Environment

Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to express your love to the person you love. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to adopt an eco-friendly approach?

By choosing environmentally friendly gifts and decorations, you're giving your partner a gift that truly means something, combining personal pleasure with a commitment to a sustainable world.

Discover some ideas that can help you in your responsible approach.

Meaningful and environmentally friendly gifts

1. Homemade gifts

Homemade gifts are one of the most sincere ways to show your love. They reflect the time you've dedicated to creating something unique for your loved one. Every detail shows how much the recipient means to you while reducing waste, promoting responsible consumption, and reducing their environmental impact. This type of gift truly embodies the idea of ​​a gesture made from the heart.

2. Non-physical gifts

Rather than a physical object, offer an unforgettable experience. An organic cooking class, a massage session with eco-friendly oils, or a nature getaway focused on discovering eco-friendly practices are examples of activities you can share while limiting your carbon footprint and environmental impact. These precious moments reduce your carbon footprint and illustrate a more ecological and sustainable approach.

3. Local and artisanal products

There is also another alternative: offering artisanal products such as organic wax candles or locally made jewelry, while supporting the local economy, reducing the environmental impact and promoting more responsible and ecological consumption.

4. Flowers, but differently

Red roses are the stars of Valentine's Day, but they often come from far away, and their production can have a significant impact on the environment and water consumption. Choose seasonal flowers grown locally and organically, or give a potted plant that's sustainable and requires little energy.

An eco-responsible decoration that celebrates Love

1. Reuse and transform what you have

No need to rush to the shops looking for the perfect decoration; it might just be right in your home! Let your creativity run wild by reusing items you already own. For example, reusing glass jars to make beautiful tealight holders limits waste, promotes circular consumption and better use of available resources, and optimizes the use of available resources. An energy-efficient string of lights can create a romantic ambiance.

2. Choose natural materials

Want to embellish your table with a natural and eco-friendly touch? You can add branches, leaves, or fresh flowers to create a decor that's both authentic and charming. These elements, in addition to embodying love, are biodegradable and environmentally friendly. To complete the look, choose an eco-friendly linen tablecloth and reusable cloth napkins, which will add lasting elegance while reducing resource consumption.

3. Choose second-hand goods

Need a secondhand vase, tableware, or decorative accessory? Consider thrift stores. Not only will you save money, but you'll also help reduce resource consumption and extend the life of items.

4. Create your own decor

Let your imagination run wild as you create handmade items. Make hearts from recycled paper or garlands from fabric scraps. These DIY projects add a unique and personal touch to your decor while remaining eco-friendly.

A few simple tips for an eco-responsible evening

1. A home-cooked meal with local products

A home-cooked meal is not only more economical, but also more sustainable by limiting waste and energy consumption, as well as being more environmentally friendly. Choose local, organic, and seasonal ingredients to create a delicious and eco-friendly menu. Simple yet authentic cuisine will be appreciated by your partner.

2. Eco-friendly candles

To create a warm ambiance, opt for certified eco-friendly candles made from natural waxes, such as soy or beeswax, which reduce your carbon footprint, are biodegradable, and non-toxic, contributing to a more eco-friendly approach. Avoid candles containing paraffin, which is derived from petroleum.

3. Think about transportation

If you're planning a night out, choose an eco-friendly mode of transportation like walking, cycling, or public transportation to reduce your carbon emissions and environmental impact. This limits CO2 emissions and contributes to a truly responsible evening.

Adopt a Valentine's Day that carries values

Celebrating Valentine's Day responsibly doesn't mean giving up the magic of the day. On the contrary, it's a way to show your partner that you're thinking of their happiness while respecting our beautiful planet. Every action, no matter how small, counts in building a more sustainable future, reducing our carbon footprint and environmental impact, and promoting eco-responsible practices in our daily lives.

Opting for an eco-friendly Valentine's Day also means prioritizing authenticity and sincerity in your exchanges. True love isn't measured by the material value of a gift, but by the thoughtfulness behind it. By choosing more environmentally friendly alternatives, you can demonstrate that your commitment goes beyond a simple romantic gesture: it reflects your values ​​and your concern for the well-being of the planet.

A wonderful way to celebrate this day is to choose sustainable, meaningful, and responsibly produced gifts. Offering a handwritten letter filled with sincere and touching words is a much more valuable gesture than a simple store-bought item. A poem, a song written for the occasion, or a photo album retracing the most beautiful memories of your relationship will make a much greater impression on both minds and hearts.

Valentine's Day can also be an opportunity to spend quality time together, without giving in to overconsumption. Why not organize a cozy evening at home with a homemade meal made with local and organic products, accompanied by a carefully selected playlist? A picnic in the great outdoors, a romantic hike, or even a board game evening by candlelight are all simple but memorable experiences.

Get inspired to go further

Want to discover more tips and advice for an eco-friendly lifestyle? Visit our We Are Clean blog and let yourself be inspired by Our committed articles . Together, let's adopt eco-responsible practices and make every moment an opportunity to reduce our environmental impact!

Plastic is a considerable but above all persistent source of pollution: it never disappears but decomposes into micro-plastics that invade the oceans, soils and living organisms… which are us! It is time to adopt basic anti-plastic actions in our daily lives.

According to a WWF study, we ingest about 5g of plastic per week , the equivalent of a credit card! Cutting your food on a plastic board, eating seafood that has absorbed it through plankton or food packaging... the risk is ecological but also health-related. Here's what you can do:

Anti-plastic gestures in the kitchen

• Cook fresh foods to store in glass containers and avoid industrial ready meals presented in plastic trays which are reheated in the microwave and whose components can migrate into the food.
• Avoid classic sponges: made of soft plastic, they break down into crumbs that end up in wastewater. Adopt tawashis (Japanese sponges made of recycled fabric) or brushes with a wooden handle.
• Use kraft paper or cardboard bags instead of plastic garbage bags: the latter are either incinerated (releasing toxic fumes) or buried (decomposing in the ground), so it is urgent to avoid them.
• Forget about plastic wrap, which is not worth the short life. Discover “bee wrap”, reusable and natural pieces of wax-coated fabric!
• Stop buying plastic bottles, especially sodas, they are bad for the planet and your health! Unless you have a medical need, avoid mineral water in plastic bottles in favor of glass bottles or a filter to attach to the tap or even Binchotan-type charcoal to place in a glass water carafe to filter it naturally.

