Eating Trash

Literally that is what we are doing, when we pollute our world!

Continuing Earth Week and our affects on the plant and wildlife around us, I would like to draw attention to our oceans. If you missed it, Wednesday on Oprah was all about Earth Day. One of the guest speakers was Fabien Cousteau, famous undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau’s grandson. He talked about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is a cluster of garbage in the Pacific Ocean that stretches from Japan to California and is the size of Texas. I live in Texas so I can truly imagine how big this actually is.

This massive garbage ball is affecting all sorts of animal and plant life. Animals are ingesting OUR garbage; which is causing never before seen cancers and disease in our wildlife. Fish and birds are being found with trash in their stomachs. The same fish and birds that we turn around and eat! Fabien Cousteau made a good point. He asked the question ‘Would we let our children eat chemicals or trash?’ The answer is of course NO but that is what we are doing when we pollute and poison our wildlife, our Earth.

This post is not to discourage you from eating fish. I will always eat fish; it can be extremely healthy for you and provide many nutrients. The purpose of this post is to not only make me realize the damaging effects we are having, as humans, on our world, but also to help others have the same awaking.

Things WE all can do to help (specifically in the kitchen):
-use reuseable shopping bags

-RECYCLE (many cities even pay you for your recycled goods)

-buy a water filter and stop using bottled water (HUGE investment- you can buy one of those water filters for about $20-30 bucks and have fresh clean water every time you turn on the sink. Tap water is what is actually found in the majority of bottled water!)

-upgrade to Energy Star Kitchen Appliences

-replace paper towels with spunges and cloth towels that can be washed (an area I am personally working on)

-install a water aerator which will reduce that amount of water coming out of your faucet (saving gallons)

-use enviroment friendly and non-toxic cleaners

-grow your own fruits, veggies, and herbs (not only will this save the plant but it will also save your pocket book)