365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge

The environmental issues that are currently plaguing our planet show us how important it is to take action toward a healthier planet. And yet, our progress towards a healthier planet is not fast enough. This is surprising to me as we have developed many solutions that can help us do things more environmentally friendly. I believe that an important reason for our reluctance to implement essential measures is our psychology. In this article, I explain 7 psychological aspects that I believe hold us back from moving forward faster: https://medium.com/the-environment/7-reasons-why-we-arent-making-faster-progress-toward-a-healthier-planet-925f305b92eb Psychological aspects are critical for making decisions that contribute to a healthier planet (credit: picture compilation of pictures  Parrot Ivan  on  Shutterstock  and  Shutterstock , and  maisicon  on  Shutterstock )

Nature is not something outside of us, we are part of it. And we depend on it for example for oxygen and clean water. However, as the number of humans has increased, many natural processes have changed. For example, increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere contribute due to burning fossil fuels has caused global warming, which has a large impact on other processes. In the last 60 years, 56% of all carbon emissions were removed from the atmosphere by natural processes. But this natural removal is threatened, as trees are harvested and forest areas are converted into farm lands or urban areas. Replanting trees doesn't completely compensate for the loss of carbon absorption, as undisturbed forests contain plants, animals, insects, fungi, lichens, and soil full of bacteria and viruses. Additionally, oceans are becoming more acidic, killing coral reefs and other living creatures and reducing the ocean's ability to absorb carbon. Luckily, it is possible to reverse these negative effect

  Zero waste is becoming a more and more important topic with the global population rapidly increasing. This is because the growing population leads to increased use of natural resources, scarcity, and environmental issues. To reduce environmental issues, the European Union has put a policy in place to decrease the amount of discarded fish waste and increase the amount of fish biomass used in the best possible way. In this article, I explain how fish waste can be put to good use: https://medium.com/climate-conscious/how-fish-waste-can-be-turned-into-a-valuable-resource-b9c9693d75c0 All parts of a fish can be used to extract valuable compounds (credit:  Natasha Breen  on  Shutterstock )

The world's population is growing rapidly and food security is threatened. To improve food security while keeping our environment healthy, it is important to find new, environmentally friendly alternatives in agriculture such as organic farming and seed priming. Cold plasma-mediated seed priming is a promising technology that uses cold plasma to prepare seeds, so that they become more resistant. Plasma is an electrically charged gas consisting of positively charged particles, negatively charged particles, and uncharged particles. It is very hot, up to 11,300 °C (20,400 °F) and can be created artificially. In this article, I explain how cold plasma-mediated seed priming works: https://medium.com/the-environment/cold-plasma-for-a-hot-planet-how-seed-priming-supports-higher-yields-68abe402077b Seeds are important for food security (credit:  xuanhuongho  on  Shutterstock )

Sustainable development is an important and life-saving principle that helps us solve environmental challenges, such as overuse of resources, environmental degradation, and climate change . To turn the current fossil-based economy into a bio-based economy, it is essential to start relying on renewable resources. An example of a renewable resource is seaweed. It can be used for many applications, including food, animal feed, energy, pharmaceuticals, and bio-based materials. In this article, I explain how seaweed can contribute to sustainable development: https://medium.com/@ErlijnG/dont-underestimate-seaweed-4-ways-seaweed-contributes-to-a-more-sustainable-future-4a5a4ba078f Seaweed is a product that can help us reach a more sustainable future (credit:  Color Brush  on  Shutterstock )

In conversations about climate change , CO2 is often mentioned as it is the largest contributor to global warming . But methane (CH4) is important as well, as it has caused about 1/3 of the rise in global temperature and is 21-25 times more damaging than CO2. Fortunately, methane has a short lifespan of only 12 years (as opposed to thousands of years for CO2), so reducing methane levels will reduce environmental damage in a relatively short period of time. In this article, I explain what we can do to control methane levels to help save our planet: https://medium.com/@ErlijnG/how-controlling-methane-gas-emissions-helps-us-mitigate-climate-change-94ebffea23e2 It could be catastrophic when methane that is currently trapped is released quickly (credit:  YanaBu  on  Shutterstock )

Greenhouse gas emissions are a major issue in the current climate crisis . Greenhouse gases consist of molecules that absorb infrared radiation and contribute to warming up the atmosphere and our planet. As this has far-reaching consequences, it is essential to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we emit into the air. To this end, companies often set net-zero emission goals by a certain year. This means they aim at removing as much CO2 from the atmosphere as they added. In this article, I explain how companies can reach their net-zero goals, taking economic factors into account: https://medium.com/the-environment/7-effective-methods-that-allow-companies-cut-down-greenhouse-gas-emissions-6afa4b97968a Companies need to cut down greenhouse gas emissions (credit: image adapted from  Fagreia  on  Shutterstock )

The world's population is getting older, increasing the need for resources such as food, water, and medicines. Aging is often looked at from a cellular and organ/tissue point of view, such as predefined limits on how often cells can double themselves. But aging can also be looked at from other levels, such as populations, individuals, and macromolecules, and from different perspectives, such as evolution and mechanisms. These other levels and perspectives show fascinating differences between animals in how they age. In this article, I explain for four animals how they age differently: https://medium.com/the-environment/4-animals-that-grow-old-because-they-age-in-an-unexpected-way-3877b4177205 Blind mole rats live much longer than would be expected based on their size (credit:  taviphoto  at  Shutterstock )