Anti-plastic gestures in the bathroom

• Plastic cotton buds have been banned since January 2020, but until this becomes more widespread, opt for an ear cleaner or a reusable cotton bud, or a cardboard or bamboo stick.
• Switch to solid soaps and shampoos instead of liquid shampoos and shower gels: these are hundreds of plastic bottles that will neither be produced nor thrown away! And what's more, there are plenty that smell divine!
• Toothpaste tubes, like toothbrushes, are never recycled... we adopt their wooden versions and toothpastes in metal tubes, or even in solid versions for eco-friendly brushing!
• Instead of tampons with plastic "compact" applicators and sanitary towels made of synthetic fibers, therefore plastic, opt for washable menstrual panties or infinitely reusable cups!
• Zero wipes: made of synthetic fibers, they are polluting. For you or your baby, opt for washable fabric wipes!

Anti-plastic gestures in the office

• Get yourself a mug so you never have to take a plastic cup from the coffee machine again! Even if they are made of cardboard, they are often lined with a plastic film which makes them non-recyclable… And this is valid for the “stirrers” that a good old spoon replaces wonderfully!
• If you have your lunch routine, at a caterer for example, bring your own containers , your cutlery and refuse the plastic bag!

Anti-plastic gestures outside

• Never throw your cigarette butt on the ground again: just one of these filters, made of cellulose acetate, a plastic fiber, takes more than 15 years to disintegrate and can pollute 500L of water. Throwing it in the street means allowing it to one day reach a river or the sea via unfiltered river waters.
• At the bar, ask for your mojito without a plastic straw! These should be banned soon but they still flow

Since January ^1, 2021, single-use plastic straws, cutlery, and stirrers have been banned from sale but can still be distributed while stocks last. To allow manufacturers to adapt, the government has set itself the goal of being done with single-use plastics within… 20 years!

But no need to wait for the laws to do without them today: head to the bulk store, reusable and sustainable materials!

To go further: I stop plastic , Anne Thoumieux, Editions Leduc

Faced with the challenges of pollution and global warming , we feel powerless and want to know "whose fault is it". Who are the main culprits? Heavy industries, fashion , digital technology , transport, agriculture , industrial farming?

To identify the most polluting industries on the planet, a thorough investigation must be conducted. First, analyze the origins of soil, air and water pollution to then assess the responsibility of each polluter. Fortunately, today, pollution indicators are increasingly numerous and precise to identify the main culprits, the biggest polluters on the planet.

First of all, what is pollution?

Pollution means degrading an ecosystem, the environment or destroying it entirely by introducing elements that are unsuitable for it and that will harm it. This could be plastic in the ocean, toxic products in the soil or rivers, particles in the air or even waste in nature. Ecosystems are by definition in perpetual evolution: they can therefore adapt to the addition of these materials but only up to a certain point. In all cases, pollution threatens their fragile balance and this is not always what we think. For example, green algae can proliferate due to human activities to the point of suffocating the rest of the aquatic environment that they colonize. This is another form of pollution for which man is responsible, although the algae are of natural origin.

The difference between pollution and _CO2

When we talk about pollution, we systematically talk about carbon dioxide, CO ₂ , today. However, we produce CO ₂ ourselves by breathing! The problem is therefore not really its presence in the air, which is natural, but the consequences of its excess emissions, mainly due to the combustion of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal). Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming if it is in excess in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are so called because they prevent infrared rays emitted by the Earth from escaping into space by placing themselves above them like a lid, which raises the temperature below in the atmosphere, like in a greenhouse. This phenomenon is natural and has allowed life to appear on Earth, but human activities adding enormous quantities of greenhouse gases to the system create an imbalance that disrupts the climate machine.

Who pollutes what?

It is not easy to assess the extent of the impact of each polluting industry: What is the quantity of greenhouse gases that it emits? How can we assess its plastic pollution ? Its chemical pollution? It is better to think by source of pollution – soil, air, water – and by sector of activity – automobile, transport, industry, agriculture and livestock farming.

Who pollutes the soil?

A soil is considered polluted when it has received chemicals that contaminate the fauna and flora. This type of pollution comes mainly from chemical discharges from industrial activities, intensive breeding and agriculture because of phytosanitary products and the famous weedkillers (glyphosate type) and other chemical fertilizers, used by farmers. Pollution can also come from large quantities of droppings from industrial livestock that saturate the environment and become toxic (see below). But it can also be chemicals from a factory, wastewater from drug manufacturers then saturated with active pharmaceutical ingredients that spread into the soil, but also hydrocarbons that leak near a gas pump for example.

Who pollutes the air?

The emission of _CO2 by vehicles, planes and other ships is not strictly speaking a pollutant: it is not responsible for fine particles, which are extremely harmful, and this in a direct way, for us humans. When we talk about air pollution, we are referring to these particles that enter the body through the respiratory tract and the skin. They are the cause of many respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancers. And in France, fine particle pollution is the second leading cause of preventable death after tobacco.

• The car of course emits a lot of fine particles, but not so much because of the engines, today equipped with fairly efficient filters. Automobile pollution comes mainly from the friction of the brake discs and the wear of the tires on the road. These two frictions generate a fine dust of particles mainly made up of carbon black and heavy metals such as copper, barium, nickel, chromium, lead, zinc, highly toxic.
• Maritime transport is the other major culprit, along with aircraft: the "supertankers", these giant ships that transport, export and import almost all the goods in the world, generate absolutely gigantic pollution in sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and ultrafine particles... mainly because of their fuel which is one of the dirtiest in the world, a heavy oil residue that is difficult to burn.
• Coal-fired power plants, which are often forgotten to be mentioned, are one of the worst sources of fine and ultrafine particles that infiltrate very deeply into our bodies. They are legion in Asia, but also in Europe such as Poland or Germany where 25% of electricity comes from coal-fired power plants. In France, coal-fired power plants have almost completely disappeared because more than 70% of electricity comes from nuclear power, which emits almost no _CO2 or fine particles.

