Page 4 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 113 - June 2023_Neat

THINKING

GREEN

Doing nothing is not an option as far as climate change and other envi-
ronmental problems are concerned.

We witness every day the impact the steady increase in global tempera-
tures has caused. Our TV screens show increasing bush fires, flooding, hurri-
canes, heatwaves, storms, perma-melt in Artic regions and the like – not un-
known global features but recently increasing in their intensity and frequency
with devastating effects.
We may not look too closely at these incidents, thinking they are out of
reach of us in the UK, but we must take on board our part in this escalation
and think seriously about what we can do to lessen the effect. At the European
Green Group meeting this month we were asked to consider bringing a “be
green” clause into the constitution to be a qualification to fulfil in our BPW
membership.
There are some everyday things we can do, particularly to care for crea-
tion especially for what we grow. A third of food intended for human consump-
tion is wasted or lost – especially at retail and consumer levels in developed
countries. Personally, I don’t have the frantic dedication to “best before” dates,
instead using those a day or so over with no ill effects rather than putting them
in the bin. Some supermarkets have taken that branding off their foodstuffs
but many still throw away masses at the end of the day when they could possi-
bly make them available for immediate use by needy sources.
Plastic pollution has become a major source of concern, with National
Geographic declaring that about 91% of plastic is not recycled. The conse-
quence of what ends up in rivers and seas has a profound effect on our wild life
and the food we harvest from the water. I think it is a year at least since I gave
up using cling film but trying to buy essentials that are not wrapped in plastic
film is not easy. Even wrapped birthday and such like cards need to be avoided.
I have just had my supermarket order delivered and counted that 12 of my 21
items were plastic wrapped.

Farmers need to diversify now to earn a living and it is good to see that
some of them have got the message about restoring hedges and growing wild
flowers in borders around their fields. We will do well to buy goods that are
home grown from farm shops and especially flowers in local nurseries instead of
the imported ones that come with the stigma of attached air miles.
Probably one of the biggest environmental problems that we cause is in
textile waste with our discarded clothing particularly when it is fast fashion
which uses a massive amount of water for production and causes waterways to
be clogged with toxic dyes.
I don’t know if any of that stirs your conscience as it does mine but I
hope it has given you a few thoughts.
Sylvia G. Perry
Past International President (1996-1999)