

 Global warming is a climatological phenomenon in which the global temperature is rising because of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Reasonably hot Sun sends us a mixture of various rays which is composed of 10% of UV, 40% of visible light and 50% of infrared when the incoming solar radiation arrives at the surface of the atmosphere it is directly reflected towards space by clouds and the various layers of the atmosphere the remainder of this incoming energy is absorbed by the various components of our planet such as atmosphere, earth surface and ocean surface, etc. Since the Earth's surface is colder than the Sun it radiates heat back to the atmosphere in the form of infrared energy and most of the emitted infrared radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere and warms the atmosphere also gains heat and radiates energy upwards and downwards. The downward radiation is absorbed by the Earth's surface and the upward radiation is reflected in space. As we know, our earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases that contains roughly 78% nitrogen 21% oxygen 0.97% argon 0.04% carbon dioxide trace amounts of other gases are water vapor nitrogen and oxygen that form most of the atmosphere. They do not absorb the infrared radiation so they do not contribute to warming the earth but the greenhouse gas molecules mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor absorbed the sun's radiation as infrared some goes back into outer space and most of the energy towards the Earth's surface. The greenhouse gases warm up the atmosphere and also the Earth's surface which is called the greenhouse effect in this way the earth maintains a stable average temperature. Without these greenhouse gases, surface temperatures would be cooler and many life forms would freeze thanks to this natural greenhouse gases because it keeps our average temperature is comfortable. When the concentrations of greenhouse gases increase, the temperature of the atmosphere also increases, leading to the warming of the Earth's surface because too many greenhouse gases trap more and more radiations that cannot escape to space. As a result, radiations remain in our Earth’s atmosphere which causes the earth to warm up. So, the higher concentrations of greenhouse gas responsible for global warming contributors of the greenhouse gases both nature and human activities. Human activities are the main contributors for the emission of greenhouse gases like volcanic eruption, power plant plants industry, ocean transportation, forest fire deforestation, live stocks commercial and residential appliances.

Global Warming 

Impacts of global warming lead to long-term and devastating impacts for the natural environment ecosystems and human societies such as drought, flood storm, ice melting, etc. Effects on the ocean and climate change as temperatures rise glaciers melt faster than they accumulate new snow when these ice sheets and glaciers melt the water flows into the oceans and sea-level rise. The rise of sea level causes destructive erosion flooding of wetlands aquifer and agricultural soil contamination with salt otherwise rising water level helps to evaporate more water vapors from the warm ocean surface. So, the hurricane or cyclone get the energy for winds from these warm water vapor and leads to higher wind speeds in the hurricane or cyclone nevertheless when carbon dioxide enters the ocean it combines with seawater to produce carbonic acid which increases the acidity of the water lowering its pH this is called ocean acidification. The rising temperatures coupled with ocean acidification affect marine species and ecosystems warmer water temperatures in the ocean result in coral bleaching when water is too warm corals will expel the algae living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white affects on wild animals and birds. Face new challenges for survival because of global warming due to drought-induced starvation many wildlife animals shift their places for searching food and water birds also migrate to move from an area to another area for their resources polar bears are starving because of melting sea ice they need sea ice to hunt seals as their main source of food. Effects on human health: human health is at risk because of global warming rising temperatures in the tropics allow mosquitoes to thrive causing the spread of diseases like dengue fever, malaria. Heatwaves caused people to die of dehydration or heatstroke. Solution of global warming are renewable energies like wind power, solar energy hydropower has the potential to reduce global warming decrease the emission of carbon dioxide from industrial sectors turned to reduce global warming. Planting more trees can play a significant role by reducing carbon dioxide from the air and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere to avoid the use and emissions of CFCs or HFCS and a variety of climate-friendly energy efficient safe and proven alternatives need to use.

How To Host an Eco-Friendly Party in this Pandemic

All of us love celebrating parties that are typically made of disposable, one-time-use plastic items. All decoration is designed for quick and easy clean-up, especially when hosting large parties, such as disposable plates and cups, straws, balloons, etc.

Everyone likes throwing parties that put friends and families together for some quality time. However, there are some environmentally friendly choices to throw parties that lessen the impact on the environment.

