How to Save Water

Water is probably the most precious resource we have. Sadly it has long been abused and misused. Each day our water supply is put under greater and greater stress. However, there are a few things all of us can do to help. Here are a few water-saving tips that we can all follow.

1. Don’t ignore dripping faucets. Always close faucets properly or, if needed, fix them as soon as possible. A dripping faucet can waste around 75 liters in only one day.

2. Install new water-saving fixtures. New technologies now allow us to help the Earth. Part of saving water and having a greener home includes installing things such as low-volume toilets, low-flow showerheads, and water efficient washing machines. All of these fixtures can be purchased at a reasonable price, and in the end, the money and water saved makes it worth it.

3. Practice good water habits. This is probably the oldest and easiest water-saving tip. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth or washing your hands. Promote the 5-minute shower. Wash clothes only in full loads. You can measure your success by comparing water bills. If your water costs are lower, you are doing a good job.

4. Avoid purchasing water bottles. In reality, there is nothing wrong with tap water. It undergoes health regulations and in some cases, it is even better for you. Don’t waste your money on bottled water. Instead, carry a thermos you can refill. By doing this, not only are you helping the world’s water supply, you are also helping reduce the amount of trash we produce.

5. Encourage responsible gardening. If you have a garden or a backyard, plant native plants or plants that don’t require a lot of water. Whenever you water your plants do it in the early morning or in the late evening. These are times when there is not much sun, so the water won’t evaporate.

6. Take advantage of the rain. Harvest rainwater and use it for irrigation.

7. Keep an eye out. Be on the lookout for leaks, broken pipes, and other forms of wasting water. Report them or fix them as soon as possible.

8. Inform others. Encourage friends and family to put these tips into practice too.

Ada Bersoza

Biomimicry: Sharkskin

Biomimicry refers to the discipline that studies nature’s designs, patterns, and processes, and then imitates them to solve human problems. An example of this is the new sharkskin-inspired material scientists have developed to stop bacterial breakouts.

Sharks have been known to have a skin that makes it impossible for parasites and bacteria to stick to it. The secret behind this is the pattern on the sharks’ skin. Recently, Sharklet Technologies, a biotech company in Florida, has been able to print this particular pattern unto an adhesive film.

A plastic sheet has been developed that could be ideal to use in places such as hospitals, schools, and other places with ill people and small children. A small test was carried out in a hospital over a period of three weeks. Results showed that the sheet prevented E. coli and Staphylococcus A from establishing colonies large enough to hurt humans.

Although a three-week test in one hospital is not enough proof of the sheet’s success, this new technology shows great promise. This only goes to show how much we can learn from nature and how valuable it is. This should open our eyes to the importance of protecting our planet.

Ada Bersoza

Oh, the Memories

Looking back, I remember how the world used to be. It was beautiful. Grasslands,plains, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, and many other marvels were there for everyone to enjoy. I look back because nowadays I enjoy spending time with my memories and reliving the good times. Sometimes everything flowed, sometimes it stopped, and sometimes I could just float. Sure, life had it ups and downs, but it was absolutely amazing! What I wouldn’t give to go back to the good old days!

I don’t really want to remember when it all started going downhill, but I cannot help recalling the horror of it all. It started as a slow, gradual process, and no one seemed to notice. I wouldn’t blame them; the change was too small to be perceived. However, in just a few years, it started gaining speed and you were stupid not to notice. In a blink of an eye our Earth, our beautiful Earth, was gone. She never stood a chance.

I blame them, those strange and mysterious creatures that call themselves ‘humans’. Never had I seen such selfish beings. Never had I been witness to such acts of bestiality. And they refer to themselves as the superior race! They boast the ability to think and reason, but do not demonstrate it. I saw how they polluted the water, blew up the mountains, exhausted the land, released toxins into the air, and drove many species to extinction. Just to think: the Amazon, the Everglades, the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico; all those natural treasures… gone.

What hurts me the most is the disaster they caused in the aquatic ecosystems. I couldn’t bear to see all those sea creatures suffer. They were my friends, and I had to see how their habitats were destroyed, their environment was polluted and how they were massacred. I only wish humans could pay for what they did. Well, I guess in a way they are, because what they did unto the Earth, they did unto themselves. Now, many, many years after they are suffering the consequences. Potable water is scarce. The air has become too toxic to breathe. The sun’s rays are killing them because the ozone layer is no longer there to protect them. Green areas are almost non-existent and many, many animals no longer inhabit the Earth.This may seem like an appropriate punishment, but it is unfair for all others. Didn’t humans ever realize that it’s not their Earth, but our Earth? It was meant to be shared!

