Change habits, be environmentally conscious

As part of the recent FNB Namibia Global United Climate Kick 2016, a presentation was held by Wolfgang Schenck, consultant for environmentally sustainable tourism and hospitality at the Katima campus of the University of Namibia. Students and lecturers attended as well as the Global United international legends.
In his presentation Schenck focused on advising all participants about living environmentally conscious which he hoped would change some habits and make people think twice about purchasing something they do not need or which is harmful to the environment. Schenck shared interesting facts with the students such as the fact that people created 7 million tons of waste per day. He said: “We throw away too easily. We consume too easily. We do not think about how and what we buy. This needs to change and the change starts with every one of us. Simply changing two or three habits can already have a great impact.”
Schenck gave examples by asking the students if they brought their lunch in plastic bags or if they had a container which could be washed and re-used on a regular basis. He also asked them if their parents enjoyed some beer from a dumpie – which has to be recycled or possibly a returnable bottle which only has to be washed and refilled? “While you might think recycling the bottle is ok – it still means that they have to be transported to South Africa which means a lot of CO2 emissions are going into the atmosphere when the trucks drive the long distances.” Lastly he pleaded with everyone to ensure that plastic bags were recycled as these will be used to make new plastic bags. “Did you know that 80% of the plastic bags used in Namibia were produced in this country. The plastic bag thus created employment opportunities in the country, CO2 emissions were avoided as there was no transport involved and hard earned cash was not leaving the country, which was the case with cloth bags as most of them were imported from other countries.”
Lastly Schenck spend a bit more time on household detergents we use which are poisonous to the atmosphere and the drink water. Schenck: “Vinegar is natural and its uses are manifold. You can even get rid of its peculiar smell by saving orange, lemon or lime peels, putting them in a glass jar and filling that with vinegar – after a few weeks’ vinegar smells great. Baking soda as a cleaning agent is also fantastic and worthwhile trying. And a really dirty, burned pot can be cleaned with your braai ashes.”