Personal Action Guide

A Project For The United Nations Environment Programme

“All things are interconnected . . .
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the people of earth.
Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
. . . attributed to Chief Seattle

All known life exists within the thin, fragile layer which lies between the earth’s crust and the vast universe. Humanity is now its caretaker. Exponential population growth, from one billion to nearly six billion people in the last 150 years, coupled with wasteful consumption patterns, have brought about an unprecedented environmental crisis: we are poisoning our land, water, and air, depleting natural resources, and destroying the biosphere which maintains life.

The World Commission on Environment and Development, established by the General Assembly of the United Nations, served an urgent notice in 1987. They proclaimed that hope for future life on earth depends on our taking decisive action now to manage environmental resources. They called for a common endeavor and for new norms of behavior in the interest of all.

The responsibility belongs to each of us. We can no longer make our decisions in isolation of the larger whole. Our planet is a delicately balanced system, and we are all inheritors of our past actions. We must each assess the consequences of our daily decisions–our purchases, our use of natural resources, our methods of waste disposal. Our economic decisions can no longer be based simply on short-term gain; long-range effects on health and environment must be part of the equation. Stewardship and reverence for all of life need to be in the forefront of our thinking. The whole system and its future must be considered if life on this planet is to survive and prosper.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) invites you to take increased responsibility for the critical condition of our environment. Following are suggestions on what each of us can do in our daily lives to make a difference.

ENERGY

The United States is 96% dependent on nonrenewable oil, coal, and natural gas. Burning these fossil fuels produces gases that are polluting and seriously damaging our environment. Carbon dioxide build-up is causing a global greenhouse effect that will likely raise temperatures and sea levels, disrupting agriculture and ecosystems worldwide. The U.S. adds over a billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year. Sulfur and nitrogen oxides contribute to acid rain, which is killing fish, trees and crops, damaging buildings, and polluting water. Nuclear energy is expensive, technically problematic, and environmentally risky. Renewable energy is safe and plentiful, and cost competitive — if we do total cost accounting. Using energy efficiently can greatly reduce household energy requirements.

Solutions

Use public transportation, carpool, bike, or walk.
Drive less, combine trips.
Use an energy efficient car, preferably one that gets over 40 mpg; better would be a natural gas or fuel cell car, best is an electric car charged from solar cells.
Save gas by driving smoothly, within the speed limit; have regular tune-ups and emissions checks, use correctly inflated radial tires.
Get a free or low-cost home energy audit from your utility company.Invest in ample insulation, weather-stripping, and caulking.
Use natural gas rather than electricity for heat and appliances for a considerable savings in energy costs.
Use a clock thermostat to control heat; turn down the thermostat a few degrees, especially at night and when house is empty; wear warmer clothes and use more blankets in winter.
Close off and do not heat or air-condition unused rooms.
Use insulating shades and curtains on cold winter nights and hot summer days; allow sun in on cold days for heat.
Install double pane windows, storm windows, or “superwindows.”
Install passive-solar south windows for space heating, and solar collectors for water heating.
Cool house in summer by opening windows at night and closing them during the day; use attic fans and window coatings; use a room air conditioner rather than a central system.
Plant deciduous shade trees that protect west and south windows from summer sun but allow sunlight in during the winter when they lose their leaves.
Use electricity and hot water efficiently and sparingly.
Add an insulation blanket to your water heater; turn it down to 120 degrees; insulate hot water pipes.
Use high-efficiency electrical appliances, compare energy guide labels.
Use your clothes dryer only when you have a full load; air dry on a clothes line whenever possible.
Use low-voltage, low-watt or compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Turn off heat, water heater, and pilot lights when you are on vacation.
Buy locally produced and recycled products to cut indirect energy use.

FOOD

The higher we eat on the food chain, the more natural resources and pesticides we consume. Animals raised for food in the U.S. eat enough grain to feed over five times the U.S. human population. If Americans reduced meat eating by 10%, the 12 million tons of grain saved annually could feed all the people on earth who starve to death. Animal agriculture is responsible for: 85% of topsoil loss; 260 million acres of U.S. forest destruction; over half our water consumption; 20 billion pounds of manure every day, contamination of groundwater; and use of 25 times the fossil fuel needed to produce the same amount of protein through grain only. Processing food wastes valuable resources. Pesticides poison groundwater, kill wildlife, and trigger the spread of insects and weeds resistant to pesticides. Our growing reliance on monoculture food crops is eroding the resilience of genetic diversity, increasing the likelihood of whole species being wiped out by pathogens, pests, and weather fluctuations.

