365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge

I'm excited to have been invited to the Shaffordshire Libraries' Book Chat event! The event is part of the Green Libraries Month, so we will be talking about my book "A Guide to a Healthier Planet". The event is fully booked, so in case there is a recording, I'll let you know! And good news: you can have a peek inside and learn more about the book straight away at https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/guide-to-a-healthier-planet

Burning fossil fuels contributes a lot to recent changes in our climate. That is why finding alternatives is critical. There are many options; one of them is using coconut waste. Here I explain how this works: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=0ee5cd7756 Coconut waste can be used to replace fossil fuels (credit:  KPad  on  Shutterstock )

Lets use knowledge and skills for the good! Everyone of us has a huge set of knowledge and skills, gathered over many years of life experience. This also means that each of us can decide whether we use these knowledge and skills for the good or not. Just like we decide to use knowledge about friends to invite them to an activity they will enjoy. I'm using lots of knowledge and skills for the good, for example by: - using my scientific background and writing and language skills to make science understandable for all of us - using my knowledge about cyber-security and educational skills to train people without a job to become an expert in this field too - using my knowledge about how to care well for our planet and personal development skills to inspire others to live more environmentally too - using my knowledge about proper communication and digital skills to deeply connect with people from all over the world - using my knowledge about environmental sustainability and IT and my pre

🌿 Let's focus on a greener future! 🌍 Setting positive goals is key to a healthier planet. Instead of thinking about what we don't want, let's envision where we want to go and how a more sustainable future looks like. Just like a driver focuses on staying on the road and where he/she wants to go rather than on avoiding obstacles at the off the road. I'm doing this for example by: - helping scientists in the field of #nature and #sustainability to share their results with us in a way we all understand - going litter-picking every week to keep the neighborhood clean - traveling by train and bike instead of car and plane - eating very little meat Just to name a few. Let's put our energy toward these goals and watch our actions drive positive change! PS: The image is generated by AI and shows my mental image of me steering toward a healthier planet.  

Important: The key element of your happiness is the quality of your relationships. So, even when advertisements makes you feel that you that you need XYZ to become happier, think about it: Do you really need it? Here are ideas how you can improve the relationships with people around you to increase your happiness: 1. giving sincere compliments to brighten someone’s day (a sincere compliment is when you are truly impressed, not meant to flatter, preferably about personality traits or accomplishments) 2. expressing your appreciation in a way they understand (this can be words of affirmation, spending time together, giving a gift, doing something for this person, touching them if the type of relationship is appropriate to do so) 3. listening (engaging with the other, without judging and using both verbal and nonverbal cues to show that you understand what they are saying) 4. showing genuine interest in the other person (for example by asking open-ended questions, listening more than you t

When thinking about climate change and its consequences, many first think of rising sea levels and higher temperatures. While these can indeed be consequences, there is a much more wide range of consequences. For example, it affects our bodies in many ways as well. In this article, I explain how climate change affects our skin, eyes, and mouth and what we can do against it: https://app.wedonthavetime.org/posts/41c79956-9f37-400b-9f56-b25ce5dc04a2?utm_source=url-copy&utm_medium=wdht-web-app-share&utm_campaign=erlijng Climate change impacts different body parts, including skin, eyes, and mouth (credit:  Kitthanes  on  Shutterstock )

As climate change is progressing, extreme weather events are occurring more frequently. As I explained in Chapter 3 of my book “A Guide to a Healthier Planet”, extreme weather events include heat waves, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and droughts. Not every country is affected by these events in the same way, meaning that some places will experience tornadoes more frequently while other places will be facing droughts more often and longer. Continue reading here to find out about how climate change impacts droughts and our health: https://app.wedonthavetime.org/posts/771288e3-2e9f-4d07-962e-d35c68f79575?utm_source=url-copy&utm_medium=wdht-web-app-share&utm_campaign=erlijng Have a peek inside my book "A Guide to a Healthier Planet" here: https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/guide-to-a-healthier-planet Droughts can severely impact our lives and are becoming more frequent and worse due to climate change (credit:  Alohaflaminggo  on  Shutterstock )

I'm excited to share that I've been nominated as a Voice of a New Era of Leaders as part of the #LeadershipRedefined movement by @femalefactor.global. This journey is about more than recognition—it's about changing the narrative of leadership to reflect empathy, innovation, and resilience. Better leadership creates a better world for us all! Let's celebrate a new era of leaders @ global leaders summit hosted by the City of Vienna 🇦🇹 - September 19th.

