Steps to creating an Eco-friendly family
By: Mariam Gurchiani
Tags: Environment, Sdgs, Nature, Eco Friendly, Earth

There is a famous saying, that attack is the best form of defence, but I would like to say, that more often, the best defense is to avoid receiving negative information by becoming blind and deaf. Unfortunately, this is a well-designed mechanism to protect our own comfort zones. For example, most of the times, we’re choosing to stay blindfolded when it comes to global issues.

A few weeks ago I decided it was time for me to make a small contribution to saving the ecosystem, so, I introduced new rules to the family (with the perspective of adding more tasks to the list, of course) that I would like to share with you:

Rule number one: We must make sure that water isn’t wasted (especially hot water)! Please, don’t let the faucet run while you’re brushing your teeth or shaving your beard. Also, when we boil water for only one cup of tea, it’s not necessary to fill the kettle until the maximum.

Tips for those who are currently renovating their home/office: If you’ll install a faucet in which the water comes with a relatively low flow, you’ll reduce your monthly expenses and, surprisingly, you’ll save thousands of liters of water.

Here are two facts about water to keep in mind:

Water is the beginning of life for every living organism. As a prove, we can remember, that 3 billion years ago, single-celled microbes living in the ocean were the only alive creatures on earth.

A person can last more than three weeks without food, but the maximum number of days we can go trough without water is one week (in best case scenario), to be more realistic — three to four days.

And did you know that according to the World Health Organization, one in three people on earth doesn’t have access to clean drinking water, and that there are countries where the main cause of death for children under the age of five is the lack of clean water?

When I am asked if I prefer to hear the good news or the bad first of all, I always prefer to hear the bad news first, so that then the good news will cover bad news like an ointment (as much as it’s possible). If we’ll take the example of Georgia, the bad news is that the state has failed to maintain the system and many villages and settlements in Georgia are failing every day in battle with water problems; The good news is that unlike other countries, our land doesn’t really suffer from water shortages and at least, it sounds hopefull .

Rule number 2: We never leave the equipment on if there is no need (TV, computers). Rule number 3: If nothing is charging, the charger should be disconnected to the ! Rule number 4: We don’t iron things out unless it’s necessary (Mom, we can sleep sweetly in blankets even if it’s not perfectly straightened, don’t worry).

In 2019, Philippine philanthropist Mark Gersava announced on social media that he was refusing to iron his clothes to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

“Every person emit 190 [kilograms] of CO2 equivalent in greenhouse gases each year by ironing clothes. If the seven billion people will stop ironing clothes, we can decrease the CO2 by 13 Million Metric Tons annually that has a big contribution to [reducing] the effect of climate change.”

This part of our family rules, of course, doesn’t just apply to blankets. For example, you can slowly add clothes to your wardrobe that don’t need ironing.

So, let’s see! Refusing to iron clothes with the name of fighting to climate change may even become a new trend.

Rule number 5: Mom and Dad, when you go to the store, don’t forget to take the slice bags. Rule number 6: When buying any kind of liquid, you should give preference to the product which is placed in a glass bottle.

When the plastic gets into the environment and breaks down or burns, carbon, methane and other pollutants are released and we all know the devastating effects this process has had on humanity. The earth can no longer carry garbage on land or in the oceans. Inhabitant creatures of water and land are harmed or dying and the seafood which eventually settles on the shelves of shop in your district is poisoned.

The European Parliament has approved a law banning the sale of disposable plastic items (food containers, cotton swabs, cutlery, etc.) in the EU from 2021 onwards. By passing this law, they hope to prevent the damage to the environment by about $ 25 billion by 2030.

Rule number 7: Each family member need to ‘’atonement’’ each flight performed by plane by planting two trees (this rule also applies to past flights!).

Can you imagine the impact of the flights performed on our ecosystem if more than one hundred and fifty thousand flights are completed daily between countries?

The exhaust gases emitted by the aircraft are nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particles of aluminum oxide, etc., Which naturally have a deplorable effect on the ozone layer and global air temperatures.

In the spring of 2019, the lower house of the Philippine parliament approved a law that requires a student to plant 10 trees in order to complete a school/gymnasium/university. Before that beautiful day when our country will create something as marvelous as this one, we, with our own desire and enthusiasm can do a little, but magical things and help the earth to breathe.

After all, maybe asking yourself one rhetorical question can help us: do earth needs us or do we need the earth ?!