Australia – Health4earth

Small Changes Can Make a Difference

Get rid of plastic bags — Make plastic bags history!

Three months ago two large grocery stores in Australia banned plastic bags. It has lead to an eighty percent reduction in plastic bag use in Australia. Read about it here.

In England retailers are reporting a 90% drop in plastic bag use after a bag fee was introduced in 2015.

Businesses can take leadership and help make enormous changes to help our Earth. Call on Target to help. Here is a petition you can sign to get Target to ban plastic bags. Petition to Target

We can all make a difference also! First you can always bring your reusable/washable bags with you shopping. Make bringing bags a habit. Next, lets get Target to take leadership and ban plastic bags in their stores. Sign the petition, but also ask them to ban plastic bags when you visit their stores. Petition to Target

July, Plastic Free July, is almost over, but it’s not too late to set goals to reduce your plastic use. Start now!

Yes, it is Cold, But….

Yikes, it’s cold where I live! The high today is -15 F, and with the wind it feels colder. Please don’t feel sorry for us. It is just another extreme, and we are all living in a time of extremes. We have extreme droughts, extreme rains and storms, and extreme heat. Minnesota might be back to 40 degrees in just a few days, a 70 degree high temperature change in a few days! Yes, extreme!

Most of us would rather be here in the cold than in the extreme heat and drought Australia is experiencing. While our cold weather is a short blip, they are experiencing a long-term extreme. Read about it here.

The sun shines, and frost on the window.

There are some advantages to a short cold snap like this. We can hope that some of the invasive bugs that are unchecked because of our warmer winters will be stopped or slowed down. The cold will completely freeze over the lakes which make them safer for winter activities, and can also lessen summer algae. My favorite thing about the cold is that the sun often shines making for beautiful bright days.

Polar Bear weather in the mid-north of the United States

Is this part of climate change? Why does this Arctic air escape the Arctic? The Arctic has warmed faster than the 1.8 degrees the Earth has recently warmed. This warming has weakened the jet stream winds that would normally stay north, but this climate warming has caused these winds to seep south. Our warming planet has confused the jet stream causing them to rush where they normally don’t blow, bringing the Arctic winter cold with them. The extreme heat in Australia is a more serious problem that isn’t a passing scenario like our short-lived northern cold. Yes, our changing climate is real and we are experiencing it every day.

Exciting Good News

This is my occasional series on Good News. I love the leadership from Costa Rica, Seattle, Australia, Kenya and South Miami, places that are taking us into a sustainable future.

** Amazing Costa Rica will be the first country to ban all single-use plastics. They are working with businesses to create and use biodegradable plastic products. By 2021 Costa Rica hopes be using plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, containers and plastic cutlery that will break down in water. Read about it at Costa Rica

** Also amazing, in 2018 the city of Seattle is banning straws and plastic utensils in restaurants! Read about it here.

** Australia going to build the world’s longest electric vehicle highway. They will build a 1,118 mile highway with free and fast electric charging stations. Read about it at EVhighway

** A new local law will require all new homes built in South Miami to install solar panels. The idea was pushed by a teenage climate activist, and will began this September. Read more about it at South Miami.

These bags will dissolve in a few months. We should all be using them!

** Yay, Kenya is enforcing a tough plastic bag-ban. Read at Kenya.

Currently these biodegradable products are available in the USA, and can be purchased at food-coops and some grocery stores.