As parts of America suffer record cold temperatures and after the previous years’ devastating hurricanes and the terrible fire in California, you might be inclined to believe there is something in the scientist’s dire warnings about climate change.
Donald Trump thinks it’s a hoax, but the evidence points to something serious going on.
As any individual concerned about trying to their bit to help out, we do have some choices and lifestyle decisions to make.
Recycling on a basic level is relatively easy to do, as is cutting down on plastics – I like fizzy water and recently bought a SodaStream (yes, they do still exist!) to make my own using glass bottles rather than the plastic ones from the supermarket.
You car buy more efficient lightbulbs, Fairtrade goods, and insulate your loft.
I drive an electric car, my wife uses a reusable cup for buying coffee from Starbucks. Not a huge difference overall, but if we all did something it might help.
If you look at any large company’s prospectus or mission statement, there will be a policy on what they are doing from an ethical or sustainability perspective. Marks & Spencer’s will undoubtedly be able to encourage better ethical or sustainability practices from their suppliers, and that’s good to know.
But, in the face of the growing Global Warming crisis, what other options do we have?
The Scale of the problem.
To try and understand what some of the issues are and what collectively we are trying to do approach the issue, I’ve being doing on-going research and I thought I’d share some of my findings and thoughts with you.
I’m going to cover this topic in much greater detail over the coming months, but wanted to focus on one major problem today – plastic.
The issue of plastic as modern material that permeates every part of our lives is a hot topic; you might not have known though, that ten of the world’s most polluted rivers account for 95% of the plastic in the oceans.
Of these, 8 are in Asia, 2 are in Africa – if you’ve the stomach for it, Google Images for the Ganges and you’ll see what I mean.
There are solutions and I’ve detailed a couple below.
Mohawk are the largest recycler of plastic bottles in the US and so far have turned 30 Billion plastic bottles in to EverStrand long-lasting carpets and are a good example of a forward-thinking company.
Another great example are Picture Organic Clothing have been creating organic, recycled & bio-sourced products for snowboarding, skiing, surfing and the outdoor since 2008.
I’d encourage you take a look at their website
https://www.picture-organic-clothing.com/en
So what to do.
The companies I mentioned above are part of a growing global focus on creating businesses that are more than just words when it comes to helping improve our environment.
Through Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) vehicles, you now have a choice about making your money work in a different way and have a much greater impact that your individual efforts might have in their own.
Please don’t stop what you’re currently doing, but speak to me if you like to find out more about SRI.