#60 Natural Resource Drain

100+ways
Written By Heal The Planet

Did you know that the current world population is at 7.75 billion people but the natural resources on our planet can only supply 1.5 billion people at our standard of living? The increase in population – along with the increase in the global middle class – has placed a higher demand on our planet’s natural resources. Water, oil and trees are the resources receiving the greatest and most detrimental impacts. By raising awareness of the importance of natural resource preservation, we can slow the depletion of our planet.   

There’s No More What:

With well over 7 billion people on the planet, it is imperative to find a way to slow the depletion of our natural resources. Demand for natural resources, such as fossil fuels, metals and minerals, crops from agriculture, and forestry – is rapidly increasing. Natural resources provide freshwater biomes (lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and some wetlands), habitat (natural living environments for plants and animals)  and food. Our natural resources are the life force of our planet. Without many of these resources, life as we know it would not exist. Climate change, excess mining, deforestation, and global industrial advancement have reduced our natural resources tremendously.  

Natural Resource Drain Facts:

  • Global resource extraction grew more or less steadily over the past 25 years, representing an aggregated growth rate of over 45%.

  • Resource extraction has more than doubled in the last 25 years.

  • Sand is the second-most exploited resource after water, and the world is running out of it.

  • North America brings in the highest net regional metal imports, receiving 82% of all regional net metal.

  • The world has harvested more than 99 billion barrels of oil, nearly 25 billion tons of coal, and more than 10.6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.

  • Indonesia’s forests are more carbon-rich than the Amazon rainforest, yet palm oil companies are rapidly eliminating them.

  • Roughly 48 football fields worth of trees are lost each minute.

  • Humanity has degraded roughly one-third of the world’s soil.

  • 70% of our remaining available fresh water is used in agriculture, 20% in industry and only 10% is used for human consumption.

 

How Can I Make An Impact ?

Action 1: Global Goodness

  • Reduce your overall consumption. Consuming less water, oil and material goods will greatly reduce the need for more of our natural resources to be excavated.  

  • Change your behavior. Support companies who are working toward the preservation of our planet’s resources. Many of the products we buy consume large amounts of our natural resources – or harm the planet in the manufacturing process.  

Action 2: Planet Protector

  • All of Action 1

  • Conserve, conserve, conserve! Conserving energy, gas and water has an immediate impact on reduction – and lessens the need to process more.  

  • Tell Congress we want stricter regulations on corporations. Companies need to be held accountable for their gross negligence and abuse in the draining of our natural resources.  

Action 3: Earth Angel

  • All of Action 1 & 2

  • Support initiatives that are mindfully working to protect our natural resources. Research some companies that share your same beliefs and get involved.  

  • Choose to be an Ambassador for Change, and always Spread Love and Spread Light.

 
 
Heal The Planet
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