Who pollutes the water?

Rivers, lakes and the sea can (and are) polluted by the same substances as soils through the rainwater that drains them. A heavily polluted area can lead to the total destruction of a marsh ecosystem, if animals and plants can no longer live there. Discharges from livestock farms can also unbalance the water and lead to the spread of harmful and/or invasive species such as green algae. But in addition to this pollution, there is the waste that rivers, lakes and the sea receive directly. As for the ocean, sunscreen is a waste that suffocates the seabed, deprives it of light by forming a film on the surface (depending on the filters used in the cream) or leads to the destruction of precious coral. Added to these pollutants are toxic substances released into the sea, such as oil spills which ravage everything in their path, and above all, plastic, which forms soups of microplastics as it degrades, then absorbed by marine organisms.

Who are the biggest polluters?

A multitude of measurement methods, indicators, and increasingly sophisticated indices make it possible to analyze and, above all, quantify the polluting damage caused by different industries. And this is at a global level, because polluting industries are very different from country to country. The analysis of all this data leads to the identification of the 5 biggest polluters on the planet.

The textile industry

The textile industry, the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is a major consumer of resources and water in particular. It also generates a lot of pollution, the main one being that due to the dyeing of textiles, which places it in second place in terms of water pollution worldwide. Indeed, the manufacture of clothing and the treatment of fibers, particularly synthetic fibers, requires an arsenal of toxic chemicals that end up in the wastewater that comes out of factories, often in poor countries that do not have sufficient regulations to put pressure on brands.

Transport

The transport sector is the main culprit for air pollution. At different levels: on average, a train journey emits 10 times less _CO2 than the same journey by car and up to 50 times less _CO2 than a plane. And if aircraft engines, train tires, supertankers and cars emit fine particles that are dangerous to health when burning fuel, the damage does not stop with the use of vehicles. During their manufacture, a large number of materials, waste and toxic products are used, which doubles their environmental impact, in addition to emitting record levels of _CO2 .

Agriculture and intensive livestock farming

Agriculture and intensive livestock farming have one thing in common: they generate ammonia. This chemical compound comes from nitrogen fertilizers used to fertilize crops, but also from animal droppings that pose serious problems related to the practice of "spreading". This technique consists of using slurry, rich in nitrogen, on the land as fertilizer. Just like pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers that destroy biodiversity in the process, the toxic products of slurry end up in the soil and then in waterways, and in the form of nitrate in this case. A contamination that can reach the water table, making the water unfit for consumption. As a bonus, nitrogen and nitrates stimulate the proliferation of green algae that then colonize the coasts, as is the case in Brittany because of the giant pig farms located upstream of the watershed.

Digital pollution

The manufacturing of smartphones, computers, tablets, TVs, internet boxes, hard drives, etc. generates significant pollution throughout their life cycle.
First of all, to manufacture them, a great many rare metals are needed: copper, lithium, gold, cobalt… they are extracted in an often unscrupulous manner that terribly pollutes the environment, depletes resources, weakens ecosystems in addition to exploiting the inhabitants of these regions and sometimes involving child labor. This process, valid for the manufacture of digital objects, is also valid for “data centers”, these immense digital centers that store digital data and host internet content. All these tools and equipment are waste when they no longer work. They are very rarely recycled even though some of the metals they contain will soon be in short supply. In addition, the digital sector is today responsible for nearly 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions! Using the internet (streaming movies, using connected objects, using social networks with their photos and videos, and even doing simple searches on Google or consulting a website, etc.) requires data centers to consume a lot of energy which, if produced from fossil sources, will emit a lot of _CO2 .

We should not say "pollution" but "pollutions". Awareness is growing and in this fight to preserve the environment, our consumption choices are at least as important as the policies put in place. This is the strength of the group . Stopping or reducing meat, preferring the train to the plane... these are the new reflexes that we must adopt before one day we simply no longer have a choice.

One year, ten years, more than a hundred years? Some everyday objects, thrown into nature, can take years to disappear. What is the lifespan of this everyday waste? How can we reduce its impact? A detailed review and ideas for reducing the consumption of all this waste that is a real danger to nature.

"Man must be the guardian of nature and not its owner." This sentence from Philippe Saint-Marc, one of the greatest French environmental specialists, carries within it all the challenges that inhabit us today. Preserving the environment and the planet . One of the areas in which it is easy to act concerns waste, which is a danger to flora and fauna. Indeed, we can all, in conscience, throw away or not, pick up or not, sort or not... Review of details and ways to reduce the consumption of all this waste which is a real danger to nature.

Nature in danger, it’s an emergency!

Fauna and flora suffer from the accumulation of waste that takes a very long time to disappear by biodegrading. The biggest scourge for the ocean concerns plastic waste that pollutes the seabed and threatens certain animal species (for example turtles that swallow floating plastic bags). According to the site un océan de plastique , "that's 1000 tons of plastic waste that reach the ocean every hour, 80% of which comes from dry land." Dramatic! Especially since the plastic then ends up in the food chain...

What is the lifespan of waste?

Another worst enemy of the environment? Humans who throw things away without thinking about the consequences of their actions. The time it takes for an object to biodegrade varies from one year to... a billion years. The self-destruction time of waste is hard to imagine, and yet!

For example, 12 everyday objects:

• Toilet paper: 2 weeks to 1 month.
• Apple core: 1 to 5 months.
• Paper handkerchief: 3 months
• Journal: 3 to 12 months.
• Bus ticket: 1 year.
• Cigarette butts: 1 to 5 years.
• Chewing gum: 5 years.
• Aluminum can: 200 to 500 years.
• Plastic bag: 150 years.
• Plastic bottle: 100 to 1000 years.
• Sanitary napkin or disposable diaper: 400 to 500 years.
• Glass: up to 5000 years.

Source: ConsoGlobe | SIEDMTO

3 principles to reduce waste consumption for a Clean Planet

1 – Basic rule: do not throw anything into nature.

