20 Bad Habits affecting the Environment

First written by mralonesa and 0 others, on Sun, 2001/05/27 - 3:18pm, and has been viewed by 2 unique users

Salam ya Shella,

Hope you all are having good day :)

Well.. I'm tryin to develop a presentation on "20 Bad Habits that Harm the Environment".. I want to make it something simple.. but to the point.. I gonna make it in Arabic and English .. and I need input regarding those acts that do harm the environment.. with more info.. of how they harm.. what alternatives we have so we avoid those acts.. how much wide is doing those harmful acts.. etc..

So.. our environmental aware shellawya.. send me ur input.. may be if it works well.. I can share it with you all in a powerpoint format ! :)

Regards
Ahmed Omar(Saudi Arabia)

kenza3

Hi All, Hi A,Omar ,

Concerning your query about env.pollution ,and I being a firm believer in Env Friendly behavior , I will share with you some of my knowledge and what I put into practice . For more detailed scientific data , I guess you should refer to some bibliographies , one of which is the famous book Small is beautiful by Schumacher . Ok here it comes :

1) litter/rubbish - Litter can be a highly polluting agent, since some products are non biodegradable such as hard plastic (non recycable bottles, certain kinds of aluminiums , areosols , ...) The solution : recycling - this means that litter would ideally be divided into several parts ( something that I practice by the way) Food stuff goes to a biodegradable bag and is not mixed with other litter. All food peelings, leftovers, etc....this is then later used a compost as fertilizers . It is a great way also psychologically to know that one is not wasting food and that it is going back to earth . Glass bottles are taken once a week to a glass bottle container where they are all gathered and recycled . Plastic bottles : I make sure I buy the recycable ones , the label is on the bottle usually , end of each week I take the plastic bottles to a container designed specially for plastic . Aluminium foil and cans : again these are highly polluting agents : They can be seperated from the rest of the litter and thrown into special disposal containers . Papers: once a month , a truck passes by and picks up all newspapers , magazines , etc ..I usually pile them up and keep them on the side and make sure to have them taken that particular day .

2) I do not want to make this e.mail too long but this is a vast subject Aerosols: sprays are not env.friendly, they destroy the ozone layer, opt for normal sprays with no pressurized gaz in them .

3) as I said plastic is non biodegradable , opt for refills instead of buying new plastic bottles for instance .

4) to save trees , opt for recycled paper instead of bleached paper , some goes for toilet paper , kitchen paper etc....I could go on and on about fumes , lead and lead free gaz , pollution of the sea and the dying of species , behavior of people when they treat their street as a local rubbish bin or their parks or their sea shore ...At the end of the day , a few things to retain :

- the need to provide for people adequate containers for different recycling items . This is the work of the municipality/govt .
-educating people on the positive effects of recycling .
-educating people and making them aware of their responsibility towards nature .
Hope this was useful to you . Best
Layla Kenza
Geneva

Mon, 2001/05/28 - 1:45pm Permalink
Sherines868

Hi Ahmed form Saudi Arabia

I have some ideas for you presentation. Some the Habits affecting the
Enironment are pollution, smoke coming for hazardous vehicles, factories,
Exxon Oil when it was spilled in to the ocean. I don't know if you remember
that. Active volcanos maybe, I am no expert. I hope that helps. Say Hi, to
People of Saudi Arabia.

Cheers
Sherine

Mon, 2001/05/28 - 4:39pm Permalink
geneid

Dear all friends , Hope you are fine and doing well ,

I received an email from El-Shella recently in which Ahmed Omar, a Shella friendfrom Saudi Arabia, was looking for tips on dealing with the Environment , i am copying here three green tips on how to conserve water as a sample from what he and other friends can find in the following URL which has some very nice tips that can help the environment wether you are in home , work or even at school. The URL is http://www.ec.gc.ca/ecoaction/gtips/
Hope you will like it and if you need any other information , please don't hesitate to contact me .

1-Report tap leaks or faulty toilets at work to maintenance people so they can be promptly fixed. A leak of one drop of water per second wastes about 10,000 litres a year.

2-Use a bucket, sponge and trigger nozzle on the hose to wash the car. You'll save about 300 litres of water each time you wash!

3-Shade the roots of your grass by leaving it over 6 centimetres high. The grass will hold water better, too. Water conservation is easy.

Yours
Ahmed Geneid
Ismailia , Egypt

Wed, 2001/05/30 - 8:33am Permalink
ama1001

These are excellent points made by Layla.
My Ph.D. Thesis was on Formation of Dioxin-like compounds from
pyrolysis of some halogenated flame retardants and their low-level
detection in the environment. Sorry for using such a language, but I
promise, that's it...no more. My work in a previous life and the
work of many others around the world was and is on the formation of
very highly toxic compounds when governments/companies/people burn
waste. Burning waste, especially incomplete burning leads to
chemical reactions resulting in formation of very hazardous
compounds. Some of these compounds escape through the stacks
"Madkhana" and pollute the air. The soot (the black stuff that
remains after the burning) contains high levels of these pollutants
too and depending on how it is disposed of will determine the extent
of contamination. Burning also leads to formation of acidic gases
that come down on us with rain making what is known as Acid Rain.
Automobile pollution is another contributor. Filling your car with
gasoline and spilling it on the ground pollute the air and
underground water. I am not even talking about oil exploration,
production or transportation processes. Running cars that do not
conform to the modern pollution standards such as those that do not
have catalytic converters or with faulty ones. We have to ask our
representatives in the People's Assembly to make laws and demand the
government to enforce them. When it comes to recycling, we can do
many of the things that Layla mentioned, but in countries like Egypt
and some Arab countries where recycling policies are not there or are
not enforced, our efforts will "go to waste". We may separate the
garbage, to find the garbage collector dump it in the same container,
so what good does it do to separate it? You may also find people
getting into the garbage to get stuff and scatter it all over the
streets or find stray animals doing the same.
The solution is: 1) government strict laws and their enforcement. 2)
Education of the people. One of the two only will not work.
Dr. Ashraf Alsabbagh

Fri, 2001/06/01 - 1:40am Permalink