Global Impact of

LocaL action….
Introducion

 We’ve seen the slogan “Think Globally, Act Locally”. The fact of the matter is that the actions
individuals take can affects the entire planet. Consider the pyramid shown below
At the bottom level of the pyramid is the individual; the top represents the global
community. The bottom level represents simple, everyday decisions, such as the
decision to recycle a used beer can. As we move up the pyramid, we see that
decisions made at a given level help influence decisions made at the next level.
Also, the following trends become apparent:
• Individual decisions are replaced by group decisions.
• Decisions become more complex and they encompass a broader range of issues.
Decisions at both ends of the pyramid influence each other. Everyday choices
made at the bottom level (“Will I recycle this can?”) are made based on decisions
that have been made at the global.
 Ecological
Footprint
MOST PEOPLE NOW KNOW WHAT A CARBON FOOTPRINT IS. IT IS A MEASURE OF HOW MUCH CO2 IS
EMITTED AS A RESULT OF ALL ASPECTS OF OUR EVERYDAY LIVES. THIS IS A GOOD WAY OF MEASURING
THE IMPACT OUR LIFESTYLE HAS ON THE EARTH. HOWEVER, ALTHOUGH CO2 EMISSIONS MAKE UP
AROUND 70% OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT OF DEVELOPED COUNTRIES SUCH AS THE UK, WE
IMPACT ON THE PLANET IN OTHER WAYS THAN JUST OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT. OUR ECOLOGICAL
FOOTPRINT IS A COMBINATION OF ALL THE THINGS WE DO THAT REQUIRE US TO DRAW ON NATURAL
RESOURCES. IT INCLUDES THE IMPACT FROM OUR HOMES (E.G. THE OIL, GAS AND ELECTRICITY WE
USE), TRANSPORT (E.G. CAR, TRAIN AND PLANE TRIPS), FOOD (E.G. LAND UNDER CULTIVATION AND
FERTILISERS), AND CONSUMER GOODS (E.G. FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY USED TO MAKE AND TRANSPORT
GOODS). IN ADDITION, IT INCLUDES THE FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY AND BUILT LAND REQUIRED BY
GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS TO PROVIDE INFRASTRUCTURE, GOODS AND SERVICES.
IF EVERYONE IN THE WORLD GENERATED CARBON EMISSIONS AND CONSUME NATURAL RESOURCES
AT THE RATE WE DO IN THE UK WE WOULD NEED THREE PLANETS TO SUPPORT US. CUMULATIVELY,
ALL OF OUR INDIVIDUAL FOOTPRINTS – OUR IMPACT ON THE WORLD’S NATURAL RESOURCES MAKE UP
THE BIGGER PICTURE. THE CHOICES WE MAKE IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES ABOUT OUR HOMES,
TRANSPORT, FOOD AND THE GOODS WE BUY HAVE IMPACTS RIGHT ACROSS THE WORLD.
THE IMPLICIT HYDROLOGIC DIMENSIONS OF INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE
CHANGE, SPECIFICALLY POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF THE AFFORESTATION/REFORESTATION
PROVISIONS ON GLOBAL, REGIONAL AND LOCAL WATER CYCLES, ARE EXAMINED. CLIMATE
CHANGE IS AFFECTING THE WORLD’S ECOSYSTEMS AND THREATENING THE ECONOMIC
SYSTEM, LIVELIHOODS AND AVAILABILITY OF NATURAL RESOURCES. FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
CAN BE CARBON SOURCES OR SINKS AND ARE THEREFORE INTEGRATED IN INTERNATIONAL
CLIMATE POLICY. FOREST-RELATED CARBON MITIGATION PROJECTS ARE THREATENED BY
CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH ALTERED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND FOREST
PROCESSES, AS WELL AS THROUGH SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS
WITH ALREADY EXISTING SOCIOECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS. DATA ON
RISK MANAGEMENT AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES WERE COLLECTED BY A SURVEY OF 28
CURRENT FOREST PROJECTS TARGETING CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION. TEN OF THESE
REPRESENT THE OFFICIALLY IMPLEMENTED AFFORESTATION (A) AND REFORESTATION (R)
ACTIVITIES.
 E-Waste
WHAT IS AN E-WASTE?
THE TERM ELECTRONIC WASTE REFERS TO ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICE THAT IS NO LONGER WANTED OR
HAS BECOME OBSOLETE. ELECTRONICS CLASSIFIED AS E-WASTE CAN EITHER BE IN PERFECT WORKING
CONDITION OR BE UNUSABLE.
CAUSE OF E-WASTE:
THINK ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE DITCH THEIR OLD MOBILE PHONES FOR THE NEWER MODEL OR
HOW FREQUENTLY THEY DISCARD AN OLD TV FOR A SLEEKER, MORE POWERFUL ONE. OWING TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING TECHNOLOGY, THE RISE OF DISPOSABLE INCOME, AND EASY AVAILABILITY OF
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS, LARGE AMOUNTS OF E-WASTE ARE PRODUCED EVERY YEAR.
CURRENT SITUATION IN RECYCLING:
DO SOMETHING POINTS OUT THAT A WHOPPING 20 TO 50 MILLION METRIC TONS OF E-WASTE
ARE DISPOSED EVERY YEAR. UNFORTUNATELY, ONLY ABOUT 12.5% OF IT IS RECYCLED. EVEN
MORE UNFORTUNATE IS THE FACT THAT MOST OF THESE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS CAN BE
REUSED OR ARE IN PERFECT WORKING CONDITION. MOST DEVICES SUCH AS CELL PHONES,
LAPTOPS, MEMORY STICKS, TVS, TABLETS AND BATTERIES END UP IN LANDFILLS AND CONTRIBUTE
TO AIR AND WATER POLLUTION.