This means, for example, getting rid of all the rubbish and erasing all traces after a picnic in the countryside or an afternoon on the beach. But it also means, for smokers, not crushing cigarette butts anywhere other than in ashtrays. There are also portable ashtray pouches that are quite practical so as not to pollute nature with cigarettes.

2 – Adopt anti-plastic actions

In her book "I'm stopping plastic" (Edition Leduc.s Pratique), Anne Thoumieux, a contributor to the blog, offers several ways to reduce your plastic impact on a daily basis. In her chapter "List of the 10 easiest resolutions to adopt" for example, we find advice on buying in bulk , no longer consuming plastic yogurts (hardly recycled) or switching to solid shampoos and shower gels to avoid the accumulation of plastic containers on the edges of bathtubs.

3- Think about limiting waste

From buying a home composter to manage organic waste to using a filter jug ​​to stop buying bottled water... there are many avenues to explore to reduce your waste. Here too, it is a question of small steps.

There is no point in changing everything overnight by whipping yourself and reciting "Hail Nature" three times. No. The important thing is to inform yourself, to become aware of each of your actions and their consequences and thus limit the damage as much as possible.

In her book, "Three Weeks to Reduce Your Waste" (Éditions Eyrolles), Marie Touffet offers many avenues for reflection (and actions) to achieve the Zero Waste ideal. For example, by adopting the 5 R rule:

• Refusing what you don't need
• Reduce what you need
• Reuse by improving the lifespan of objects
• Recycle everything that can be recycled.
• Return to Earth (compost)

Apart from this philosophy of (new) life, the author offers many turnkey tips to reduce your environmental impact. A simple example: keep an aluminum can in which you slip all the can tabs that generally end up in the trash in bulk. Once full… head for the recycling bin!

Because it seems intangible and immaterial, we do not imagine how much digital uses have an ecological impact . As for other sectors, digital must be cleaner, more transparent and more responsible. On the road to ecological digital!

Countless professional or personal emails, internet searches, video conferences, streaming videos, connected objects and soon the deployment of 5G... Ecological digital technology, which includes all these digital technologies, consumes around 6-10% of the world's electricity. This represents 4% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, and 8% by 2025, of which 47% are due to equipment and 53% to data centers and network infrastructures, according to ADEME (Ecological Transition Agency). The Shift Project, a think tank on the energy transition, offers solutions to move "from instinctive or even compulsive digital technology to controlled digital technology". Welcome to "digital sobriety"!

The environmental impact of computer equipment

The manufacture of miniaturized components of our computers, televisions, mobile phones and connected objects requires rare and precious metals, which can be dangerous for biodiversity and health. Their massive extraction contributes to the depletion of natural resources and is often carried out in deplorable conditions for the workforce, in areas where these operations are often the subject of geopolitical conflicts. The industrial transformation and end-of-life of all this computer equipment requires chemical treatments that pollute soil and water, because these metals are a real challenge for recycling. For example, manufacturing a laptop generates an average of 330 kg of CO ₂

Responsible actions to adopt

1. Keep your equipment longer
2. Have them repaired rather than replaced
3. Fight against planned obsolescence
4. Buy used, reconditioned equipment that has been cleaned, serviced and checked
5. At the end of their life, make sure to take them to a collection point so that they can be properly recycled (computer retailer, collection points, etc.)

Pollution from digital uses

Digital uses also have a large carbon footprint . When you send an email, its content is received in a data center that processes, stores and transfers the message to the network. After this transit phase, this message passes through another data center before being transmitted to the correspondent. By sending six emails, you emit as much CO2 as by driving 1 km. Another example: Even before the pandemic, it was estimated that video-on-demand services ( Netflix , Amazon Prime , etc.) represented a level of emissions equivalent to that of a country like Chile (source The Shift Project , 2019 report)

Ecological reflexes to follow

Home, office, transport… We spend a lot of time indoors. However, as surprising as it may seem, they are 8 times more polluted than the air we breathe outdoors , and we spend 80% of our time there. So, how can we breathe cleaner air?

6 steps to reduce indoor pollution

You might think that it is external particles that infiltrate homes. Far from it. Human activity is one of the primary sources: cleaning, taking a shower, cooking, heating , burning incense or a candle, using air freshener, smoking, DIY, buying a bouquet of flowers, etc. These activities release chemical pollutants (volatile organic compounds, combustion residues, fumes from glues, resins, carbon dioxide) and biological pollutants (mold or dust mite allergens, etc.). And that's without counting the pollutants emanating from particle board furniture , fabric treatments for sofas and armchairs, etc. What can be done?

1 - Eliminate polluting substances

• It seems obvious, but we don't smoke inside!
• Avoid room fragrances, chemical air fresheners, candles and incense. Clean is odorless.
• We play it green, by favoring basic cleaning products that have proven themselves: baking soda, white vinegar, black soap and products bearing environmental labels. You can find the least polluting products on the ADEME website
• Some furniture emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde, particularly from the glues used in its manufacture. We prefer furniture, paints and floor coverings with an environmental label. For particle board furniture, class E1 (emissions less than or equal to 0.124 mg/m3) is a minimum. If we choose, we prefer class E0.5 panels, which have lower emissions (emissions less than or equal to 0.62 mg/m3).

2 - Maintain combustion appliances

• Having your boiler checked once a year by a qualified professional is essential! This should preferably be done before the cold period and the user manual should be followed carefully.
• It is mandatory to have your chimneys swept at least once a year (check the health regulations in your department).
• If you heat with wood, it is better to use a quality fuel (for example NF Bois de chauffage or France Bois Bûche, or wood pellets labeled “Din plus” or “EN plus”) and not burn reclaimed wood or damp wood.
• Do not use portable gas or oil heaters continuously (an improperly adjusted appliance can produce carbon monoxide, which is a deadly gas.)

3 - Air, air and air again

This is now a WHO recommendation to avoid virus contamination. Opening the windows for 10 minutes in each room several times a day is essential to renew the indoor air, and this, in all seasons. To be done preferably outside of busy traffic times, early in the morning or late in the evening, which helps limit the concentration of pollutants, particularly when cleaning or doing DIY . It is also important not to obstruct the air vents and to keep them clean.

