Take a look at what is happening around the world. Our forests are burning to make way for cattle ranching, soy-feed production and Palm oil. Habitats are being destroyed.
The IUCN has issued an urgent call to massively scale up species conservation action in response to the escalating biodiversity crisis. The call for Global Species Conservation Action appeals to the world’s governments, international agencies and the private sector to halt species decline and prevent human-driven extinctions by 2030, and to improve the conservation status of threatened species with a view to bringing about widespread recovery by 2050.
Something that has been rumbling quietly in the background for many years has finally gathered pace and that’s the issue of Climate Change.
One thing has never been clearer; it really is time to change our human habits in order to save our habitats, the planet and ultimately ourselves.
What is a habit?
‘a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up’
If you want to break a habit, the general advice is to make it harder to do, and if you want to make a new habit, make it easy to do.
1) Stop Doing it (Obviously)
2) Replace With Something You Want Instead
If you want to get rid of your bad habit, you have to pave a new path for your brain to begin paving. You have to set a new direction.
3) Attach A Bigger Purpose Behind Your Change
Spend time in and with nature to appreciate what we are about to lose if we don’t curb our bad habits.
PLANET FRIENDLY HABITS TO CULTIVATE THIS YEAR:
Reusable water bottle - ditch the plastic. We sell a 500ml handy aluminium water bottle at the park for just £4! We also have a Re-fill station. There are handy Re-fill stations around Gibraltar, find out more here: Re-fill Nautilus, Aqua Gib & Hunter Group.
Shop local (on foot or bike) at small-scale health stores, ideally those that allow re-fills.
Ditch the meat - the easiest, cheapest and healthiest way to help habitats. Choose sustainably-reared, organic meat and reduce your consumption.
If you struggle to eat plant-based, substitute real meat and dairy for plant-based alternatives, 2-3 days a week. I find it’s easier just to not buy meat. It’s so much easier and less wasteful not having to store meat and fish products at home. Eat out once a week at a good restaurant (preferably with pure plant-based food or meat substitutes or sustainably sourced meat). The more we choose these options, the more we will drive demand.
As time goes on, you’ll find your dependency on meat will wane. You will also find you are healthier too! After all, we are wolfing down a shocking 45% more meat and dairy than 50 years ago and this is still increasing in the non-western world.
Ecologically speaking, it is still Sustainable for each of us to eat 29kg of meat per year, but that’s if your conscience can deal with the ethical disaster that is the meat industry! Check out our Facebook page for more ideas, data and statistics on the impacts of meat on the environment and recipe ideas: CutMeatNotTrees
Reduce waste - get creative with left-overs. Most countries and areas have a typical poor-mans dish, these are usually excellent for using up waste: think bubble & squeak, .. & ...
Plant trees! Rather than wasting money and resources on pointless presents, why not plant a tree in honour of the event, be it Birthday's, anniversaries or Valentine's Day, we are wasting valuable resources on frivolous gifts that are ultimately thrown away. With JUST ONE Tree you can give just £1 to plant a tree with various habitat restoration projects all over the world. This year the AWCP joined together with Gibraltar's schools and planted over 2000 trees in Madagascar during a 'Green Day' event on Valentine's Day.
You can also switch to Ecosia and plant a tree every time your search the web.
Ditch the plastic! - Our local NGO, The Nautilus Project have some fantastic campaigns and ideas on plastics. They also run educational tours and talks around Gibraltar and Spain. re-use bags and make your own cloth bags for groceries out of old T-shirts
UNPACKED GIBRALTAR IS A NEW ONLINE REFILL SHOP FOR ALL YOUR HOUSEHOLD NEEDS; CLEANING PRODUCE, SHAMPOOS AND CONDITIONERS. VISIT THE WEBSITE HERE: WWW.UNPACKEDGIB.COM
Cook from scratch with fresh produce from local stores - don’t forget your T- shirt shopping bag!
Drive less (try car sharing), Car-free Tuesdays is now a local thing in Gibraltar, thanks to Sustainable Gibraltar facebook group.
Fly less (explore your own country for holidays, afterall, unless you live in Scunthorpe, tourists most probably pay to come and see it, so it must have plenty to offer! (Sorry Scunthorpe!)
Clothing - the fashion industry is unsustainable and polluting. Fashion is re-hashed through years and decades anyway so strike out and diy re-hash by getting creating with secondhand clothing. Check out next seasons fashion, visit your local secondhand stores (hot tip: visit charity shops in high-end areas..the pickings will be better quality.
If you have to buy new, better quality, high end basics in classic cut. They will cost more but last much longer.
Choose ethical clothing companies such as: BambooClothing
with ethical and sustainable materials and manufacturing policies. Some, like KomodoClothing even contribute funds to conservation and fair trade initiatives.
Renewable energy has come a long way - look into solar water and electric, use the natural resources of southern Spain to fuel your life! It can be expensive to set up but it is an investment into the planet.
Aside from individuals changing their habits we need to push for large scale Government action
Conscious voting! Forget the tax cuts, the big business, property and the promises of the land of milk and honey.
These are meaningless without a healthy planet in which to spend your tax savings.
Vote for the planet and for Governments that will put our planet first.
Its time to:
Change our habits to save Habitats
AND REMEMBER! The planet is our HUMAN HABITAT too!
Our Habits at the AWCP:
We pledge that all. AWCP Events will be 100% plant-based food, sourced locally, where possible.
We are working towards being a greener zoo. We hope to have sustainable energy sources by 2025.
We re-use, reduce and recycle where possible and encourage others to do the same.
We have 'Ditched the Plastic' - we no longer sell plastic bottles, only re-usable aluminium bottles. We also have a Re-fill station onsite for all to use. We are working towards having a compost machine to process all our bio-waste and turn it into ZooPoo!
What HABITS can you change this year to help save HABITATS?
Click here to play our 'Act like an Animal' game, log
your habits and help us to reach our goal of 10,000
planet friendly habits for 2022!