Despite everything, I can’t generalize. Don’t get me wrong, my anger towards humans is still there, and will continue to exist as long as I live, but I cannot say that all humans are evil. There is a small, select group of them that are not so bad. I saw them constantly trying to repair the damages their race had done to our planet. It was a brave and noble effort. However, as I said, it was a small group, and they simply could not help the Earth fast enough to counteract the harmful activities. I was rooting for them the whole time. I cheered on those who used alternative sources of energy, those who recycled, and mostly I stood by and supported those who treated wastewater, those who made the most out of this precious resource. Unfortunately, it was not enough.

I remember when things began to get truly messy. It was during the first decade of the new millennium. Modern technology was at full blast. Innovations here, innovations there. Of course environmental awareness was becoming stronger each day, but consumerism made all efforts much, much harder. Things got consistently worse, and there came a moment when it was impossible to ignore how everything was dying. Death was surrounding us, all of us, and nothing could be done. It was already too late.

I remember my last glimpse of planet Earth. I saw it as I fell from the sky. Pollution covered most of the view, but it didn’t matter. There was nothing worth seeing anyway. Destruction and suffering were the only things left. Humans were sick and dying. There were almost no green areas left. Rivers, oceans, lakes were polluted. As I fell, I remember being struck by horror. I couldn’t take it in, and before I knew it I had sunk to the ground.

Seconds after I reached the ground, I realized I was buried in perfectly normal soil. I was amazed that I had been able to reach what seemed to be the last piece of unpolluted land on Earth. I figured this wouldn’t last long and that the wave of destruction sweeping the planet would get here sooner or later. I quickly deduced that the farther away from the surface I was, the safer I would be. I was buried in soil, but still I kept crawling and crawling further down.

Once I was a good depth away from the surface I stopped to rest. It was then when I became aware of the fact that that had been the last time I would ever see Earth. It was sad thought, but I knew that there would never again be anything worth looking at in my beloved planet. Now, that was an even sadder thought.

Now, I still live buried in my perfect soil. Waiting for pollution to reach me or for someone to find me. I don’t know which it will be, but either one will be my death. I never thought my life would turn out this way. Who knew that water would one day become so scarce that people would be willing to fight for it? Who knew that humans would use Earth’s resources so irresponsibly that they would doom the entire planet? And who knew that one day the most valuable and precious thing on this Earth would be a pure drop of freshwater quietly hiding in a patch of perfect soil?

Concept:

The concept of this story revolves around the future of our planet. It was written with the intention of showing the urgency of standing up for nature. It places a small emphasis on water, but tries to treat all issues with equal importance. The story gives the reader a dramatic look in what awaits us if not careful with our natural resources, which is something IDB takes very seriously. What I would emphasize as themes of this short story would be conservation, responsible use of Earth’s resources, and actions that benefit our planet, which include: alternative sources of energy, recycling, consuming less, protecting ecosystems, reducing pollution, among many others.

Green Skin Care

As with many other aspects of your life, skin care can also be “green.” Cosmetics and other skin care products not only pose a threat to the environment. Since the skin, our largest organ, acts as a sponge, absorbing the chemicals we are exposed to. Although we are assured that these chemicals are safe, it is not one hundred percent true. Around ninety percent of ingredients used in make-up and skin products have not been evaluated for safety by any recognized institution. Furthermore, cosmetics companies tell us that their products are safe, but there is no evidence of how the chemicals will react when combined with other substances. Also, health issues may arise if exposure is constant.

Here are a few tips that can be taken to achieve a green skin care:

1. Don’t fall for the typical “cosmetic breakthroughs” that will help you achieve perfect skin in a matter of days, weeks, etc.

2. Stick to a simple cleanser, moisturizer, and sunblock to maintain a healthy skin.

3. Avoid petroleum-based skin products.

4. Know the ingredients in your cosmetics. Know what they are and what they do.

5. To further reduce your ecological impact, also take the products packaging into account. Avoid excess packaging.

Ada Bersoza

How to Help the Earth?

Here are a few everyday tips that could be done to help our planet, at least one tiny bit.

1. Recycle

2. Avoid using plastic bags.

3. Turn off the lights when nobody’s in the room

4. Switch to compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

5. Take quick showers, not baths.

6. Don’t leave the water running.

7. Avoid throwing trash on the floor

8. Don’t leave electrical appliances such as TVs, stereos, etc. on standby. Shut them off instead.

9. Print on both sides of the paper.

10. Don’t pre-heat your oven when baking.

11. Reuse gift-wrap or use recycled material to wrap your gifts.

12. Avoid buying disposable goods such as coffee cups and water bottles. Invest in a thermos or coffee mug.

13. Donate old things. Don’t just throw them away.

14. Use rechargeable batteries.

15. Don’t leave the refrigerator door open.

16. Avoid buying heavily packaged products.

17. Carpool

18. Buy local goods to avoid the ecological impact of having goods imported all the way to where you live.

19. Get others to act too.

20. Don’t ever think that what you do does not impact our planet.

Ada Bersoza

Milk Crisis in Europe

For a few weeks now, farmers throughout the European Union have been protesting against a crisis in the dairy industry by dumping their milk stocks. The problem here is that in the European milk market, prices have fallen because there is a lot of supply and a lack of demand.

