Hello there! Hope you are having a fabulous day! Today I am back with a new guest for the Earth Day Series! Today we have Lia of Buff & Polish joining us and I'm so excited. She's has created some really neat 3-D Nails to show you plus all the neat info so lets get to seeing what she has to say!
Problematic Pollutions
When Sarah asked me to be part of her Earth Day environmental special for the month of April, I
thought it was a fabulous idea, and was excited to be part of it.
It was hard enough trying to settle on just one topic to focus on for this, because here in Australia
we have a wide range of environmental issues. But being a city dweller, I decided I'd settle on some
of the various pollution related issues we face in this giant landmass that I currently call home.
WATER POLLUTION
Being a coastal livin’ creature, my city is blessed with pretty coastline. This country in general, has
some of the nicest beaches in the world. It's a bit of a touristy drawcard. This is great for the
economy, but not so much for the beaches with the rubbish people leave behind.
We have a pretty solid agriculture industry as well, but it's a major pollutant. What is particularly
troubling is that some of the modelling predictions estimate that about 19,000 tons of phosphorus
and 140,000 tonnes of nitrogen are flowing into waterways that lead to the coast annually. Not
exactly great news for the humans or animals that rely on water clean water. Industrialised activity
(amongst other things) is already helping destroying our coral reefs with toxic waste.
AIR POLLUTION
Air Pollution is another big issue in urban areas. The general infrastructure in a lot of the major
cities here is poorly planned. In my city, the public transport system isn't as efficient as it could be,
so most people opt for driving to work. The number of cars increasing on the road grows each year
and contributes to smog and other lovely "air quality destroyers" (do note the subtle sarcasm).
We're also one of the countries that still tend to rely mostly on fossil fuels for energy, such as
burning coal and an increasing use of natural gas. These are finite resources that will not last
forever. The good news is that Renewables are set to make up 50% of our energy consumption by
2025, with a push to 100% round 2030. Phew! We can't keep warm by burning books and bras
forever!
RUBBISH POLLUTION
Being a western culture, this is still an issue. The consumerist lifestyle is
generally quite wasteful. Everything you buy comes like Laura Palmer; wrapped in plastic.
Sometimes I've bought things wrapped in plastic only to open them and discover them wrapped in
even more plastic!? (If you’ve ever seen that old show Twin Peaks, think of this as Laura Palmer²)…
There's a push for less plastic and more sustainability, but as always, it's been pretty slow to catch
on with policy makers. Many of our oceans and riverways get choked up with all kinds of rubbish
dumped by lazy people (including some of the millions of visitors each year) - food waste, plastics,
bags, whatever they can't be bothered carrying to the nearest bin. Not a great diet for the fish and
sea creatures.
On the upside, Almost a year ago most of the major grocery stores banned single use plastic bags
and stopped selling plastic straws (which choke sea animals). It was a great step forward, but it's
not enough.
We have really good recycling programs in in this country which is a plus. Some regional towns also
have weekly collections for food waste bins! On average ⅓ of household rubbish is food waste. This
lets off methane when left to rot in landfills, which is 25x more potent than the C0 2 produced by
cars. But it still doesn't stop people being lazy…
PEOPLE POLLUTION AKA OVERPOPULATION
Another increasingly important issue that gets glossed over. With less than ½ a percent of the entire world population, we’re far from being as populated as most countries in the world, (a lot of Australia is generally uninhabitable). But increasingly people are flocking to the cities. The drawcard of flashy lights is more appealing than busting one's hump with farm life. This puts a major strain on metropolitan areas. With increased population comes more urban development. More land clearing, more deforestation, and more animals losing their habitat. We have some crazy weird and wonderful
animals that are unique to this neck of the woods (ever seen a Cassowary? ), but they're finding it
harder to survive and are being pushed out of their natural habitats. Forests play a huge role in
biodiversity and are also massive carbon sinks, so losing forests also means more carbon dioxide
going into the oceans in the atmosphere.
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| A Southern Cassowary expat hanging out in Vienna |
LIGHT & NOISE POLLUTION
We don't cop this as much as other major cities around the world due to our smaller population, but it still exists. There's always something being developed or built or expanded or rebuilt at any given time. Constant development is irritating to neighbours, covers everything nearby in dirty ‘n’ dust, and is intrusive. Try finding peace with twice the amount of leaf-blowers than before!?
Of course there are other environmental issues, but in trying to keep this article a respectable
length am naming just a few. To go with some nail art (though you’ll have to excuse the awkward
pose). My 3D nail art reflects some of the topics I've mentioned. The living planet contrasted with
depleted, overused soil; covered in rubbish, but with the hope of new beginnings.
Pollution is a cancer (as well as causing it). It'd be great to see more action on that battlefront, at a
faster rate than it has been. When deniers scream the loudest, and those in charge act like a bunch
of circus monkeys, solutions don't come fast. The worry is that irreversible damage will be done,
and dire consequences will be suffered. You don't get third chances with these things.
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