When painting, wallpapering, carpeting, parquet flooring, linoleum, etc., or when buying new furniture, the renovated rooms should be aired out a lot for several days. If you are setting up a room for a baby, it is better to do it several months in advance so that the pollutants emitted by the paint and furniture can be evacuated before the baby arrives.

4 - Evacuate moisture

Bathing, showering, cooking, drying laundry: these activities produce a lot of water vapor which can cause water condensation on walls and furniture.
If you have a tumble dryer, check that it is properly venting air outside the building. If you see mold appearing, you need to clean it as soon as possible. This can release allergens and weaken the respiratory system of sensitive people. A house that is too humid is often a sign of insufficient ventilation.

5 - Renew the air with the VMC

New buildings – subject to RT2012 regulations – are better insulated and more energy efficient. But insulation means air containment.

The solution: installing a VMC, Controlled Mechanical Ventilation, properly sized for the home, which is kept on constantly, whose proper functioning is checked regularly, and whose grille is cleaned. Its purpose is to constantly renew the air.

In old housing without mechanical ventilation, indoor air is mainly renewed naturally by uncontrolled air leaks, particularly around old doors and windows, with opening windows playing a marginal role.

6 - Depollute with green plants

In a report published in 1989, NASA concluded after laboratory research that plants are depolluting. The request came from a problem encountered by astronauts during their space travel. Harmful particles (VOCs) from, among other things, the materials making up the space capsule ended up causing various symptoms in astronauts: difficulty breathing, irritated eyes, etc. Ademe carried out its own experiments with the launch of its Phytair program . It emerged that to have a significant impact on the quality of the indoor air in a room, it is not 1 or 2 plants that are needed but a real forest!

So there are some pretty simple ways to reduce indoor pollution, with maintenance, healthy hygiene, and wide open windows!

Without any hesitation, the answer is yes. The oceans are in danger, largely because of plastic waste and microplastics. But not only. Other sources of pollution add up, combine and increase the irreparable damage to marine fauna and flora.

What are the pollutions causing this ecological disaster? What can we do to save our oceans and keep the planet cleaner ?

Who are the polluters of the seas?

Almost everything that is dumped into the sea is harmful. Apart from organic waste, such as apple peels, the marine ecosystem is not designed to receive toxic or plastic materials. The incredible ability of the sea to repair and renew itself allows it to survive pollution… up to a certain point. Today, pollution is too diverse, constant and significant for the oceans to absorb it.

This is the case of plastic that accumulates there. Overall, we differentiate between waste and objects brought by humans (or the wind) such as plastic bottles, and chemical substances that arrive through wastewater in some parts of the world where sewers and treatment plants are lacking (detergents and shampoos end up in the ocean).

In our country, it is the storm water networks that cause a cigarette butt thrown into the gutter in the city, or bleach used to clean a porch and rinsed in the street, to end up in the sea… Beyond the ecological aspect, the contamination of sea water by waste water poses a worrying health problem for bathers. Indeed, bacteria cause diseases ( skin , respiratory, diarrhea) in millions of cases per year in polluted seas.

Contaminating industrial waste

Of course, the oceans suffer from all the waste that is dumped into them, whether it is toxic wastewater, or various polluting materials such as industrial waste or mixtures from construction that are made of paints, solvents or unused concrete, or materials that contain heavy metals and a lot of plastics . These plastics often come from coatings, which are impossible to extract from the sea: varnish, plastic films, degraded plastic waste, etc. They can circulate via wastewater, but also carried by the wind when they are stored in the open air. Wind and rain quickly cause plastic dust to arrive in a waterway.

What are dead zones?

Chemicals discharged by wastewater, by factories or when they are carried by rain from farms that use pesticides, cause all life to disappear in the area where they are discharged. Terrestrial or aquatic flora perish on the spot, as do "fixed" organisms, corals that cannot move or even certain marine animals that move too slowly to change habitat. When the water is not renewed quickly enough, this phenomenon creates the famous dead zones or "hypoxic" zones whose low oxygen content leads to the irreversible destruction of ecosystems. There are hundreds of them, of varying sizes, whose surface area can reach that of the United Kingdom! The first dead zones were located in the 1970s in the United States and in the Black, Adriatic and Baltic Seas in particular, where only primitive bacteria survive. In the Gulf of Mexico, the products dumped by the Mississippi River have wiped out all marine life over an area of ​​about 25,000 km, making it the largest dead zone on the planet.

Oil spills, a chronic ecological disaster

In the same vein, oil spills are ecological disasters that some officials try to minimize while they destroy marine life. These "disasters" are most often the result of human negligence , themselves due to an economy of means to secure the routes of ships. Beyond the accidents of oil platforms at sea which can experience oil leaks, oil spills come from aging ships (like the famous Liberia and Panama). These ships, which should no longer be authorized to transport hydrocarbons, play on the differences in legislation between countries to remain active on our seas. In addition to the risks of oil spills, some illegally dump the oil from their tank bottoms into the open sea to avoid maintenance. Knowing that the consequences of an oil spill can last for years, we can say that the ocean is "chronically" polluted by hydrocarbons.

What about cigarette butts and small plastic waste?

On our scale, every small polluting action repeated by millions of individuals becomes a major problem, especially when plastic is involved. We immediately think of cigarette butts crushed in the sand (yes, yes, still today), but also of bottle caps, lollipop sticks and other packaging that holidaymakers leave behind. Because of its toxic substances (arsenic, lead, tar, etc.), a cigarette butt alone pollutes 500 litres of water. Its filter, made of cellulose acetate (a plastic fibre), takes more than 15 years to decompose. Which gives turtles plenty of time to gobble it up. We know how to recycle cigarette butts and transform them, but they must first be collected. This collection has a cost and recycling channels must be profitable before being set up. In some countries such as Great Britain, this channel is financed by the tobacco industry. In France, it is collective and personal initiatives that ensure the collection of cigarette butts and small plastic waste on the beaches. Because once in the sea, they are there forever.

