Today is World Environment Day, and your world needs you!
The environment and green living is getting more and more exposure lately but it is a topic which needs to be a constant presence in the public consciousness in order for it to truly take hold and for us to actively make changes to the way that we think and live. There are a numerous areas (both domestically and in the corporate world) where it is possible to make small, simple changes that will make a real difference to the collective impact that we have on the environment.
The theme for this years World Environment Day is “Think, Eat, Save” with the aim of encouraging us to think more about sustainable consumption. With the rise of globalisation and an ease of access to a huge variety of food stuffs, our collective attitude towards food has shifted. Whereas once the growth, use and preservation of food was of utmost importance, now with a smaller, more connected world of instant satisfaction we are all guilty of being more wasteful than we should.
Between the 7 billion of us knocking around on Earth we waste 1.3 billions tonnes of food every year. Taking into account the fact that this wastage is not evenly spread among all 7 billion of us, and that there are large areas of hunger and poverty, it is a truly staggering figure. There are however simple changes to the way that we think about food that could make all the difference though. Here are our top 5:
5 easy tips for environmental living & eating:
1) Buy local, buy organic:
Thinking about the transport miles of your food can greatly reduce the environmental cost and impact of what you consume. Locally grown, organic food is hugely beneficial in that it reduces the environmental impact of its transport and also reduces the levels of chemical which are introduced into the environment.
2) Plan your meals:
Planning meals is another way to greatly reduce the amount of food that you waste in a household. If you know what you’re making and can shop appropriately the chances of having left over food going past its consumption date, going off and going to waste is drastically cut.
3) Manage your energy more effectively:
Thermal imaging surveys of either your house or your place of business can reveal where your heating, cooling and insulation might be inefficient and having an unnecessary impact on the environment. This might be because of ineffective insulation, badly fitted windows or faulty heating or refrigeration units but thermal imaging cameras will be able to pick up on where you’re wasting energy and wasting money.
4) Monitor your emissions:
If you know that your business is one which produces significant emissions (food transportation for example) then you should consider it your corporate responsibility to monitor and manage the level of impact that these emissions are having on the environment and reduce/control them as much as is possible. You can achieve this with emissions monitoring instrumentation which are available for nearly any application whether you need to look at the emissions of an oil rig, a shipping and transport dock or a landfill site.
5) Reduce food production wastage:
Whether its just you cooking at home, you’re buying your meal from a supermarket or a chef in a restaurant whipping up something fancy, you can effectively reduce the amount of wastage through the proper employment of heat monitoring and thermometer equipment. Ensuring that you’re in touch with the cooking process throughout, reduces the chances of spoiling food and over-contributing to the waste statistics above.
Every change that every individual can make to the way that we think about and behave with food makes a real difference. 7 billion small changes all add up!
Think, eat, save.
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