It’s time to wake up! Do you want to know the truth of what is happening across the globe?

We live in a wonderful world but in recent years our world has been devastated by hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and droughts. There is no doubt in the world scientific community that this is the direct results of human activity and the effects of climate change will become worse in the future.

From oil spills to overflowing landfills, man’s unsustainable quest to live a better life with little regard for the environment has caused a staggering amount of environmental disasters to be formed. At present, pollution is labeled to be the N°1 killer, affecting more than 100 million worldwide.

Following are shocking photos which capture man-made disasters and their effect on the environment. If these photos don’t inspire you to collect trash when you see it, it’s time to wake up.

The photos shown above expose the truth of what is happening across the globe. If you think your plastic isn't ending up in nature, think again. Much of it ends up there without you realizing, from flying out of your garbage can, the garbage truck, or the landfill. Animals are constantly being suffocated, starved, or weighed down due to ingesting plastics. Everything that we can do to reduce our plastic usage as individuals counts.

Climate change could destroy the word where we live in, there is still time for us to save our word, there are many things that we can be doing, things that you and your family can do together.

You can REDUCE the amount of waste that you produce, and we you can, REUSE it,

You can RECYCLE many items in your home, make sure you put the trash in the correct bins!

You can follow the fb page of Rob Greenfield, he was a physical representation of the american trash output for 30 days.

Check out his video to see how and why he did it and head to www.trashisfortossers.com to learn tips and tricks on how to reduce your everyday trash output in ways that are simple, cost effective. If you are also interested in being a part of the solution to food waste you can find important information here. 

Lastly, on Sunday (19/01/2017) will take place the Eco Teaching Event,  don't miss the opportunity to learn more about this topic.

Be part of the solution!

7 Things to Pack When You Travel

New Year, new plans, hopefully a lot of traveling for all of you.

Before every trip the question always comes up, what are key things what you need to have in your backpack?

What can’t you leave at home?

1. Extra money on a credit card - with credit card you can almost pay everywhere for everything, much more safe and practical than carrying tons of cash – the amount depends on what kind of trip you are going.

In the 99% of the cases you will not need this, because luckily there will not be an unexpected/emergency situation, and at the end you will have some extra money, which you can use to make some special memories (still unexpected event, but a positive one)

2. Your hobby - especially for longer trips, it’s a good idea to take with you the thing what makes you relaxed at home. It will help you to connect yourself with the new environment.

3. Travel book (Lonely planet) - first it can look like a lame thing, but it’s not at all. In some countries you have to be prepared that maybe you won’t reach the 4G internet. At the end it will have an emotional connection with you and with the trip

4. One book/ebook - trips are not always about endless action, you will stay a lot of times at airports/train stations/bus station and other stations, or just rest in your bed. In this situation its very useful, and somehow the trip has an effect on the book itself and how it affects you.

5. Tour sandals - yes.yes.yes. "How will I look like?? Nooo!!!"

Who cares!? It’s the most practical thing ever. For hiking, city tour, beaches, you can use it everywhere. Small, easy to clean, you can use it everywhere and durable...and ugly, but still, who cares? You are on a trip, not on a ball.  The mountain tribes will give a 100% shit about what kind of shoes you wear.

6. Half of the cloths you would think - takes a lots of space, its heavy and most of the time totally for nothing. Check the weather of your destination, add an extra pullover and then just leave the half of the cloths at home that you prepared to take with you.

7. One towel - you always need one towel.

If you have some extra tips, don’t keep it in yourself, share it with us!

Join us on our next Passionate Travelers Meeting on Thursday evening:

https://www.facebook.com/events/377042015990337/

Riding a bicycle

In this post I would like to talk about a mean of transportation as simple as two tyres, a frame, two pedals, a handlebar and a seat. Exactly, this vehicle is the bicycle. As simple it doesn´t need anything else than the energy of our legs to make it move on. An essential tool in the early years for children in order to develop their basic movement skills and also a way to create healthy habits in their future. The bicycle is also a style of life for many people but, until what point is it necessary and important its use in general? Here I will give a series of reasons that will make you change your idea of the bicycle.

Healthy reasons. The practise of sport through the bicycle has all sorts of health benefits—physical and mental. It engages your legs and it is easy on your joints, it´s also an activity you can do everyday either as an physical activity or to go to work. Moreover, it helps you to prevent of different illness us as vascular diseases, cholesterol, heart problems and all kind of mental and psicologycal problems. 

 

Economical reasons. That way of transportation it has an insignificant cost comparing with other vehicles as for instance a motorbike or a car in terms of gasoil, parking fees, reparations and checkings,...

Environmental reasons. Using the bicycle every day we are contributing to the care of our environment, which means less polution, better air to breath and a cleaner living context for everyone. Concerning about the importance of the welfare and care of our Mother Earth in general and our cities in particular, this atittude would help a lot to decontaminate the space where we live.

But using the bicycle is not only taking the it and starting to use it in any way. There also are a series of behaviour rules for all those people to respect as drivers they are. And they must be especially aware about the driving rules when they ride in the walkside. And in the same way the must be careful with pedestrians, all drivers in general should be awared of how vulnerable cyclist are when they ride on the road.
 

The real story of plastic.

From the moment we wake up in the morning and brush our teeth, to when we watch TV at the end of the day, plastic is all around us. So much so that it can be hard to imagine leaving the supermarket without at least one item that isn’t in a plastic container.

