Use 10 Percent Less

All things must change when the consumer changes

Archives for May 2019

Plane Pollution – a huge problem

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I was doing some gardening early on Monday. It was a beautiful morning and when I looked up, I was startled to see so many plane trails in the sky. In fact, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and everything I could see was caused by plane pollution. It was really surprising, and got me thinking about what a problem plane pollution is and why we generally just ignore it.

This prompted me to investigate a number of articles on the internet (you can see links to all these articles below along with the most interesting quotes from each).  It’s clear that plane pollution is one of the major problems we’re facing as humankind, and we need to do something radical and quickly. [Read more…] about Plane Pollution – a huge problem

Ironing – why do we do that?

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Have you ever stopped to think why we do ironing? Why do we iron and press our clothes? I’m sure you’re all thinking that it’s because we need to get the wrinkles and creases out. Sure, but why is that important? Why is that we are not acceptable human beings if our clothing isn’t pressed? Surely this is just a symbol of status and it’s quite ridiculous.

If we didn’t have to iron and press our clothes, we’d actually be using less of the worlds resources;

  • we wouldn’t be wasting energy (mostly electricity) on heating up irons
  • we wouldn’t have to make irons (mostly made in far away countries, using metals and plastics, then wrapped in plastic and a box and then shipped all over the world)
  • we wouldn’t have to make ironing boards
  • we wouldn’t have to dispose of old irons and ironing boards
  • companies couldn’t sell the vast range of aids and sprays that they do
  • we’d have more money and more time to devote to better things

[Read more…] about Ironing – why do we do that?

Reforestation is working!

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This is great to see. It looks like reforestation is working!

I read an article in forbes.com by Trevor Nace that explains how NASA says the Earth is greener today than it was 20 years ago. That’s a real surprise, but a very pleasant one. But an even bigger surprise that a lot of the thanks has to go to China and India.

Why is this a “Use 10 Percent Less” issue? Well, simply because humans use too much of the Earth’s surface. We have destroyed large amounts of forests, and this is not just a recent phenomenon. All of the farms that we see in the countryside, that may have been there for many generations, were naturally forests and woodlands. The human use of natural land for profit growth is putting too much pressure on the world. We have to use less of the Earth.

The following map shows, in green, areas that are greener today than 20 years ago and how large parts of China and India and much greener. [Read more…] about Reforestation is working!