Solutions

Consider how the production of the food you eat affects the environment.
Eat lower on the food chain: vegetables, fruits and grains; decrease or eliminate consumption of meat and animal products.
Learn vegetarian recipes and encourage restaurants to serve vegetarian foods; in addition to environmental damage, the high cholesterol in meat contributes to many chronic diseases.
Read the labels on food; buy foods that have not been heavily processed; learn which additives are harmful.
Support laws that ban harmful pesticides and that require disclosure of pesticides, drugs, and other chemicals used in food production; support markets that offer contaminant-free food.
Buy food grown organically if possible; organically grown food doesn’t use harmful pesticides, requires less energy-powered machinery, and recycles organic waste, thus retaining the nutrients in the soil.
Grow food gardens rather than lawns, which saves water and energy and yields pesticide-free produce.
Buy food grown locally and in season to cut energy consumption in transportation.
Be aware that many consumer groups question the health and environmental safety of food irradiation, food irradiated plants, and transportation of radioactive substances; and seek labeling of all irradiated foods; ask your grocer if prepared/processed foods are irradiated.
Support the development of seed exchanges and home gardening with heirloom varieties of seeds to maintain genetic diversity.
Inform schools, hospitals, airlines, stores, restaurants, and the media of your food concerns.

WATER

In the United States, industrial and agricultural pollution, underground injection of waste disposal, and chemical wastes from mining and petroleum production are steadily accumulating in our rivers and lakes which are also sources of drinking water. Once groundwater is contaminated, it is extremely difficult and quite expensive to purify. Aquifers, or underground water supplies, are shrinking all over the world. In all but countries of very high rainfall, we are delving into and seriously depleting our “capital” instead of living off our “income” of available water.

Solutions

Install sink faucet aerators and water-efficient showerheads; these use two to five times less water with no noticeable decrease in performance.
Take showers instead of baths to cut water consumption.
Don’t let water run when it’s not actively in use while you are showering, shaving, brushing your teeth, washing dishes or hand washing clothes.
Promptly replace rubber washers on leaky water faucets.
Use ultra low-flush or air-assisted toilets, saving 60-90% of water use; best are composting toilets which use no water and recycle organic waste.
Use water-efficient washing machines and dishwashers, and run them only when they are full.
When washing dishes in the sink, plug and fill second sink with rinse water rather than running water freely.
Cut down on car washings, and shut off the hose when you are soaping car.
Minimize hosing down your driveway or patio; sweep instead.
Water your lawn only when the grass doesn’t spring back when it is stepped on.
Water at night with a timer; use efficient equipment.
Use an underground drip irrigation system for your garden; the water goes directly to the roots, without evaporation or wastage.
Use rainwater or “greywater” from sinks and showers for plants and garden.
Consult your nursery about plants native to your environment or from similar climates which require little or no watering (called xeriscaping).
Buy phosphate-free, biodegradable soaps and detergents.
Find out where your water comes from, what is in it, and what is being done to test or treat it; if it’s contaminated:Ask your congressperson to enforce laws on water safety.
Join with local groups and neighbors in demanding that the industries responsible for contaminating ground water pay for cleaning it up.
Request your water utility company to filter the water to remove products of chlorination.
If necessary, install a home water filtration system to remove specific contaminants in your water.

TOXINS & POLLUTANTS . .

The earth’s protective ozone layer is being depleted by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methyl bromide, methyl chloroform and carbon tetrachloride, which is increasing the likelihood of skin cancer, serious reduction of crop yields, and disruption of the marine food chain. CFCs are in refrigerators, air conditioning units, plastic foam insulation, solvents, and halon fire extinguishers. Advanced nations manufacture 70,000 different chemicals, most of which have not been thoroughly tested for toxicity. Much of the pollution that runs into our rivers and oceans is introduced through our homes by way of sewers and storm drains; insecticides, herbicides, car oil, paint, thinner, harsh cleansers, etc. Toxic substances thrown into the trash go to landfills or incinerators, and end up in our air, water, and soil.

Solutions

Request a bill in Congress to provide funding to support a worldwide ban of CFCs, to ensure the safety of alternatives, to prohibit preventable emissions and to step up enforcement of the ban on the import of CFCs and CFC-produced items.
If your car air conditioner is leaking or needs repair, ask your service station to install non-CFC equipment.
Request your local government to collect and recycle the CFCs in old refrigerators and air conditioners.
Avoid purchasing clothes that require dry cleaning, which uses toxic chlorinated solvents, or dry clean infrequently.
Read labels, and buy the least toxic products available: “danger” or “poison” means highly toxic, “warning” means moderately toxic, “caution” means slightly toxic.
Dispose of your toxic products through household hazardous waste collection: if it is not available, contact your elected representatives to mandate it.
Use nonharmful substitutes; for cleaning: baking soda and/or salt can be used as a cleanser, vinegar in water cleans glass and tile floors, oil and vinegar polishes furniture and wood floors; for insects: peppermint, pennyroyal, or red chili powder repels ants, cloves and citrus oil repels flies.
To control insects keep environment clean and screened.
Replace asbestos heat insulation in exposed places.
Test your home for radon.
Test your house for formaldehyde gas; chipboard, plywood, insulation, carpet and upholstery may contain it.
Avoid cigarette smoke; its gases are toxic.
Join with local groups and neighbors to pressure polluting industries; support legislative initiatives that encourage industry to modify manufacturing processes to eliminate the production of hazardous wastes, and reduce, reuse, recycle what is produced.