It hasn't always been like this. In fact, there are people alive today that were born in an almost plastic-free world. Imagine going to the beach and not finding a single piece of washed up plastic trash.

What, in the course of history, caused such a change?

There are a few stories of what drove the demand for modern plastics. One version is that, in the second half of the 19th century, companies in the billiard ball industry realised they needed a substitute for ivory. By then, humans were consuming at least one million pounds of the material each year, and newspapers were reporting that elephants would soon become extinct if that pace continued.

And so the race to come up with a new material began. Over the course of several decades, chemists from Europe and US searched for solutions. After years of trial and error, they discovered plastic as we know it today, and by the beginning of the 20th century, people could buy hair combs and clothes with buttons that were not made of ivory.

Even with this scientific development, there were still no plastic bags flying around the cities, or fish being caught up in plastic rings. So, what triggered this explosion of plastic in our lives?

Two important factors pushed manufacturers to embrace this substance. First was the development of mass production assembly lines. Before that, factories required a lot of labour to manufacture even a single product, making plastic prohibitively time consuming.

The second factor was World War II. The material was used in many ways, from bazooka barrels to aircraft components, and between 1939 and 1945, the production of plastic grew by almost four times. With the end of the war, plastic companies needed to keep making a profit, so they had to switch from military vehicles to Barbie dolls. Plastic was so cheap, everyone could afford it: plastic containers, plastic furniture, plastic toys. And that's when the material gained widespread traction.

But what was a solution before is a problem now. Because plastic lasts for so long, every single piece of plastic ever made still exists, and will continue existing for at least 500 years. To put that in context, if Leonardo da Vinci had drunk water from a plastic bottle when he was painting the Mona Lisa, that bottle would not have fully decomposed yet.

Everyday, more and more plastic keeps being produced, used and thrown away. In countries where disposable cups are made of plastic, for example, it may take only seconds for one to leave the package, be used, and end up in a trash can. So much plastic is consumed that there is an area bigger than France of throw-away plastic swirling at all depths in the North Pacific Ocean. It has become so ubiquitous that birds are using it to build their nests.

And it’s not just the amount of plastic being produced. Everything related to plastic is damaging the planet, from the impact of extracting the fossil fuels used to produce plastic, to the health effects of the toxins it releases into the environment when it is burned, to the devastating impact on sea life.

There is something you can do about it. Reducing the amount of plastic you use might seem difficult, but it's simpler than you think. You can make a difference by many ways, from simple actions like bringing your own bag to the grocery store, to avoiding plastic cutlery and products containing microbeads. What is important is to be conscious about what you are consuming and how it is affecting not only your life and your surroundings, but the whole planet and its many magnificent species, large and small.

Καλά Χριστούγεννα! Thinghs you might not know about Christmas

Christmas time is coming and we want to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad, Boldog karácsonyt, feliz Natal!!!

 

 

Here are festive facts to get you even more in the mood for Christmas..

Christ's Mass : the word Christmas comes from the Old English "Cristes maesse" meaning "Christ's Mass".

Xmas : the abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

Speedy Santa : US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.

Noel : the word Noel derives from the French expression "les bonnes nouvelles" or "the good news".

Christmas Trees : nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.

Early Christmas Trees : they may date back to pagan traditions, but the earliest known reference to a Christmas tree is in a German pamphlet from 1570.

Tallest Tree : the world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.

Eating a Christmas Tree : many parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.

Rudolph the Reindeer : Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.

Jingle Bells : James Pierpont's 1857 song Jingle Bells was first called One Horse Open Sleigh and was written for Thanksgiving.

Christmas Songs : JINGLE Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.

Banning Christmas : In 1647, after the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell banned festivities. The law wasn't lifted until 1660.

The Birth of Jesus : Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.

Tangerines : the tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.

 

And we want to share with you some of the weirdest Christmars traditions from around the word....
 

Καλά Χριστούγεννα

Wine Tasting

On the 13th of November we had the chance to go for a Wine Route trip, where we tried 8 different types of wine.

There are some tips how to look like a professional and impress other, when you drink wine. And of course to enjoy it more.

US Elections, what will happen next?

Two days after the elections in the USA, everyone is expectant of knowing what is going to happen because of the result got in it. Donald Trump, in case there is still somebody do not know him, candidate of the republican party for president of the United States of America, has got to reach the position at the White House for the next four years.

After knowing the outcome of the elections, many people are angry, many scared, many others concerned of what will happen both with the future of the United States and of the rest of the world.  It is unquestionable the person in charge of such a big responsibility will have the power from now on to decide the destiny of many people with his decisions, and according to the image the new president of the US has given so far in terms of sexuality, racial profiling and migrant policy among ohters, it seems almost impossible to trust in a better future. But let us try to do not being very catastrophists for the moment and take a look how things are coming up.


The other main candidate, Hillary Clinton, from the democratic party, was the hope for many people both in the US and in the rest of the world in order to continue with the economical and social "stability" there has been so far. But all that glitters is not gold and Hillary, according to some revealed information in the latest months, has been shown that she was not the most appropriate person to succeed Barak Obama either. Some controversial decissions in foreign countries leaked by reliable sources demonstrated her purposes in some countries with open conflicts that were not legitimate.

In any case, one of two candidates were unavoidable to be chosed as president. As a result of the elections, now both the future of the USA and the rest of the world are in hands of Donald Trump, a man with an outlandish personality who will not leave anyone indifferent.