Saving our wildlife in 2017

 

I recently came across the State of Nature Report 2016 and what I read really shocked and surprised me. Whilst I knew things weren’t great, I didn’t know that they had got this bad. Basically the report states that nature is really in trouble in the UK – a whopping 15% of the 8,000 species that were assessed for the report were either extinct or are threatened with extinction. (That’s 1,200 species for those of you trying to work it out in your head…). The UK is seen to be one of the worst countries in the world in terms of nature and the massive amount of species that are in decline. Two of the main reasons that this is all happening is because of agriculture and climate change. So you, the reader, might be thinking that this is really terrible, but think that it is just inevitable and there is nothing you can do to help. But this definitely isn’t the case! Like you, I would like to help as much as possible to reverse what is happening and have come up with some new years resolutions for 2017 to do my bit:

• Think about how I travel – Basically I’m going to try to use my car less. Save the planet and save on petrol? Ok then! I just need to question when I use it. Can I walk somewhere instead of driving? If I’m going somewhere, can I take the bus rather than drive? How about doing a car share to work?
• Reuse products – This is something I don’t really think about, but love how imaginative and fun this can actually be! Recently, I used some old coffee jars to put cotton balls and make up brushes in. I might jazz the jars up a little bit or keep them as they are. There are loads of fab ideas on Pinterest that I’m definitely going to try in 2017 to reuse products I would usually chuck away or recycle.
• Recycle even more – So I actually think I do quite a bit of recycling, cramming in as much as I can into the recycling bin. However, I’m eager to get a compost bin in 2017 to make sure I’m recycling waste in a better way (plus that’s less emptying the bin which is win win for me!)
• Teach the next generation about wildlife and looking after the planet – As a teacher I’ve got a really important role and a great opportunity to teach my little ones about what they can do for the future. This can be done in so many ways as part of the curriculum. One thing I would really love to do would be to adopt an animal from the WWF as a class project. It would be a lovely thing to do and a great way for them to learn.
• Take local holidays and eco holidays – When I think of holidays, I usually think of jetting off abroad somewhere hot. I always seem to forget about the UK and the masses amount of lovely places I’ve never actually visited that don’t involve jumping on a plane to. I’m particularly eyeing up this lovely trip to Cornwall. I definitely want to do more exploring a little closer to home.
• Be aware of the energy I use in my house – I think I must like a well-lit house, because my other half is always telling me it looks like Blackpool illuminations when I’m home. Therefore, I need to make sure I turn lights of whenever I leave a room. I’m also forever leaving the laptop on late at night, then going to bed and forgetting to turn it off, so I need to make sure I turn it off straight away!
• Buy responsibly – I always need to make sure the products I buy don’t come from endangered animals. I’m sure I’m pretty good at this, but I just need to be really aware when I buy new things and think about where they came from.
• Put bird feeders in the garden and plant a wildlife garden – I would love to encourage birds and wildlife to my garden, so I definitely need to get myself a bird feeder and some wild seeds to plant in my garden. Plus with a wildlife garden, I wouldn’t need to do any weeding in that part which I’m definitely down for!

So here are some of my new years resolutions for 2017. Lots of different things I can do to help, and most of them are just subtle changes I can make in my life. Are you going to try to do any of these things in 2017? Or do you have any other ideas of things I can do?

Until next time…

Jean x0x0