The environment in Colombia and in the world requires immediate action and great changes in order to guarantee its care and survival. But remember that big changes start with small transformations in each one of us. Here we show you some steps to follow so that you can help the environment in Colombia.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Change Your Habits
Step 1. Start by recycling the products you consume
Every time you separate the packaging of the products you consume, you save the planet from the extraction of raw materials, help to make their decomposition easier and reduce energy consumption.
- Classify the waste you produce into 5 different types: paper and cardboard, plastic, metal, glass, and organic waste.
- Buy rechargeable batteries, since batteries contain many polluting elements, such as zinc, mercury, lead and cadmium and their decomposition is very slow.
- Buy recycled products. When you buy recycled products, you complete the recycling cycle and thus you can ensure the continuation of recycling as a beneficial strategy for the planet. In Colombia there are several companies that create innovative products with recycled material.
- Reduce the waste you produce. Choose products that have less packaging and avoid those that have excessive packaging. If you go shopping, bring your duffel bag instead of using plastic bags. In Colombia, approximately 25,000 tons of garbage is produced per day, much of which is impossible to recycle. Although there have been efforts to professionalize the work and production of recycling, they have fallen short due to the large amount of garbage produced and the poor recycling infrastructure in the country.
Step 2. Reuse things
Find out the best way to reuse the containers and packaging of the products you have consumed and you will realize all its possible applications.
- Reuse the cardboard. Cardboard is a very versatile element that has many uses after its initial use. It is perfect for building children's cars or dollhouses. It also serves as a decoration element in craft exercises and is used to make furniture for the house. The cardboard rolls of toilet paper can serve as a cable tie, plant pots or as an organizer for all kinds of products.
- Reuse the glass. The glass is easily recoverable and can be used to replace all kinds of homemade glasses. It can also function as a lantern, lamp or chandelier for the house. There are several safe ways to cut and modify glass so that it can be reused.
- Reuse paper: Old paper can be used to protect crops in your garden and as compost for plants. Similarly, all the advertising paper can be shredded and used to decorate vases, containers and bowls. Shredded paper also serves to cushion objects in a box. There are companies in Colombia that grow their own paper and cardboard from planted seeds. Locate them and find out their products.
- The National Association of Entrepreneurs of Colombia (ANDI) created EcoComputo, an organization in charge of recycling and reusing electronic waste, such as computers, radios, iPods and servers, among others. [1]
- When shopping for an electronic device, be sure to ask for a way to recycle it. The Ministry of the Environment has forced companies that sell electronic products to always offer the customer a way to deliver devices that are not being used for recycling.
Step 3. Change your transportation habits
The means of transport have become one of the biggest pollution factors in Colombia and the world and one of the points that the government wants to address with the greatest urgency to help the environment in Colombia.
- Use public transportation. Although the quality of public transport in Colombia varies by city, increasing efforts are being made to offer an integrated system that discourages the use of private cars.
- Keep your car in good condition. If you must use a car, be sure to keep it in good condition so that its emission of gases is as efficient as possible.
- Share transportation with other people. The trend of using a car to transport several people to the same destination has increased in Colombia. See if you can implement it with friends and classmates or office.
- Use your bicycle or an electric motorcycle. Bicycle paths have multiplied in Colombia in recent years and it is no longer strange to see a large flow of cyclists using them to go to work or home during peak hours. In addition to doing the environment a favor, you are doing yourself a favor by exercising and lowering your stress levels.
Step 4. Change your eating habits
Adopting a diet that is healthier for you means helping to preserve the environment.
- Large-scale livestock farming has devastating effects on the environment, degrading soils and causing excessive deforestation. Consuming less meat can generate a change not only in the environment but also in your health. If you can't switch to a vegetarian diet, you can find a responsible balance in your meat consumption.
- Large-scale livestock farming also exponentially increases water waste and causes large emissions of gases that increase the temperature of the atmosphere.
- Eat more organic fruits and vegetables. Organic produce contains fewer pesticides and growth hormones than traditional supermarket produce. These chemicals can threaten the quality of the land and flow into bodies of water that transport them to other places, affecting the water consumed by all living beings.
Step 5. Change your consumption habits
Responsible consumption increases the chances that the planet does not have to suffer excessive loads in order to satisfy the demand of all its inhabitants.
- Avoid excessive consumption. Ask yourself if you really need everything you have in your room, house, garage or storage room. It is very likely that you do not need many of the things that you have stored.
- Whenever possible, eat locally produced food. In this way you will save on packaging and transport.
- Avoid consuming plastic. Plastic is one of the great pollutants of the environment, but it is so present in our daily lives that it is very difficult to stop consuming it. Still, you can reduce their presence in your life. Start by stopping using plastic bottles and little by little you will be able to reduce their consumption.
- Do not receive paper advertising on the street or in your home. If possible, call advertising companies to stop or email it.
