After a long break, I am so pleased to be writing about our latest collaboration. We’re joining forces with Latina Makers Club and Global Girls Give to help Rainforest Alliance with the Amazon fires, that started in Brazil, however, have now spread into Bolivia and a region of the Peruvian Amazon.
On August 25th, we kicked off our first of several live Instagram events for the cause. Over the next two weeks, you can tune in to stories shared, statistics, and impact of the crisis. The rainforest has been burning for more than 14 days. We hope that you will join us in making an impact over the next 14 days.
To read a quick recap of our first live event, check out the Global Girls Give blog here.
We appreciate that after reading that (alongside everything in the news), you may feel completely overwhelmed. Believe me, I’ve been there and continue so. That is why I started Imperfectly Green, and it is important that even just by participating in this campaign, you are supporting the cause. While you can’t stop the fires directly (unless you go fly there with a fire hose (but please don’t be one of those either unless you know what you’re doing and have been formally invited by an organisation because you have the right skill set), there are some important things you can do. Let’s also remember that deforestation is not a new issue. Years of bad consumption habits have lead to this, and this is the best time you can enact a life style change, a new resolution, or whatever you want to call it!
To start, there are a lot of broader one-off (or regularly occurring) advocacy activities you can take part in such as:
- Donate to emergency appeal campaigns like ours to stop the fires now
- Get involved with a reforestation project
- Give to organisations that protect land and indigenous communities
- Challenge big businesses who make our goods and provide services
- Sign petitions which address local and foreign governments to take appropriate actions in their respective jurisdictions
Today I want to spend more time talking about 5 lifestyle changes that can directly address deforestation.
Reduce your Beef Consumption, Full Stop – I think its generally known at this stage that eating less meat can help save the environment, but you might not have realized its specific connection to the Amazon rainforest. CNN reports, many of the Amazon forest fires started out as smaller fires set by farmers to clear away grazing land for their cattle. Rainforest beef is typically found in fast food hamburgers or processed beef products. In both 1993 and 1994 the U. S. imported over 200 million pounds of fresh and frozen beef from Central American countries. Two-thirds of these countries’ rainforests have been cleared, in part to raise cattle whose meat is exported to profit the U. S. food industry. When it enters the US its typically not labeled with its country of origin, so there is no way to trace it to its source. Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter, so it’s up to us to decrease the demand for rainforest-raised beef.
Avoid Palm Oil – Palm oil, found in half of all processed foods in the US, and many common household products is a key contributor to rainforest deforestation! Some quick example are – Snickers bars, Doritos, most processed/packaged food items (instant noodles), and even many vegan cheeses so please look at your labels! Read your food and product labels carefully and refuse to buy products with palm oil or insist on sustainable alternatives.
Be Mindful of Soy Products – This was was a bit of a surprise to me when I was doing my research. People typically jump to the thought, “isn’t soy a health food staple – edamame, soy milk, tofu etc. ?” The reality is that only about 6% of soybeans grown worldwide are turned into food for consumption. They go mostly into animal feed, or used to make biodiesel. In fact, 75% of the world’s soy goes into feed for cows and other animals. While the direct ipact of soy has been addressed by global campaigns (see this success story here), it is still playing a role in tropical deforestation. For example, when ranchers sell pasture land to be converted to soybean production, they may use the profits to continue their operations in forested areas – making soy an indirect cause of deforestation. Experts have also said that some of the deforestation avoided in the Amazon has simply moved to other regions.
Reduce Paper/Wood Consumption – I save this one for toward the end because I think its simultaneously the most obvious answer but oddly the thing we haven’t caught on quickly enough. We live in a world where 98% of all data is digital, yet there is enough demand still for paper and wood-base products, so it’s left me wondering, for what? I have personally struggled with this one but at the end of the day, it’s about being conscious about choices. I’ve seen a bit of a “renaissance” in home furnishings, kids toys, greeting cards and other goods be made with nice paper and wood because its seen as more environmentally friendly than plastic. The problem there is that while its true that wood will eventually degrade, we’re not changing our consumption habits to realise the benefits. The best thing you can do is practice minimalism, and reduce the pressure on our remaining forests by using less wood and paper. Continue the obvious things like use your own cloth bags at the grocery store, use cloth napkins and towels, and avoid disposable paper plates and cups. If you use biodegradable cutlery, make sure to throw it out with the compostable refuse rather than normal trash or it wont get a chance to degrade when it ends up in a normal landfill.
