Do you know what you're putting back into Nature? Well, there's new research come out about how the fibres in our clothes could be putting us and the rest of the Planet in danger, and even making us ill. This links to my previous article 'Herbal Treatments, EU regulations, and the Big Pharmaceutical Companies' and how we don't realise what big conglomerates are doing to our planet just to make some money. A recent post on Facebook about the fibres from man-made clothing which essentially is made from plastic, materials such as Nylon and Polyester, showed how when we wash our garments in the washing machine tiny strands of these materials come away from the garment and are washed down the drain with the dirty water, therefore going into our water supplies, going into the seas destroying sea-life and many habitats.
How can we stop this?
Well, there's no simple answer, unfortunately.
India, however, have come up with a solution to their Plastics problem and it's fantastic - they have banned the use and the production of all disposable plastics in the capital; Dehli have outlawed plastic bags, plastic cups and cutlery, and more; this is amazing because according to statistics India is responsible for around 60% of all plastic dumped into the oceans every year, their air pollution levels are 36 times more toxic than London's, and that is largely because of the mass burning of plastics to dispose of them. India is leading the innovations for recycling and keeping our planet clean, they have devised edible cutlery, reusable chai cups, and even edible bags, all absolutely environmentally friendly - how brilliant!
A dramatic way to stop this plastic problem completely is to stop making clothes, anything really, from man-made fibres, stop using plastics and start using sustainable natural sources. Then you have the repercussions of using natural resources! What we can do, however, and it's not cheap, is to buy organically made natural clothing, which is not conceivable to many people because it is so expensive.
We need to start using traditional clothing materials like cotton and hemp, even nettles can be used for making clothing - not many people know that!
We all know that nettles grow anywhere! Surely this is a sustainable idea, but there's always a problem, if we start to grow more nettles there will be more of the insects that eat them, which are normally caterpillars so that's not a problem; the problem would be the fact that there are tons of nettles growing everywhere making less room for other plants and potentially inadvertently destroying habitats of other wildlife.
What we need to do there is to protect habitats and use 'brown-field' sites where nettles will grow and where not much else grows - these brown-field sites are vital to so many plants, insects and animals already so keeping them for the purpose of nettle growing would be ideal, because they're probably there already!
The problem really is keeping these plastic fibres out of water supplies, out of the sea because we are eating the wildlife that lives in the water sources and these plastic fibres are potentially making us ill. Have you noticed how unhealthy people are now compared to our grandma's generation? So what's the difference from then to now? More plastic more chemicals and less natural products, that is what is different.
Big companies are making a profit from making these products, they are making a profit from making us and our Planet unwell, how has this gone on for so long without regulation or recognition for what it is doing to us? For such an evolved species we can seriously lack morality too frequently for my liking. Pharmaceutical companies are making a profit off us being ill, medicines are being made that have such long lists of side effects you need another prescription from your doctor to counteract the effects of the first prescription - and cost for us increases and so does the profit for the big companies.
This isn't right.
They're not so clever to rip-off Mother Nature by using herbal remedies but making them harmful by refining them instead of using the whole plant, it doesn't take a genius to realise that we need to use the natural way, the herbal way where there are no side effects unless you're really unlucky or are stupid enough to take Belladonna by mistake!
Once again I reiterate the importance of letting Mother Nature take care of us. Mother Nature always finds a way of helping us out, researchers have now discovered a fungus that eat plastic - yes! It actually eats plastic, and you'll never guess what it's 'waste' product from doing this is? Oxygen - how amazing is that thank you Mother Nature, you're amazing! Now, all we need to do is let it help us, let it help us support and look after our beautiful Planet Earth. A wise Native American said 'Planet Earth is a source of life, not a resource', wise words.
