It might come as a surprising or an overwhelming fact but did you know that several of the things that we use every day make the environment poisonous and healthy? Many items that get used almost every day have a damaging effect on the environment. Therefore, it’s important to use them only when needed to make sure you lower your environmental damage footprint.
Listed below are the everyday items that damage the environment to a significant extent in one way or the other:
What makes the environment poisonous and unhealthy
Items and everyday products which contain harsh chemicals that aren’t easily recyclable are the ones that have a profoundly damaging effect on the environment. Below are the everyday items that make the environment poisonous and unhealthy:
1) Cigarettes and other tobacco products
Cigarettes and similar tobacco products are not just harmful to human health but are also damaging to the environment. Tobacco farming is associated with a significant amount of carbon footprint on a global scale. The production, packaging, and logistics of tobacco products such as cigarettes also add up to the overall carbon footprint of the tobacco product industry.
2) Cosmetic products
Out of several luxury products available worldwide, cosmetic products are one of the biggest causes of environmental hazards. This mainly has got to do with the use of a large number of extremely hazardous chemicals that goes into making different types of cosmetic products.
Another way how cosmetic products negatively affect the environment in a significant way is animal brutality. Different species of wild animals get killed to make different types of cosmetic products.
3) Bottled water
The global usage of bottled water is one of the main reasons for plastic and water pollution. There is a significant amount of carbon footprint associated with the bottled water industry. It takes twice as much water to manufacture one single bottle of water. Including the usage of plastic for every bottled water further adds to the large-sized carbon footprint associated with the industry.
4) Disposable plates and cups
Disposable plates and cups contribute to plastic pollution in similar ways that bottled water does. Disposable plates and cops fall under the category of single-use plastics. Unlike reusable plastics, such as storage containers, electronic device and appliances covers, etc, single-use plastics can only be used once. After just a single use, disposable plates and cups go to landfills.
5) Wet wipes
Wet wipes may seem non-damaging to the environment, but they are. In fact, the worldwide use of single-use wet wipes is one of the biggest causes and effects of environmental hazards in terms of plastic wastage and plastic-related pollution.
Commercially-available wet wipes, especially cheap ones, are made of plastic fibres. The plastic fibres cannot easily be decomposed as compared to papers that are used in paper tissue wipes.
How to prevent environmental hazards
Environmental hazards cannot be prevented with just a single solution. It’s important to have a holistic solution that includes several important steps such as lowering the use of single-use plastics, banning everyday products that use harsh chemicals, and encouraging large-sized companies to reduce their carbon footprint and focus towards a carbon-neutral operation.
It’s also equally important to focus on renewable energy such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, and nuclear energy, and lowering and eventually stopping the use of non-renewable energy sources. Focusing on researching and developing technologies that improve energy efficiency and making them commercially available is also one of the most important steps to focus on in order to pave the way to a green future.