Reduce Your Use of Fossil Fuels – This is also an obvious one in my view, but it needs to be here because its a part of our lifestyle. The burning of oil, gas, and coal is the primary cause of climate change, a trend that is threatening the stability of the global climate. Scientists have predicted that if we stay on our current path, global temperatures will rise between 2° and 9° Fahrenheit in the next century -a warming rate faster than any occurring in the last ten thousand years. In addition, oil exploration projects lead to toxic pollution and massive deforestation, posing a threat to pristine ecosystems and indigenous cultures worldwide. You can help alleviate oil’s impact on the environment by reducing your own oil and gas consumption. The next time you purchase a car, choose one that gets good gas mileage and avoid gas guzzling sports utility vehicles. If you drive somewhere regularly, start a carpool. Whenever possible, leave your car at home and instead walk, ride your bike, or take local mass transportation. Support funding for mass transportation and bike lanes -options that will serve our transportation needs and our planet much better in the long run.
I know that it may not be possible for you and your family to make a ton of changes in all of these areas overnight. The easiest way to commit to a new lifestyle change is to break down the goal into bite size objectives, with milestones to aim toward. So for instance, if you eat beef 5 times a week, maybe cut back gradually to 4, then 3 and onward as it best suits you. It gets even easier and more fun if you get someone involved with you. Include your mom, best friend, partner, kids, whoever. Make it meaningful, make it fun. As a new mom, I am conscious that these are things I want my child to learn as he grows up and I am keen for him to be proactive about these issues from day one. Since he’s quite young, one of the ways I am involving him in my goals is by reading stories about the environment. A few my favorite titles are:
- The Lorax
- Charlie and Lola – look after your planet
- Here we are: Notes for Living on Earth
- Recycling for Children – an Eco-Friendly Birthday
- There’s a Bear on my Chair
- What a Waste
- Don’t Disappear
and finally…rather than leave you with just all the things to avoid with no alternative, here are some companies and sites to explore further:
- Rainforest Alliance Certification for Businesses and business search
- Other protein sources, and check out Beyond Meat (my personal favorite)
- Ultimate guide for meat alternatives
- Shop like it Matters using the Klerify App and other apps that help with sustainable choices
- Products containing Palm oil, and those that don’t
A bit about our amazing Save the Forest Campaign Contributors:
Global Girls Give (GGG) focuses on broadening the word community by fostering mentorships and connections for women across all generations worldwide. We aim to inspire, provide support, and empower women through our programs, to give back and break local barriers.
Latina Makers Club aimed to equip Latina entrepreneurs with the right tools & resources to successfully run their own businesses and become innovators and leaders in their fields and industries. Breaking barriers to create a space for Mujeres in our community to grow, to be seen and feel represented, and empower and inspire them to speak up and own their space.
Imperfectly Green highlights the adventures and conscious choices of a woman on a journey towards a greener life as a working woman, mother, and consumer. Wanting to point out the disparities and struggles within our society on efforts be more green, as well as wanting to hold herself accountable, Imperfectly Green became a space to vent, explore, and resolve the crippling feeling from the range of options, the scale of problems, or lack of clarity about what to do. In a world where it’s not particularly easy or affordable to be green, especially if you’ve grown up with a certain set of habits, Imperfectly Green sets out to help change how to balance the art of truly being green in a realistic manner.
Eco et al. is a scientific communication page created by a Brazilian Ph.D. in Ecology and Biodiversity to spread the science to the non-academic public. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram.
