Tackling climate change effects seem to be an insurmountable task for the everyday person but Yaa Frempomaa has gathered 10 ways that we can play our part. In this fourth segment, she shares two more suggestions.
7- Eat less meat
If you thought switching to a vegetarian/ vegan diet was only good for your health, think again. Becoming vegan or cutting down on your meat consumption could be the single most effective action that you can do to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to Planet Earth Herald.
The meat industry through the livestock sector accounts for 37% of human-caused methane emissions, according to Skeptical Science. Animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats, digest their plant-based diet through a process known as enteric fermentation which produces methane as a by-product.
Methane is about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, making it one of the biggest pollutants of our planet. If methane leaks into the air before being used, it absorbs the sun's heat and warms the atmosphere from around 23% to 40% of the total to date, according to Our World Data, according to the Environmental Defends Fund.
Why not seek out an alternative? In Pokuase, Accra, low-carbon enterprise Legassi Gardens is doing its part by promoting a vegan life-style and plant-based diet at its Café Ina Zion. The enterprise Legassi Gardens recently recruited a British-Jamaican chef called Nike who will be creating more of the café's vegan dishes focussed on natural, herbal and seasonal produce. Legassi Gardens, which is near Pokuase ACP along the White House Road, is a green-living travel and tour service that offer eco-friendly accommodation too. Find out more about their indigenous natural health foods here: (www.legassigardens.com).
8 - Think twice before buying new electrical devices
Did you know that Agbogbloshie, a suburb of Ghana's capital Accra, is thought to be one of the most polluted places in the work? And it has become infamous as the graveyard for Europe’s e-waste, according to a report published in France 24.
Spoilt computers, smartphones, television, air conditions tanks and other electronic goods pile up in this giant open-air garbage landfill, deteriorating Ghana’s environment and spreading diseases. Scrap workers at the Agbogbloshie e-waste dump frequently burn electrical wires, with little or no precaution to recover substances such as copper, steel and other precious metals, according to ATCMask.
The impact on the environment and people’s health can be severe, prompting the question to avid those in the West, in particular, where it is commonplace for phones to be upgraded annually or every two years - do you really need a new mobile phone?
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