Shampoo and sunscreen in the dock

When we swim, we also leave behind... our sunscreen ! Invisible, it spreads in the water with each swim. The problem? Whatever the filters, they alter marine flora and fauna. In particular, chemical sunscreens (called organic) kill (or bleach, it is said) coral and all the organisms that live in symbiosis with it. Water-soluble filters disperse in the water and are ingested by marine animals. Finally, the natural filters (called mineral) of organic formulas, made from zinc dioxide or titanium dioxide powders, sink and settle on the seabed and its inhabitants. These so-called biodegradable formulas would be "less bad" but no one has yet had the hindsight to confirm this. On the packaging side, we can no longer count the caps and other tubes of cream that end up buried under the sand at the end of the day, to which are added the silicones of hair formulas that behave like plastic and are released into the rinsing water without necessarily being able to be filtered. These invisible substances also harm marine life, fauna and flora and unbalance their exchanges.

Plastic in the sea, a floating monster

The first 4 polluting objects found in the sea are plastic:

1. The cigarette butt
2. Packaging
3. Plastic bottles
4. Plastic bags

They are followed by polystyrene and its small white balls (which animals take for food), plastic cutlery, sanitary towels, diapers and cotton buds. Plastic waste is the number one problem of marine pollution.

An indestructible composition

Covered with "polymers", chemical molecules as well as additives and "adjuvants" that are used to give it different characteristics (color, shape, flexibility, etc.), plastic is a concentrate of oil. It is polluting from A to Z, throughout its life cycle from its manufacture which requires many components that are extremely harmful to the planet to its use where these substances can spread or contaminate humans (such as endocrine disruptors such as Bisphenol A) until its death, which is relative because... it never disappears! It is transformed, recycled, dispersed into smaller and smaller fragments, until it becomes invisible microplastics, but it is still there.

A decomposition into fragments of micro plastics

Plastic has the defects of its qualities: it is strong enough to last, but not strong enough to not degrade. Unfortunately, it is used a lot to create objects that are not intended to last, or even intended for single use: it takes longer to make them than to use them. And this plastic is never assimilated into nature, unlike other materials that can integrate biogeochemical cycles. Metals or stone can return to the earth. Paper, cardboard, cotton and leather are assimilated by soil microorganisms. Plastic, on the other hand, only reduces itself to smaller and smaller pieces to end its life as micro flakes that infiltrate everywhere. In the sea, plastic waste and other objects are eroded by salt, ultraviolet rays, the heat of the sun, waves. They transform into micro-plastic crumbs, invisible to our eyes, and invade marine ecosystems. All these fragments of hard plastics, packaging, synthetic textile fibers make the sea a real plastic soup in certain areas. Some sink and cover the seabed and its plants, others float blocking exchanges with the surface of the water. Unfortunately, most of them are taken for food by fish.

How did the plastic continents appear?

Along with the great currents, microplastics are gathered in "gyres", immense plastic soups, real floating monsters to form expanses that we call "plastic continents" or the 7th continent. In the first gyre, discovered in 1997 in the Pacific Ocean, the density of plastic is 6 times higher than that of plankton. Today, there are 5 major plastic continents, in the North Pacific, the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, but also smaller ones near us. The Mediterranean is an almost entirely enclosed sea, so much so that plastic waste concentrates there and endangers its incredible biodiversity including marine mammals such as the dolphin, the fin whale or the sperm whale that live there. This phenomenon is particularly alarming in the Pelagos Sanctuary, a maritime area of ​​87,500 ^m2 located in the Corso-Ligurian-Provençal basin, classified as a "specially protected area of ​​Mediterranean importance" (SPAMI). Indeed, plastic does not stop at maritime borders. This invasion can only be stopped upstream, by changing our habits and encouraging public authorities to implement strong and specific ecological policies.

Microplastics also pose a risk to human health

Beyond the ecological disaster created by microplastics in the oceans, there are also health risks for us humans. Marine organisms consume these fragments of plastic unintentionally: if we in turn consume these affected crustaceans and fish, we in turn ingest them. This is how a WWF survey reveals that we ingest nearly 5 grams of plastic per week: the equivalent of a credit card! This plastic ingestion also comes from bottled water and crumbs that we can swallow after cutting food in a plastic tray, a melamine plate (a heavy and unbreakable resin plastic material) or on a plastic cutting board.

To return to the ocean, the most worrying thing today is the "Plastisphere" phenomenon: plastic attracts organisms and bacteria that organize themselves into a new ecosystem, some of which are pathogenic agents for living organisms, such as vibrio (a bacillus of which a particular species is responsible for cholera) which can become the carrier of toxic algae. Finally, plastic can become loaded with pollutants that it transfers to our plates and into running water and that it transports to the Arctic and into the deepest ocean trenches, and even into the placenta of marine animals.

The oceans are polluted and marine ecosystems are suffering and sometimes disappearing, all around the globe. To save them, we must question production systems to operate differently. Everyone can act by boycotting certain actions and adopting new consumption habits to put pressure on decision-makers and manufacturers.

There is urgency, because even if we stopped consumption and therefore the discharge of plastic into the oceans today, this would not stop the development of plastic continents overnight.

Dishes, windows... All kinds of cleaners pollute because of their packaging , but also and above all because of their chemical composition which is released into the rinsing water. While their natural equivalents are just as effective for cleaning the home. What are these clean and non-polluting cleaning products for a cleaner planet? Discover them!

Today, the choice is vast in the household products section. For some time now, ecological references have been flourishing, less harmful to the environment, but also and above all, natural ingredients that make "grandmother's recipes" the new must in terms of clean and healthy cleaning. These household products of yesteryear, more economical, do not pollute, unlike chemical formulas that can end up in the environment via rinsing water (which cannot always be perfectly depolluted or treated) and which endanger the health of children and the whole family by their toxic fumes.

Welcome to the land of natural, ecological , effective and non-polluting cleaning products to clean the whole house without impacting the planet!

