Jungles
Jungles are full of beautiful wildlife. They are centres of biodiversity
But, we are charging through the jungles and killing anything that cannot run away. We chop down the trees. We clear the land.
We destroy all this land in order to grow palm oil and soy beans and other crops. A small amount of these crops are the ones that we eat. We use a lot of these crops to feed animals for us to eat.
Any wildness that cannot run away fast enough from our chainsaws will probably be slaughtered. And the creatures that do run away will have nowhere to live. We are driving extinction.
We must stop deforestation and be gentle with the jungle. There is plenty of cleared land for growing crops. We must use the existing land and resources.
We must re-wild the jungles. Work with nature to heal it. We can save this majesty.
Look after nature wherever you see it or smell it or hear it or feel it. Notice the living wildlife. Let it be.
Choose to step over a snail on the pavement instead of crushing it. Choose to pour leftover drinking water on the soil for some plants.
Choose life.
Farmers for diversity
Reflect: How can I leave this land better than when I found it?
And know that the land will look after us if we look after the land.
Investigate 'agroforestry' and try it out.
- https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/03/english-pastoral-by-james-rebanks-review-how-to-look-after-the-land
- https://regenerativefoodandfarming.co.uk
- https://abcnews.go.com/US/experts-farmers-reduce-greenhouse-gases-agriculture/story?id=81186195
- 'Fibreshed' by Rebecca Burgess. This is a book about sustainable farming of plant and animal materials for textiles.
"Our philosophy is: Take only pictures, leave only footprints."
"Nature has given us everything, and asked for nothing in return. We can repay our debt to nature by taking care of it and safekeeping it for future generations."
Challenge
Refuse to buy anything with palm oil in for a whole week. Can you do this for longer than one week?
Write to a company that uses unsustainable palm oil and teach them about how to treat the jungle better. Demand that they use deforestation-free palm oil.
Eat for the environment
Enjoy eating! Eat what makes you happy. You do not have to eat lots of fancy food if you do not like it. Make sure to eat well. Use the NHS eat well plate for guidance.
Have a go at traditional cooking and natural remedies. For example, during World War Two, people used to reuse cooking fats for several different meals. Mary’s Nest on YouTube or the Fairyland Cottage website have recipes for things like this.
Find out how efficient your cooking appliances are. This can also protect the Frozen worlds.
Take notice of what you are eating. Sensory seeking is lots of fun. Sensory seeking is where you look out for things that interest your senses.
For example, I love tofu because it goes with lots of different flavours. It has a squidgy texture too. It is quite interesting the eat. In fact, it is like an adventure to eat. I know it sounds silly. But try it- seriously!
Challenge yourself to not eat meat or fish for 2 full days per week.
When we do eat meat, we need to use the cleared land to grow crops for our animals. In other words, we grow food for our food. We eat the crops as well.
If we do not eat meat for some days per week, we can reduce the pressure on the cleared land.
https://www.sneakyveg.com/recipe-index/ . This website has great recipes for sneaking vegetables into meals for people who are not big fans of veggies!
'Zero Waste Chef' also has lots of vegan and vegetarian recipes. And tips for small challenges for sustainability.
'Pick Up Limes' is another fabulous website with lots of vegan and vegetarian recipes. This one is particularly good for people with allergies. Plus, there are so many different flavours and cultures in their yummy dishes.
Try new recipes. Do cooking competitions with your friends. Cook things inspired by movies or books.
Go vegetarian or vegan.
I know this is hard. Especially if you really love meat. You could become a flexitarian. A flexitarian is a person who eats a bit of meat on some days of the week and eat vegetarian or vegan food on other days of the week.
The best tips for people who are trying to go vegetarian or vegan is to explore different flavours, textures, smells, colours, cultures.
And to remember that plants are not meat. What do I mean?
Well, often people try to find things like plant-based chicken nuggets. Vegetarian chicken nuggets are just not as tasty as meat chicken nuggets.
However, there is no meat that tastes as yummy as nut roast.
Vegetarian or vegan food might be very different to how you would normally eat meat. There will be something plant-based that you like. You just have to find what that is.
Companies that use the jungle's resources need to adopt different methods. This includes any company that creates medicines, paper, palm-oil, and soy.
Use the methods investigated by David Attenborough and the 'One Planet' team. You can learn about fantastic initiatives to benefit your company for profit and the whole earth for life.