Planning for your guest' enjoyment will place a lot of pressure on the environment and create a lot of waste. In this article, we can learn how to reduce the amount of waste you produce by making some adjustments. It's a perfect way to raise environmental consciousness and inspire others. A few ideas to consider; aim to produce as little waste as possible, reuse, reduce and recycle wherever possible.

The first step is an invitation, go for the paperless invitation. A super convenient method is a phone call email or message directly to your guest list. One of the efficient ways of inviting your guests.

The next step is the use of biodegradable tableware - Cutlery, glass, bowls, plastic cups and straws. It's one of the most dangerous leftovers, and none of it can be recycled or composted. Using an eco-friendly product is a perfect way to have a sustainable green party. Using plates and glass made from plant-based materials like bamboo pulp and sugarcane is one of the best options.

Another step is responsible cooking - Food preparation for a large number of people will also result in a lot of waste. Be sure to plan the meal first and then buy those items you'll need for the cooking. Have a few meals rather than an elaborate spread, whether you're cooking at home or buying food from the market. Always keep in mind that many people that are conscious about the environment follow a vegetarian diet while you make the menu. At least one dish should be free of the meal. Make a lot of Vegan dishes with a lot of flavors that will please all of your guests. Inform your guests that you are planning an eco-friendly party and your aim of reducing waste to the very minimum.

When we think about reusable decor - Balloons, plastic bubbles, and other popular party decorations come to mind. These are all single-use items that are often made from plastic and increase the trash. This year, you can go green by using natural decor ideas to decorate your party and home and give your party a classic new look.  Fabric buntings, candles, terracotta lights, greenery and other decorations could also be used. Fruits, dried leaves, and new flowers create lovely table centerpieces. DIY, such as upcycling old jars, cans and bottles and making table pieces with flowers from your backyard. Candles and string lights are a wonderful way to brighten up your home while still eliminating the utilization of unhealthy air fresheners. The use of eco-friendly home items is a wonderful way to encourage your guests for an eco-friendly lifestyle.

Avoiding gift wraps you are faced with a bulk of lovely, gleaming trash that can't be reused. It gets far more eco-friendly when it comes to gift wrapping ideas; you can pack your gifts in newspaper or brown paper. Another alternative option you have is to presents in cloth bags, which can be reused.

Opting for local drinks: When it comes to drinks, a little prep and smart shopping will assist you to reduce the environmental effects. You should use local and seasonal fruit ingredients when serving cocktails. If you are going to serve soda, aluminum cans are the best choice because they are easier to recycle than plastic cups or glass. You will also serve water to your visitors in old wine or beverage glass bottles.

Since not everybody is as environmentally conscious as you are, it is important that you simply educate your visitors on the day of your party about how they can help you accomplish your goal of arranging a green celebration. Inform the guests about biodegradable wet and dry waste, as well as paper and plastic waste, are separated in the bins. Additionally, the use of eco-friendly bags is another effective way. This keeps them involved within the group and helps them realize the importance of their participation in the party.

Parking spot is also a challenge for visitors, you should allow the visitors to arrive at the venue using more friendly means of transportation, such as taking public transportation or carpooling. As a result, they reduce the amount of fuel used bringing you closer to your green party target.

If you are going to host a party in this pandemic, you need to do it outdoor and in a spacious place. Mark six feet distance. And everyone should wear a mask remembering wearing a mask not only protects you but also protects your loved one from the virus. And remember the major cause of covid-19 is private parties. It is very important to remember that proper mask-wearing, hand hygiene and 6 feet physical distancing remain the best precautions against infection. Nobody wants to infect their family so it's everybody duty to follow all the SOP.