Baking soda or sodium

This multi-active powder that is found everywhere is a healthy and essential cleaner for home maintenance. Use it to clean sinks, sinks, bathtubs, tiles and toilets! Its anti-odor action makes it an ideal natural cleaner for the oven, refrigerator, barbecue grills and it can also deodorize fabrics and carpets, as well as cat litter. It is also an effective stain remover for laundry: apply it to the stain and leave to sit, add some to the drum before the machine, or soak the stain in a mixture with water. Baking soda also cleans garden furniture, cement or stone floors and exterior walls without polluting the soil. Tip: a few pinches in the water of a vase will extend the life of your bouquets.

Household alcohol

It's the end of the famous blue product for cleaning windows: a cloth soaked in household alcohol cleans perfectly without polluting... and at a lower cost! It can also be sprayed to disinfect a surface (door handles, fridge, toilets) while cleaning it thanks to its degreasing properties: tiles, a mirror, kitchen and bathroom floors! Practical, it evaporates very quickly and does not require rinsing. Tip: it erases marker, felt-tip pen and other pen marks on most surfaces and can be sprayed on mattresses to sanitize and deodorize them for a healthy home without polluting the environment.

Marseille soap

Natural and biodegradable, free of allergens, dyes and synthetic additives, it is the basic ingredient of ecological household products: to clean all surfaces, but also to make your own laundry detergent. It is very simple to make your own ecological laundry detergent with Marseille soap, black soap or Aleppo soap that you mix with bicarbonate of
soda according to the recipes to be found on eco blogs. To be purchased in flakes that can be melted, authentic Marseille soap must be composed entirely of vegetable oils and mainly olive oil. The green version, made from olive oil to which copra oil is added, is distinguished from the white version, made from peanut and/or palm oil (often from deforestation, it should be avoided). Be careful, there is no controlled designation of origin: many products (sometimes made in China) claim this name without having either the ingredients or the properties. The "extra-pure" soap contains 72% 100% vegetable oils, which must be indicated, and it must bear the name and brand of the soap factory that made it.

White vinegar

Diluted in water and added with essential oils to perfume it, it is a great replacement for laundry softener and naturally descales the machine! In fact, it is a natural but powerful anti-scale agent: just spray it to see it work without any impact on wastewater. Ecological and economical, it can be used in the shower, sinks and washbasins, on taps, in the kettle, can descale your iron, and even the toilet. Also very practical for windows stained with dried raindrops or mirrors, as well as for cleaning pots and pans. Spray or soak depending on the degree of limescale and dirt, leave to act for 15 minutes to overnight. It can also be added to the rinsing water for dishes to make them shine, or in the bucket of water to clean floors. Its antimicrobial action makes vinegar a great eco-friendly cleaner for cleaning the fridge, but also children's toys that can be left to soak, bathroom joints to prevent mold or even deodorize pipes. The deodorizing action of vinegar also makes it useful on fabrics impregnated with the smell of sweat, animals, urine, wine, etc. but also to purify a sponge or washcloth that smells bad.

Washing nuts

Their bark is used for the saponin it contains, which is a natural detergent. By slipping these nuts into the drum of the machine, the laundry benefits from their movement on the laundry as well as their naturally cleaning substance. (To order on eco-friendly sites)

Sodium percarbonate

This solid version of hydrogen peroxide contains neither phosphorus nor chlorine, but removes stains, whitens, disinfects and deodorizes laundry by releasing active oxygen into the water. Perfect for removing stains from laundry before washing or as an addition to your homemade laundry detergent.

The Land of Sommières

This powdered clay has amazing absorbent properties and is therefore one of the best natural stain removers that neutralizes odors. Always have it at home in case of vomit or an accident on a carpet. Simply sprinkle it generously on the stain residue after cleaning with soap and water, and leave it to act for several hours before vacuuming. Repeat this operation as needed. You can also put a little in the water of the iron to deodorize the laundry.

The White of Meudon

This fine chalk, reduced to white powder, contains calcium carbonate: non-abrasive, it cleans all objects without scratching them. Earthenware, plastic coatings, glass, marble, silver jewelry and silverware, and even ceramic glass plates. Simply mix it with a little water to obtain a paste that is applied to the object before cleaning it with a soft cloth.

Essential oils

They perfume all natural cleaning products, and being naturally antibacterial they make excellent sanitizers to combat mold. To be diluted in the water of a spray bottle.

The lemon

There is no more ecological way to clean and shine without impacting nature! It is added to the rinsing water, or sprayed on the taps, etc. As a bonus, it deodorizes and perfumes. Lemon has it all !

Coffee grounds

Ideal for deodorizing, simply place the coffee grounds in a bowl and place it in the fridge or in the toilet to avoid chemical deodorizers.

Pollution is everywhere and decoration is not immune to the pitfalls of consumer society, which likes to manufacture at a lower cost, even if it means using polluting materials. This is not inevitable: here is the guide to clean and eco-responsible decoration that respects a planet that is destined to become cleaner !

Eco-friendly decoration with Do It Yourself

First avenue to explore to get started with eco-friendly decor: the options of everything you can make yourself. With choices of recycled or natural materials, but which in any case will not generate any pollution for their manufacture. Many tutorials exist to learn how to make your own eco-friendly decor, from the smallest objects (like on www.18h39.fr ) to the largest equipment as explained on the low tech lab website. DIY is a fun way to furnish your home in an eco-friendly way by learning to tinker and which above all allows you to make custom-made products: shelves, frames, etc. No need to adapt to the standard format! Pallets transformed into coffee tables, poufs made from fabric scraps or even tree trunks as benches, everything is possible!

Nordic and Scandinavian decor: the Lagom style

The Nordic style, which is very fashionable, also guides us on the path of "clean decor". It highlights natural materials: wood, stone and the greening of spaces for a reminder of nature and a healthy home. The style is refined, minimalist and at the same time warm. The "Lagom" movement, which means "neither too much nor too little" in Swedish, also highlights "less but better": fewer objects, but more beautiful materials, more expensive pieces at the start, but valued, from the work of responsible craftsmen. Customized and updated family furniture that has a lower ecological impact and a longer lifespan. The idea is to get rid of gadget objects in favor of those that have a history, that are durable, and that bring emotion, and not pollution.

