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It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. DAN QUAYLE
ENVIRONMENT
H ECOSYSTEM
It's not enough to turn off the faucet, switch off the lights or recycle the water bottle anymore. The things that destroy the ecosystem slowly are buried deep within the products you use on a regular basis...
OW YOU
COUNTERS POACHING
harm the
In a first, Ecuador is promoting an ‘ethical’ bio trade of rare, colourful frogs and toads for the global pet market. Their goal is to curb the lucrative illegal trade of amphibians captured in the wild
USING FACIAL CLEANSERS WITH MICROBEADS: Facial cleansers, beauty scrubs, toothpastes and some household products contain microbeads, which are essentially tiny pellets made of non-biodegradable plastic. Besides being harmful to your skin (if rubbed against the face roughly), these polyethylene beads cannot be extracted during water treatment. They do not dissolve in water and end up in the oceans where marine life mistakes these microbeads — which are toxic — for food.
USING PAPER CUPS FOR HOT BEVERAGES
M
ost paper cups are lined with a thin coating of polyethylene resin for insulation and durability. Unfortunately, for this reason, a paper cup cannot be fully recycled. Worst still is the fact that the carcinogenic chemicals in the plastic coating may leach into your hot coffee/tea. Styrofoam cups are no better as they are made of benzene that is equally harmful. Heading to a coffee shop? Ensure that the café USING is using biodegradable coffee SUNSCREEN cups that are lined with a A 2008 study from the plant-based material, not journal ‘Environmental Health a petroleum-based Perspectives’ found that the four plastic. common chemicals in sunscreen (paraben, cinnamate, benzophenone and camphor derivatives) are responsible for coral bleaching. This leaves corals vulnerable to viral infections, disease and death. Your best bet is to switch to eco-friendly or organic mineral sunscreens. Now you know what to look out for!
BUYING JEANS & T-SHIRT
D
on’t hate us but the ugly truth is this: The production of one cotton T-shirt can use up to 2,700 litres of water, while one pair of jeans uses up to 10,000 litres of water. Moreover, the indigo colour On averand distressed denim look requires age, a pair a chemically intensive and high of jeans is water treatment processes, which harms the environment. While made using clothing companies look for alter10,000 litres native means of production, you of water. can limit your buying, perhaps?
ETHICAL BIOTRADE
EATING WITH DISPOSABLE WOODEN CHOPSTICKS
A
ccording to a report published in ecopedia.com, China produces 57 billion pairs of wooden disposable chopsticks, made mostly from cottonwood, birch, spruce and bamboo. Half of these is consumed within China itself, while the rest is exported to neighbouring countries and the Western world. Globally, around 1.4 billion people throw away 80 billion GETTING pairs of disposable chopRID OF INK sticks each year. CARTRIDGES AND Need we say BATTERIES more? ost batteries contain cadmium, lead, mercury, copper, zinc, manganese, lithium, or potassium, which are all hazardous to the environment and also to human health. They can cause soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. Ink cartridges are equally toxic for the ecosystem, and yet around 10 million of them end up in landfill sites every year. Recycle them responsibly.
M
I
n San Rafael, just outside the capital Quito, the scientific company Wikiri is raising 12 species of frog. Some are native only to Ecuador, while others are at risk of disappearing from their natural habitat elsewhere. After being raised in hundreds of terrariums, they are sent to Canada, the United States, Japan and various European countries for up to $600 each. That high value should give you an idea just how profitable frog poaching can be. The company goes to the extent of reproducing frogs in labs, so that
they don’t affect local fauna. They are then put into an ‘ethical bio-trade’ circuit that is the opposite of the poachers’ illegal smuggling and sales. According to the facility’s manager Lola Guarderas, “It’s totally different from the illegal trade in species — of those who go directly into areas to catch all the frogs they can to then export them to the detriment of the animals in the forest.”TNN
WHY ECUADOR’S FROG POPULATION IS AT RISK a relatively small 1homeEcuador, South American nation, is to one of the biggest displays of biodiversity on the planet. According to Ecuador’s envi2species ronment ministry, 186 of the are at risk of becoming extinct. Authorities have banned the capture and sale of all wild animals. But that hasn’t stopped the illegal trade from
the Amazon — sprawled across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. The activity is estimated to have brought in $1.3 billion for those involved between 2005 and 2014, ecological associations say. holds more than 600 3nearlyItspecies of frogs, of which half can be found only in the country.
Houseplants that help you SLEEP better ALOE VERA
JASMINE
LAVENDER
NASA has ranked Aloe Vera as one of the best air improving plants as it emits oxygen at night, and ‘Volatile’ which boosts up the immunity power of humans. It is perfect to stand in any corner of your bedroom.
A mood booster that doubles up as a stress buster! The odour of Jasmine helps one cut down the number of sleepless nights as it purifies the air of the room in which a person sleeps.
This sage green plant with spiky purple flowers helps you to breathe in fresh aromatic air while sleeping. Research shows that aroma of lavender is one of the best cures for anxiety and insomnia. LIFEHACKER
POP QUIZ
1 2 3 4 5
Which is the world’s largest Wetland System? Which environmentalist introduced the concept of Biodiversity ‘hotspots’? When was Environment Day observed for the first time? Who wrote ‘Earth Anthem’?
6
Which event associated with World Environment Day is celebrated to inspire people reduce energy consumption at the workplace? Who coined the word ‘ecology’ (Ökologie) in 1866?
ANSWERS 1. Pantanal 2. Norman Myers 3. 1972 4. Indian poet Abhay K. 5. Eco- Action Day 6. German scientist Ernst Haeckel
Aquarists deliver a 'cake' for Canola, a Singapore-born manatee on its 3rd birthday at the River Safari in the island nation.