WASTE REDUCTION/RECYCLING

In the United States, each year we generate nearly a ton of trash per person; 90% of this ends up in local landfills, half of which will be full within three years. Incineration causes molecules to regroup and form some of the most toxic molecules known. The most environmentally sound and cost effective means to alleviate the crisis is to reduce the amount of waste we generate in the first place. More than half our wastes can be economically recycled. Recycling existing manufactured materials instead of using virgin resources would save: for paper production, up to 75% of the energy, more than half the water needed, and millions of acres of forest; for drink containers, half a million tons of glass and fifty million barrels of oil annually, as well as 80% of the mining required for new glass; for aluminum, 95% energy savings, with similar savings in air and water pollution.

Solutions

Reduce consumption wherever possible.
Use rewashable mugs instead of plastic or paper cups, cloth instead of paper napkins, rags instead of paper towels.
Double-side photocopies, use reverse sides of paper.
Buy products in bulk or with the least packaging.
Put parcels in one large bag rather than using several smaller ones.
Bring your own canvas shopping bags to the market, or reuse plastic or paper bags.
Buy products that are recycled, recyclable, reliable, repairable, refillable, reusable; avoid disposables.
Buy returnable/recyclable glass, metals, or plastic containers.
Ask for recycled paper at stationers and printers.
Recycle motor oil, tires, and scrap metal.
Don’t use disposable plastic items.
For infants, use cloth diapers.
Shop at second-hand thrift stores.
Separate your recyclable garbage (newspaper, glass, paper, aluminum, and compost organic waste if you have a garden); only send to the landfill what you can’t reuse.
Use curbside pick-up for recyclables if available; if not: contact your city council and request it.
Support local, state, and national recycling legislation and initiatives.
Request independent garbage companies to begin this service.
Join with local environmental groups and neighbors to strengthen your position.
If you live in an apartment house, establish a recycling system and arrange pickups.
Make sure your business and any businesses you patronize recycle and always buy recycled products whenever possible.
Or, make regular trips to your local recycling center; ask if they recycle plastics, batteries, and appliances.
If you don’t have a recycling center, request that your city council establish one.
Find local groups that can use your recyclables, old furniture, etc.
and deliver them or arrange pickup.

PRESERVATION OF LIFE & ENVIRONMENT

Overpopulation and overuse stress the environment. The U.S. population is growing faster than any other industrialized country, and with only 5% of the world’s population, it uses 25% of the resources. Humanity’s short-sighted consumption has destroyed a majority of the earth’s forests, including over 50% of the rainforests in the last 30 years. We are now losing 214,000 acres per day, for agricultural development, cattle-grazing, settlements, fuel wood, and tropical lumber. The U.S. has only 4% of its original old-growth forests left. This loss of trees is contributing to the build-up of carbon in the atmosphere, to global climate change, to the destruction of native cultures and wisdom, and to the extinction of plants and animals which produce foods, medicines, and raw materials vital to human survival. Over half of the earth’s plant and animal species live in these rainforests. Overall, an estimated 50,000 species are going extinct per year (137 each day) due to habitat destruction, exploitation, and pollution.

Solutions

Be aware that overpopulation stresses the environment; an average of two children per family (in a lifetime) achieves zero population growth.
Reduce use of wood-based paper, through using recycled paper or paper made from kanaf or other plants.
Don’t buy endangered plants, animals, or products made from overexploited species, such as furs, ivory, reptile skin or tortoise shell.
Avoid buying wood from the tropical rainforests unless you are sure it was propagated by sustainable tree farming methods.
Avoid food whose production endangers the environment, such as beef; if you do eat beef, ask supermarkets and restaurants if it is from rainforest cattle.
Protect and plant trees; they produce oxygen from carbon dioxide and reduce pollution; around the home, they decrease rainwater runoff and increase natural cooling.
Buy products from companies that don’t pollute or damage the environment and don’t test products on animals.
Become informed on environmental issues and how they affect your life, your community, your world.
Join, support, volunteer your time to organizations working on causes that are important to you.
Use your local newspaper; write letters to the editor, contact a staff writer about a news story, take out an ad.
Notify program directors of radio and television stations of newsworthy stories with environmental impact.
It is very important to contact your elected representatives through letters, telegrams, calls or visits, to support bills that affect the environment (click here to go to legislation and advocacy organizations listed on the SCCED website).

Written by Kathleen Gildred for the United Nations Environment Programme, 1989