What’s the solution?
The Solution is YOU. You on individual level can minimize e-waste and it’s adverse effect.
The Question Raises is that: But How?
The good news is that it’s fairly easy to reduce your family’s e-waste.
Here are some steps that how on Individual level we can minimize the e-waste and it’s
adverse effect:
 Donate or Sell Working Electronics
 Use Your Old Mobile Phone as a GPS Device
 Recycle via a Retailer
 Check E-Cycling Centers in Your State
 Organize Your Electronics
 Know Your State’s Laws About Battery Disposal
 Consume Less
 Don’t trash them.
 Pass them on for reuse.
 Recycle them
The Next Question raises that Where should we take our e-waste for recycling?
The solution is Electronics recycler.
What is an electronics recycler?
There are companies that will take our old electronics, take them apart, and separate and recycle the
materials inside – like plastic, glass, and metals. Many of these materials can then be used to make new
products.
Finding a electronics recycler:
When you recycle your old electronics, you should try to find a recycler called an e-Steward. E-Stewards are
recyclers who meet the highest standards for how they recycle our stuff, including not just shipping it off to
poor countries. It’s like they took the hardest test on recycling and they all got A’s
Staples stores. If there is no e-Steward recycler near you, you can also take some electronics (but not TVs)
back to any Staples store for recycling. Staples has a free recycling program that works with an e-Steward
recycler.
Best Buy stores. If you have some big stuff that Staples won’t take (like TVs), you can take them back to any
Best Buy store.
Things kids can do to help recycle used electronics
 Do a cell phone recycling drive and fundraiser in your school.
Lots of people have old cell phones that they no longer use, probably in a drawer somewhere. Ask your teacher if
you can work on a project to have all the kids at school bring in the old cell phones that their parents don’t want any
more. You can collect the phones (including the chargers) and send them to cell phone recycler called Capstone
Wireless, who is an e-Steward. Some of the phones will have some trade in value, so Capstone will send some money
back to the school. They also provide a prepaid shipping label for sending them the phones.
 Learn to fix broken gadgets yourself.
E-Waste Generated and Recycled
Effect of Organic Farming on
Biodiversity
Traveling across borders and oceans to Biodiversity Hotspots to participate in
conservation efforts as a volunteer, journalist, philanthropist, or citizen scientist are
great ways to support meaningful biodiversity conservation. But for some, such trips
may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We can, however, all help biodiversity
thrive in our backyards.
With a few simple habit changes and pro-active actions, you can reduce your
adverse impact on the environment and encourage local biodiversity.
 Help Native Pollinators
Give pollinators an extra boost in your backyard by: reducing or eliminating the use
of pesticides, providing nectar sources by planting a variety of wildflowers and
native plants that will bloom throughout the season, leaving logs and rocks in your
yard or build bee boxes for native bees to make their home, encouraging your City
to stop weed-whacking median strips and sidewalk edges and let native wildflowers
grow to create pollinator corridors.
 Reduce or eliminate pesticides and fertilizer
Use organic compost and soil additives instead. Soil health is the best prevention for
pest infestations.
 Restore habitat in your yard
If you have a yard, consider turning it into a mini-wildlife sanctuary. National Wildlife Federation has a
program to help you attract wildlife whether you have a balcony or a 20-acre farm
 Restore habitat in your community
If you don’t have a yard, consider volunteering on an ecological restoration project in your area. Good
places to look for volunteer opportunities are land trusts, wildlife foundations, Native Plant Societies,
government agencies (e.g. Forest Service, Fish & Wildlife), and environmental organizations. You’ll
spend time outdoors and learn about the native plants and animals
 Reduce your consumption
This is arguably the action that will have the biggest positive impact on the environment. The more we
reduce our demand for new resources, the less habitat will be destroyed to get those resources or the
energy to make those products, and the less waste goes into the landfill
 Reduce your energy demand
Burning fossil fuels is the number one driver of climate change which is exponentially quickening
biodiversity loss by presenting unparalleled challenges to the world’s plants and animals.
 Buy local foods
Buying from your local farmer at a farmer’s market or through a farm stand gives you the ability to find
out how your food was grown and make requests for different practices such as no pesticides, or a
greater diversity of produce.
 Buy organic foods
While organic certification doesn’t guarantee that your food is 100% free of
pesticides, organic growers are held to criteria of minimal pesticide use.
 Donate to conservation efforts
Species extinction is happening at an unprecedented rate and there never seems
to be enough money to save everything. Prioritize your charitable giving to support
conservation efforts in the world’s biodiversity hotspots
 Advocate for Biodiversity:
 Educate yourself about the importance of biodiversity and be able to answer the
questions, “Why does it matter so much?” and “Why should we make sacrifices to
protect it?”
 Make connections. Get to know wildlife and conservation biologists as well as
political activists and community leaders in your area. Use social media to
connect with experts and campaigns.
 Lobby your government. Sign or create petitions. Support politicians who support
measures to protect biodiversity.
 Share your message.Talk to your friends in person. Use social media. Start a blog.
Speak at local events
Advantage of Organic Farming