Organic and/or ecological paints

Glycero paints or "solvent-based paints" with oil, often diluted with white spirit, are those that smell very strong when drying and those that should be avoided. We prefer water-based or "acrylic" paints formulated without solvents, which have little or no smell, but still contain chemical components. All paints, even "eco-friendly" ones, contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), particularly because of the dyes, which can impact the environment but also health. However, natural formulas stamped "VOC-free" are much less harmful, because their VOC content is minimal, as are organic formulas that do not contain petrochemical ingredients. These are formulated with plant or mineral ingredients such as rapeseed, linseed or castor oils, lime, clay, chalk or marble powder to thicken them, and mineral pigments extracted from colored earths to obtain pretty colors. These paints, sometimes called bio-sourced, can also contain citrus or pine essences which have a stronger odor although they are 100% natural. Finally, some ecological paints have the " NF Environnement " symbol, the ecolabel with the European flower symbol, or the Ecocert Nature Paint label if 100% of the ingredients are natural. There is also a " Natureplus " label to certify ecological construction and development products.

Ethical and eco-designed furniture

Ecological issues are matched by ethical concerns and we must ask ourselves the right questions before buying: where was the furniture designed? By whom? Under what conditions? We quickly come to abandon the products of large groups to turn to eco-design: recycled materials, made in France , local artisans and life cycle, everything is studied to have the smallest impact on the environment. The ideal is to buy directly from the producer or manufacturer, and to carefully check the production methods. The objective is to promote responsible sectors in the sourcing of raw materials such as wood from eco-managed forests.

Eco-responsible decorators and brands

Finally, eco-friendly decorators guide you in choosing respectful materials and suppliers. A commitment that allows you to obtain the best in design and eco-friendly decor. They know the best of eco-friendly and responsible decor brands, but also committed ones, from Pure & Paint made in France or natural and bio-sourced Colibri paints, to designers of designer furniture such as Atelier Bud with total traceability, Alki and its cooperative system, Tiptoe and its modular furniture, Forêt Mobilier and its traditional techniques, Ekobo objects in natural fibers such as bamboo, ABC furniture and its eco-friendly beds made in France, the Gautier brand certified by the Forest Certification Recognition Program, Reine Mère and its eco-designed objects and furniture, Stooly and its reforestation program, Lago and its environmental impact calculation or Tikamoon and its sustainable furniture or finally Camif and its early commitment to local and sustainable in the home.

Decorating your home away from industrial products is therefore not only possible but very satisfying for yourself, for your family and for the environment.

We know that the use of products is polluting , and that the materials to manufacture them require resources. But we often wrongly believe that this "ecological weight" is proportional to the weight of the product when in reality, it is often much greater. The concept of the ecological backpack was invented to help us become aware of this and preserve a cleaner planet . Explanations.

Calculate the ecological footprint

The ecological footprint assesses what share of resources is needed to produce and use the good and service that we consume. It is a useful tool for measuring the pressure that man exerts on nature and resources, and which allows us to quantify the impact. This footprint is expressed by a date on which we estimate that we have exceeded the available resources in a year, or a drawing that displays several planets consumed, or even simple numbers, all warning signals that we often see scrolling on social networks. The problem? This calculation takes into account the ecological impact of using the product only, in particular on the climate, and not everything that was necessary upstream... and downstream. However, this is where a large part of the ecological footprint is hidden: in manufacturing processes, transport, resources for development, waste management. This "hidden side" of our ecological footprint would represent nearly 3/4 of the total impact of the product's life cycle.

The hidden side of the iceberg

When we talk about an ecological backpack, we often represent an iceberg, because we consider that a product carries a "visible" weight, as an object, but also another invisible weight, the sum of the resources that have been used. These are the resources that the consumer cannot identify, because they concern the design and manufacture of the product, the impact of the product on biodiversity , on pollution ( air , water and soil ). Not to mention the energy resources that the manufacture of the product required! Abstract notions, difficult to estimate.

However, each product "contains" them, as if these resources used were attached to it in a cloud or a balloon above its head... Or like an invisible weight that each product carries, hidden in its back: this is the idea of ​​the ecological backpack invented by the German researcher Friedrich Schmidt-Bleek.

The concept of the “eco-friendly backpack”

This concept measures the weight of natural resources that were necessary to manufacture the finished product, in tonnes of resources per tonne of product. The calculation therefore goes beyond the concept of grey energy which only takes into account the energy used to manufacture a product or develop a service.

Indeed, the ecological backpack counts the “Indispensable Materials Per Unit of Service” (MIPS), or 5 categories of natural resources. This virtual backpack can be 30 times heavier than the product that carries it, sometimes much more. For example, in the category of electronic devices, a smartphone requires 70 kg of resources, or nearly 600 times its own weight!

How to calculate this eco-friendly backpack?

The calculation of the ecological backpack therefore evaluates the quantity of resources that were necessary for the product to be able to fulfill its function:

• Non-renewable resources: mineral (ore, sand), fossil (oil, gas, coal) and natural (earth, soil).
• Renewable resources: from biomass (gathering, gathering, hunting), agriculture, forests (wood).
• Soil movement: agriculture and forestry (plowing, erosion, mining).
• Consumption of water (surface or from groundwater) diverted from its natural flow.
• Air consumption in the case of chemical or physical changes.

This calculation is very complicated to make, because traceability is not always possible. And the consumer has little chance of being able to do it since the data is provided by companies, some of which try to hide the water and energy they consume to make a simple t-shirt or a beef steak.

Eco-friendly and eco-designed backpack

This concept and calculation are two important tools for companies wishing to develop the use of new materials, less energy-intensive, cleaner production processes, and for brands wishing to move to the eco-design of their products. These tools are also important to guide our consumption (even without having a figure), to become aware of the resources hidden behind each product and to think about its real usefulness versus its ecological footprint.

We see a lot of drawings of this character walking with a cloud of logos attached to him or his phone that illustrates the notion of "cloud" or social networks . This is perhaps how you will now see the products on store shelves. Know that there is an alternative: turn to the second-hand market that "profits" the ecological backpack and transparent, local brands, with clean processes, whose hidden footprint is lighter.