Millions of gallons of milk have been dumped as farmers see their sale price steadily decrease. However, agriculture and farming ministers from all over the European Union have set up a special meeting to take place in Brussels in order to discuss the dairy crisis.

Ada Bersoza

Coral Bleaching

Corals are tiny animals that live in colonies, forming what we know as coral reefs. Coral reefs also include many other biological communities, creating a diverse ecosystem. Corals depend on a symbiotic relationship with a type of algae capable of performing photosynthesis, known as zooxanthellae.

It is also responsible for giving corals their color. Zooxanthellae performs photosynthesis and produces food, which it shares with the coral. The coral, in turn provides the algae with protection and access to sunlight. Zooxanthellae are accountable for 90% of a coral’s nourishment.

However, under stressful conditions, corals may actually expel their algae. This is known as coral bleaching. Without their algae, the white coral skeleton is exposed and the organism slowly starves and eventually dies.

Coral bleaching has several causes. Among the most common are increases in water temperature and ocean acidification. Coral reefs can only tolerate a very narrow range of water conditions. This means that they cannot withstand extreme temperature changes. Increased acidity in the ocean water also acts as a stress factor. Corals that are able to survive the stressful period, usually take years to recover and without the algae they suffer a loss of nourishment, which affects all reef-dwellers.

Coral reefs are important to preserve because they are home to many other organisms such as oysters, clams, crabs, shrimp, sea urchin, sea stars, jellyfish, anemones, and many fish species. The death of one of these reefs means the loss of one nature’s most diverse and productive ecosystems.

Ada Bersoza

Fish Farms

Fish farming or “aquaculture” has become increasingly popular nowadays. In fact, it accounts for around thirty percent of all the sea animals consumed yearly. The aquaculture industry is growing three times faster than land-based animal agriculture.

Fish farms can either be land or ocean based. In land, thousands of fish are raised in ponds, pools, or concrete tanks where they live a crowded and uncomfortable life. In the ocean, fish are packed together in net or mesh cages close to the shoreline. No matter their location, fish farms are a source of pollution and stand for animal suffering.

Fish in aquafarms spend their lives in a cramped and unclean environment. Many of them become ill or suffer infections or injuries. Forty percent of farmed fish die before they are ready to become food.

Aquaculture also poses a threat to the environment. Ocean-based farms are full of parasites and diseased that may spread to other organisms living nearby. Also, both land and ocean farms pollute waters with tremendous amounts of fish feces and they both require great amounts of wild-caught fish to feed the fish they are raising.

The fishing industry plunders our oceans, destroys vital ecosystems, and threatens biodiversity. Keep fish off your plate and in the ocean!

Ada Bersoza

Save the Turtles

Six of the seven species of marine turtles are listed as endangered or critically endangered. Even though the turtles are able to reproduce abundantly, few offspring survive because of natural predators and human interference. By disturbing nesting beaches and harvesting turtle eggs, human make it even more difficult for young turtles to live past their first year.

Those eggs that are not taken by humans nor damaged in any other way finally hatch. However, the hatchlings still have a long and dangeroud journey in front of them. They must leave the nesting ground and make their way back to the sea. On the way they may encounter natural predators such as birds, crabs, and foxes. There is a naturally low survival rate for these young turtles, and it is pushed even lower if humans interfere.

Another critial problem is that, even when turtles are able to lay hundred of eggs in one nesting season; it takes them decades to reach maturity. Turtles need to survive many years in order to be able to reproduce, but fishing nets and pollution are the causes of high mortality rates of these creatures. Turtles get caught on fishing nets, while others mistake plastic bags for food.

Finally, habitat destruction also threatens marine turtles. Many female return to their nesting sites only to find humans have built around the sea. Also, the lighting on beaches may confuse newborn turtles, making them head towards land instead of water.

So now you know the hard life marine turtles have to go through. Surviving is hard enough for them without us, humans, making it worse. Next time, don't use a plastic bag, instead bring your own reusable and eco-friendly bag. Also, if you are on vacation in a turtle territory, avoid polluting the beach and if it is nesting season, don't walk on the beach at night and don't disturb the females or their nests. Finally, spread the news around and let everyone know about the danger marine turtles are in.

Ada Bersoza