International Political Economy and the Environment

 Talking about the International political economy will start with a target on international forms of inequality and the types of unscrupulous relationships that exist between countries. Since we're thinking about the environment, we're going to kind of just spell out how those forms of exploitation result in a host of injustice and inequities, both environmentally and economically, but also as well as, socially. We live in a very highly laminated world economy with core countries at the middle of things, enjoying the highest quality of life, not to mention quantity, if we look at demographic factors: that's where the life expectancy is greatest. On the opposite end of the spectrum, are the peripheral countries, which are the poorest. In many cases life expectancy flitter around 49-50 years old for these countries, so they're delayed far behind on several indicators. Environmental problems are no exception. The main countries enjoy high levels of consumption of an extensive range of materials and, oftentimes, production of those goods, or the by-products of that production, are experienced in the peripheral or the semi-peripheral countries--which are somewhere in the middle of the core and peripheral countries in the scheme of things The question is, how can unequal exchange between core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral nations be halted? That's one of the core questions, to bring about some form of social justice and sustainability. So just briefly, thinking about definitions, a "core nation" involves maintaining a diverse economy and a heavy trade of imports and exports. The vast majority of exports tend to be higher-end consumer goods, and imports tend to be natural resources or lower-order kind of manufacturing products. Peripheral nations are the poorest as mentioned, tend to be highly agricultural or suffer from the resource curse as it's been called--this kind of narrow export economy develops and these nations depend very heavily on the export of a narrow range of exports. semi-peripheral nations have features of that sometimes, but they also can look like core countries, in that they often are the host of different types of manufacturing but usually not the higher-order, high-cost manufacturing goods. The core countries exporting high-profit consumer goods, importing cheap labor and raw materials; semi-peripheral countries having somewhat of a mixture of those characteristics; peripheral countries of course are importing the high-profit goods and they're exporting the cheap labor and materials, which is a very disadvantageous location in the world system.

At the heart of the world economy, and now this gets us a little past the initial thinking of world Systems theory, incorporates some contemporary thought particularly with the rising role of multinational corporations’ heart of things, facilitating global trade. Now it's corporations that have replaced the nation-state in this kind of quest to find new markets, new resources, new workers, and so forth. Multinational corporations are, of course, guided by a desire to make a profit, and do so in a highly competitive context. Those that are not profitable tend to perish, and those that are tend to continue. So, you know, multinational corporations will sort of shop around looking for the best place to do business due to their desire to maximize profits. That of course means cutting corners where it's possible, externalizing costs to the environment, paying the minimal amount for labor because that's going to maximize profits. Usually, they can find a willing partner: a peripheral or semi-peripheral nation that's willing to provide what multinationals are looking for. Because this is a competitive global economy many nations are almost blackmailed into accepting rather poor business practices and there's almost no oversight. This is one of the interesting things about the world system, the world economy, is that global corporations, multinational, transnational corporations-they don't really have anybody to answer to. There is no international governing body that they have to follow some kind of international laws. we've looked at elsewhere, also focused on environmental outcomes but with similar claims about how the economy works under capitalism, and the way corporations are caught up in this competitive game to out-compete one another and find the cheapest path the profit at the expense of labor and the environment. We see the global economy does increase the distance between consumption and production and that's something else that separates contemporary world economic dynamics from older forms which were somewhat more localized--not entirely, the colonial system of course had global dimensions but the day-to-day production and consumption of goods were much more localized under colonialism and of course before colonialism. One model for regulating multinational corporations is to have a higher level of global governance. That means maybe using existing frameworks such as the United Nations which is a league of countries that negotiate with one another but the United Nations is not itself truly a governmental body and it doesn't regulate corporations and regulate countries. The United Nations does not directly challenge multinational corporations, it certainly doesn't challenge the underlying global capitalist system, profit motive and generally believes that good economic decisions will be green, making the ideology of the UN more consistent with an ecological modernization paradigm. There's also the World Trade Organization, which does regulate multinational corporations, but this is not a governmental body either. It's in fact a private tribunal where decisions are made behind closed doors. There's no Democratic input whatsoever. So, there's really not much concern with anything besides economic justice between the different participatory nations and companies. What these can do, is they can provide even poor countries with a certain amount of assistance and support, they can provide resources, expertise, and they can help countries fight out their environmental battles, or their labor battles as the case may be. This is driven at first by grassroots actions within the peripheral or semi-peripheral nations but eventually evolves into some kind of institutional form. That is how we know social movements are succeeding. As we've seen with the environmental movement, that's has been the case to a large degree, and there are several organizations out there. So, the key question is: can we govern the world? We have this race to the bottom, so to speak, multinational corporations racing each other to find the cheapest resources and labor, cutting corners as much as possible to increase profits, so that shareholders are happy and continue to hold on to their shares of the companies, and so forth. The greatest resistance coming from grassroots social movements, which are global and scale, and international organizations that they have created, and in fact, interact with and rely upon it. They of course want to change the global governance structure and ultimately the rules of the global economy, to hold all factors more accountable. The question here is can progress be made without radical changes to global structure? Once again, I think that brings us back to the fundamental difference between an ecological modernization paradigm and ideas associated with the global political-economic perspective. All this discussion of the global political economy really needs to be put in perspective by thinking about the extent to which there are global injustices and global inequalities.