It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. DAN QUAYLE
ENVIRONMENT
H ECOSYSTEM
It's not enough to turn off the faucet, switch off the lights or recycle the water bottle anymore. The things that destroy the ecosystem slowly are buried deep within the products you use on a regular basis...
OW YOU
COUNTERS POACHING
harm the
In a first, Ecuador is promoting an ‘ethical’ bio trade of rare, colourful frogs and toads for the global pet market. Their goal is to curb the lucrative illegal trade of amphibians captured in the wild
USING FACIAL CLEANSERS WITH MICROBEADS: Facial cleansers, beauty scrubs, toothpastes and some household products contain microbeads, which are essentially tiny pellets made of non-biodegradable plastic. Besides being harmful to your skin (if rubbed against the face roughly), these polyethylene beads cannot be extracted during water treatment. They do not dissolve in water and end up in the oceans where marine life mistakes these microbeads — which are toxic — for food.
USING PAPER CUPS FOR HOT BEVERAGES
M
ost paper cups are lined with a thin coating of polyethylene resin for insulation and durability. Unfortunately, for this reason, a paper cup cannot be fully recycled. Worst still is the fact that the carcinogenic chemicals in the plastic coating may leach into your hot coffee/tea. Styrofoam cups are no better as they are made of benzene that is equally harmful. Heading to a coffee shop? Ensure that the café USING is using biodegradable coffee SUNSCREEN cups that are lined with a A 2008 study from the plant-based material, not journal ‘Environmental Health a petroleum-based Perspectives’ found that the four plastic. common chemicals in sunscreen (paraben, cinnamate, benzophenone and camphor derivatives) are responsible for coral bleaching. This leaves corals vulnerable to viral infections, disease and death. Your best bet is to switch to eco-friendly or organic mineral sunscreens. Now you know what to look out for!
BUYING JEANS & T-SHIRT
D
on’t hate us but the ugly truth is this: The production of one cotton T-shirt can use up to 2,700 litres of water, while one pair of jeans uses up to 10,000 litres of water. Moreover, the indigo colour On averand distressed denim look requires age, a pair a chemically intensive and high of jeans is water treatment processes, which harms the environment. While made using clothing companies look for alter10,000 litres native means of production, you of water. can limit your buying, perhaps?
ETHICAL BIOTRADE
EATING WITH DISPOSABLE WOODEN CHOPSTICKS
A
ccording to a report published in ecopedia.com, China produces 57 billion pairs of wooden disposable chopsticks, made mostly from cottonwood, birch, spruce and bamboo. Half of these is consumed within China itself, while the rest is exported to neighbouring countries and the Western world. Globally, around 1.4 billion people throw away 80 billion GETTING pairs of disposable chopRID OF INK sticks each year. CARTRIDGES AND Need we say BATTERIES more? ost batteries contain cadmium, lead, mercury, copper, zinc, manganese, lithium, or potassium, which are all hazardous to the environment and also to human health. They can cause soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. Ink cartridges are equally toxic for the ecosystem, and yet around 10 million of them end up in landfill sites every year. Recycle them responsibly.
M
I
n San Rafael, just outside the capital Quito, the scientific company Wikiri is raising 12 species of frog. Some are native only to Ecuador, while others are at risk of disappearing from their natural habitat elsewhere. After being raised in hundreds of terrariums, they are sent to Canada, the United States, Japan and various European countries for up to $600 each. That high value should give you an idea just how profitable frog poaching can be. The company goes to the extent of reproducing frogs in labs, so that
they don’t affect local fauna. They are then put into an ‘ethical bio-trade’ circuit that is the opposite of the poachers’ illegal smuggling and sales. According to the facility’s manager Lola Guarderas, “It’s totally different from the illegal trade in species — of those who go directly into areas to catch all the frogs they can to then export them to the detriment of the animals in the forest.”TNN
WHY ECUADOR’S FROG POPULATION IS AT RISK a relatively small 1homeEcuador, South American nation, is to one of the biggest displays of biodiversity on the planet. According to Ecuador’s envi2species ronment ministry, 186 of the are at risk of becoming extinct. Authorities have banned the capture and sale of all wild animals. But that hasn’t stopped the illegal trade from
the Amazon — sprawled across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. The activity is estimated to have brought in $1.3 billion for those involved between 2005 and 2014, ecological associations say. holds more than 600 3nearlyItspecies of frogs, of which half can be found only in the country.
Houseplants that help you SLEEP better ALOE VERA
JASMINE
LAVENDER
NASA has ranked Aloe Vera as one of the best air improving plants as it emits oxygen at night, and ‘Volatile’ which boosts up the immunity power of humans. It is perfect to stand in any corner of your bedroom.
A mood booster that doubles up as a stress buster! The odour of Jasmine helps one cut down the number of sleepless nights as it purifies the air of the room in which a person sleeps.
This sage green plant with spiky purple flowers helps you to breathe in fresh aromatic air while sleeping. Research shows that aroma of lavender is one of the best cures for anxiety and insomnia. LIFEHACKER
POP QUIZ
1 2 3 4 5
Which is the world’s largest Wetland System? Which environmentalist introduced the concept of Biodiversity ‘hotspots’? When was Environment Day observed for the first time? Who wrote ‘Earth Anthem’?
6
Which event associated with World Environment Day is celebrated to inspire people reduce energy consumption at the workplace? Who coined the word ‘ecology’ (Ökologie) in 1866?
ANSWERS 1. Pantanal 2. Norman Myers 3. 1972 4. Indian poet Abhay K. 5. Eco- Action Day 6. German scientist Ernst Haeckel
Aquarists deliver a 'cake' for Canola, a Singapore-born manatee on its 3rd birthday at the River Safari in the island nation.