The impact of climate change is often discussed in the context of agriculture. While this is important as agriculture provides us with food, plants in urban environments should not be overlooked. This is because they also have important health benefits! In this article, I explain these benefits and how climate change impacts plants in urban areas. And what we can do to keep our place nice, green, and good for our health: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=d17baad9b1  

Visit the calmness of the beautiful Wohkudu Beach in Indonesia after a gorgeous (guided) nature walk! No need to travel, no expenses, and you can set off straight away here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geLl0RDCqw8

Today, an earthquake with severity over 7 on Richter's scale has hit Taiwan. Such strong earthquakes happen only 10-15 times a year, and hit Taiwan last in 1999. Already several buildings collapsed and a tsunami warning is sent out. This means that Taiwan soon has to deal with the debris that this event is causing. In this article, I explain how important it is to deal with this debris cautiously and how to do so in an environmentally friendly way: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=ee697348f5

  🐸 Did you know that amphibians are facing a tough time, with a shocking 41% being at risk of extinction? That is why scientists are coming up with ways to protect them. One way is by storing their genetic material and promoting artificial fertilization to boost their populations and ensure their survival. Learn more about how this work in my latest article: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=e818f1cb95 And what can you and I do to protect them? Here are some simple yet powerful actions: 🌱 Saying no to chemical fertilizers and pesticides to keep our waterways clean. 🗑️ Disposing of waste properly to prevent pollution. 🏞️ Protecting natural habitats where amphibians thrive. 🚫 Avoiding splitting up habitats when constructing roads and buildings. 🌉 Advocating for ecoducts, which are like nature-friendly bridges, to help amphibians cross busy roads safely. 🤝 Supporting organizations dedicated to amphibian conservation. Amphibian sperm can be stored to conserve threaten

Recent armed conflicts around the world not only affect humans, they also impact the natural environment, sometimes making an area unlivable. This is for many reasons critical, including that this can trigger further armed conflicts. In this article, I explain the vicious cycle between armed conflicts and environmental destruction in more detail: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=79f933814f (German version of the article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/der-teufelskreis-zwischen-krieg-und-umweltprobleme-van-genuchten-95owe )

A current environmental concern is that we are using earthen materials more quickly than they can be replenished. One of these materials is sand; beaches are vanishing because we use between 32 and 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel globally every year! As it is unsustainable to continue at the current rate, alternatives are being developed. One alternative is using crushed glass waste instead of sand. This is great as it not only limits sand use, it also contributes to resolving excessive waste on landfills! Learn more about why glass waste is a great alternative to sand in construction: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=966cd8f36f Glass waste can be a great sustainable alternative building material to natural sands in various construction applications (credit:  noomcpk  on  Shutterstock )

Have you ever thought to yourself "Someone should do something about this." If yes, why not you? You are someone!  

While currently many extreme events happen that are caused by climate change, such as floods and droughts, some extreme events happen naturally. For example, earthquakes are caused by suddenly moving tectonic earth plates. Depending on the magnitude of the movements, it can range from hardly noticeable to highly destructive. In case of highly destructive earthquakes, the result is a lot of earthquake debris - remainders of buildings, food, objects, etc. Dealing with this debris is an important step in recovering from such an event. This is not only important for recovering infrastructure but also for our #health! In this article, I explain the far-reaching consequences of earthquake damage on the environment and our health: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=ee697348f5

  💫 In 2022, I decided to dedicate myself to making scientific research in the fields of nature and sustainability available to all of us, as this helps us to take action toward a healthier planet. And I’m super happy that Louis Yuen has a similar passion! Instead of writing articles for adults, he draws wonderful and impactful comics for children, which also address important environmental issues based on science. 💥 Two weeks ago, I decided to buy one of his comics as I’m impressed by his work and to support him. I very much enjoyed reading the comic because it is very interesting – even I learned something new – and because it is made with so much love and attention to detail! I smiled broadly many times even though the addressed issues are critical. And I can tell that he put a lot of effort in creating this comic book, not only because of the beautiful drawings and games, but also because he is working closely together with the scientists who did the scientific research. 💡 Al

An important part of my contribution to a healthier planet is journaling. This means I write in a notebook every day, to capture what I've been doing, my goals and dreams, how I'm feeling, what I'm grateful for, what I learned etc. This helps me a lot to keep going! But as the notebooks I have found in the shop don't meet my requirements, including having a lovely nature-related cover and the number of pages, I created my own notebook. I absolutely love it! Click here to get one of these notebooks too, with the picture you can see below on the cover: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/prod.php?l=notebook (affiliate link). Happy writing!

Lionfish are popular in aquariums because they look beautiful. But some owners may have released their pets in the Atlantic Ocean about 20 years ago, which is now causing huge problems around the world. This is because lionfish are spreading to many areas and cause a lot of damage to both the marine environment and us humans. In this article , I explain what is happening and what we can do to prevent further damage. The lionfish is beautiful but dangerous, to other fish and divers, as it has poisonous spines (credit: Vlad61 on Shutterstock )

Let's explore the world together without traveling: Lencois Maranhenses National Park, Brazil Go on wonderful guided tours through nature around the world on https://www.youtube.com/@xplore-nature