Step 6. Remove the chemicals
There are many products that contain chemicals that prevent certain biological and purification processes from being carried out.
- Avoid using aerosols. Aerosols have certain chemicals that destroy the ozone layer and increase the greenhouse effect.
- Use natural cleaners like hot lemon water, baking soda, white vinegar, and essential oils.
- If you are going to use air fresheners, make them environmentally friendly.
Method 2 of 3: Take Care of Natural Resources
Step 1. Become aware of the importance of water in Colombia
In Colombia we can afford many luxuries with water because we have large water sources, but these resources are not renewable and in several regions of the country permanent droughts are already being experienced. The best way for Colombia to contribute to a better future for the planet is by changing our use of water.
- With an exercise as simple as reducing shower time or turning off the tap to brush your teeth or shave, you are already doing a lot to better conserve water. You can also collect the cold water that comes out when we wait for it to warm up in a bucket.
- Collect the rainwater and water the garden with it. If you cook vegetables with water, save it to water the plants.
- Avoid buying plastic bottles. To make a bottle of water like the one you buy in the supermarket, you need the equivalent of seven bottles. Boil water at home and fill your own bottles.
Step 2. Change your energy consumption habits
Over time, renewable and clean energy will gradually replace fossil energy that is so difficult to extract from the earth and that when burned it pollutes the atmosphere. In Colombia, more and more companies are dedicated to finding practical uses for these new energies.
- Turn off and, if you can, disconnect electrical appliances that you are not using.
- LED bulbs consume less energy than traditional bulbs, they shine more and have a much longer useful life.
- Solar energy panels for domestic use are becoming more and more common. If you live in a house, consider the possibility of using them on the roof of your house. There are also solar water heaters.
- If possible, try to wash and dry your clothes without electrical appliances. If you can't stop using the washing machine, use a clothesline to dry your clothes. Never leave the air conditioning on, and if you can, try to eliminate its use.
Step 3. Take care of nature
The good use of water and energy must be transferred to nature. Nature is an endangered ecosystem that we could not live without, so it deserves that we do everything we can to help it.
- Promote reforestation. A single tree supplies us with paper, napkins, wood and many other objects of daily use, in addition to cleaning the air of the atmosphere and being food for thousands of animal species. Join reforestation campaigns and take care of this important natural resource.
- When you go camping, do not make bonfires in places with many trees and be very careful how you use gasoline, charcoal or wood stoves. Respect the water sources and do not pollute them. Do not throw cigarette butts in any natural place.
- If you promote reforestation and save energy, you will be helping rivers and lakes. If you go on a trip to any of these bodies of water, do not use soaps or detergents to bathe or wash clothes and never contaminate them. Always carry bags where you can throw your waste.
- Colombia has beautiful beaches on both its Caribbean and Pacific coasts, but many of them are highly polluted. If you go to a beach, always leave it as you would like to find it, and never use it as your public bathroom.
- In the same way, it protects all species. If you go to the beach, do not catch turtles or crabs and do not buy necklaces made of hawksbill or coral, as hawksbill turtles are endangered and coral takes decades to grow back. If you go to another place, respect the ecosystem and all the species that inhabit it.
Method 3 of 3: Stimulate Consciousness Shift
Step 1. Find out about the current state of the environment
Taking good care of the environment can be complemented by informing you about the biggest problems that afflict it in the world and practical ways in which you can help.
- Global warming is largely caused by air pollution derived from irresponsible human behavior and in Colombia it will have disastrous effects on natural ecosystems, rising water levels, the death of crops and the extinction of certain special animals and plants.
- Pollution has caused an unprecedented decrease in the quality of the environment in Colombia. High water, forest and environmental pollution, largely caused by human activities, alters natural cycles, destroys ecosystems and puts our existence on the planet at risk.
- The ozone layer protects us from ultraviolet radiation. Its wear, due to the high concentrations of harmful chemicals in the atmosphere that break down its molecules at a rate much higher than natural, puts our health and the lives of many species at risk.
- Logging and indiscriminate hunting. In Colombia there are areas that due to an indiscriminate felling of vegetation have become desertified to such an extent that they are unable to continue harboring life. Similarly, hunting without regulation or permits of animals such as fish, dolphins and wild species, destroys the natural balance of the ecosystem.
Step 2. Influence the change in others
It tries to serve as a catalyst before others so that the changes that the environment in Colombia and the world require can be achieved.
- Share the information with others. Both the new habits in your daily life and all the information you have researched deserve to be shared. Start with your family and closest friends and explain to them how these changes are good for the environment and each one of us.
- If you see someone with the wrong attitude, don't be afraid to correct him, always with a respectful attitude. Respect will take you much further than recrimination. If the situation is too serious, do not be afraid to contact the appropriate authorities.
- Support social causes. Create groups on social networks and summon people who are also interested in the environment in Colombia. The more we are, the more we can make ourselves heard.