11 Green Industries with Amazing Environmental Initiatives

 Salesforce

Salesforce, a CRM company has three types of environments. Production Environmental unit, Development Environmental unit and Testing Environmental unit. Production environmental unit: store the live data that is actively used to run your business. Development Environmental unit: It is where you can extend, integrate and develop on force without affecting your production environments. Testing Environmental unit: Production or Development Environments specifically used for testing application functionality before setting out to production.

Salesforce company corporate commitments to help attain a climate turning point by 2020.

Nike

Reducing environmental impact is a goal of Nike’s production process, and it can be seen in the stack of the latest releases in footwear and apparel. They are applying the upcycling approach, taking the old product and grinding it up to be used in new pants, jackets, and shoes is just one of many ways that Nike helps close the circle and fight climate change. 

Apple

One of Apple's biggest titles in the last couple of years is that it now runs on 100% renewable energy. According to Apple’s most recent environmental impact report, approximately 66% of that renewable energy comes from projects owned by Apple, like their massive solar roof. The other 34%, however, is a mix of direct purchasing from renewable services and buying renewable energy certificates. In the future, they are providing a leader in the tech field when it comes to renewable energy and sustainability.

 Burt’s Bees

The company focuses on three main fields — lowering its impact on climate change, preserving precious resources and using more safer materials in products and processes. Their iconic honeybee logo shows the makeup company’s commitment to the environment. Its 2018 Sustainability Goals revised also apply to its parent corporation, The Clorox Company.

Disney

As far as sustainable companies go, Disney is huge. It uses zero net greenhouse gas emission policies in all of its facilities. They are currently building two ships that will use over 80 thousand lights and all of these lights will be fluorescent or LED to cut down on the number of emissions. The emission of greenhouse gases will be reduced by over twenty-five percent in these new ships compared to the current ships that are in the water today overall the company has reduced their emissions by 44% in 2018 and they'll hit 50 percent by 2020. They also used alternative fuels to reduce their impact on the environment.

Starbucks

Transforming an old Starbucks cup into a new Starbucks cup, it's not a magic trick. There's a systematic and scientific method behind turning paper waste into the food-grade fiber, into new products and reusable possibilities. That means you drink your Starbucks coffee from a cup made with a fiber that was manufactured using a prior Starbucks cup. This iconic Starbucks cup holds more than just well-crafted coffee. It holds the potential of how powerful post-consumer recycling can be. However, Starbucks is developing an environment friendly container to double the cups’ recycled content and reusability by 2020.

Dell

Dell first started its traditions of Good Plan in 2013 to use technology to drive human progress and advance health, happiness and prosperity. In 2020, Dell’s tradition of Good Plan looks at its long-term commitment to society, its team members, and the environment.

Honda

Equalizing cars with sustainability don’t always compute with some consumers, but Honda is changing the narrative and becoming a sustainable company. Honda has a goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% from the automobiles, motorcycle and power products it produces when comparing levels from 2000 to 2020.

 IKEA

Although IKEA is known for less-expensive furniture and DIY. This green company has new items that help people cut their electricity and water use, such as a tap nozzle. IKEA has also introduced environment friendly materials into the production process, which will lower costs and help the environment.

The North Force

The North Face produces a wide range of clothing lines from streetwear and t-shirts to full-body snowsuits that look like wearable sleeping bags. The North Face’s environmental reach is through its manufacturing and production processes.

Patagonia

Patagonia an apparel company. People have long known Patagonia as an influencer and environmentally conscious company focused on conservation. It’s one of the largest funders of environmentalist causes, and it gives 1% of all sales to ecological grants and organizations. Plus, Patagonia encourages its customer for repairing old clothes for free. Meaning you won't have to throw it away or buy a new one. But if companies that produce things, we need are more like them, we will be in a far better zone. Customers buy and sell their worn clothes, and it even repairs used clothing so other consumers can wear it.