Eartyz Biz

EARTHY BIZ Issue 01 | May 2022

The Practical, Sustainable Life ATLANTA MANILA LONDON LOS ANGELES SYDNEY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Psychology of Sustainable Behaviour

Human behaviour underlies almost all environmental problems, such as air and water SUSTAINABLE pollution, climate change, deBEHAVIOUR forestation, and loss of biodiversity. Research in psychology Taking into account the behaviour need to preserve the offers clues as to why people engage in unsustainable beplanet for present and future haviours despite their concern generations. about the broader consequences. At the same time, the research also explains why people WORLD ISSUES go out of their way to behave sustainably, and how it is posAll across the world, people sible to motivate and empower are facing a wealth of new and sustainable actions. The goal challenging environmental of the psychology of sustainproblems every day. able behaviour is to create the conditions that make sustainable action the most appealing or natural choice. Most people GROW YOUR want to live in a way that treats OWN FOOD the ecosystems we depend on with care and respect, and Is growing your own food better? How does it benefit you people express increasing worry and earth? about the state of our natural

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environment. Yet we all find ourselves engaging in unsustainable daily behaviours that have negative environmental impacts.

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04 GROWING STEPS Why are we not always Just like baby steps, 1,2,3!

Learn how to grow your own vegetables at home.

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rational decision-makers One of the most important observations from psychological research is that many decisions are made by automatic, unconscious processes on the basis of information that our conscious, rational brains are hardly aware of. There is accumulating psychological and neuroscience evidence that thinking is the product of two separate systems of reasoning: a rule-based system, which is conscious, rational and deliberate, and an associative system, which is unconscious, sensory-driven and impulsive (Sloman, 1996; 2007).

The associative system, on the

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other hand, arrives at a decision much more quickly, giving us our gut-feelings. The associative system is outside of conscious control and responds to subtle sensory cues such as familiarity, emotional (affective) reaction, fleeting real or mental images.

Our conscious experience hides the influence that the associative system has on our daily choices; most of us feel like our decisions are based on thinking through the facts.

World Issues Global Warming

Overpopulation

Climate changes like global warming are the result of human practices like the emission of greenhouse gases. Global warming leads to rising temperatures of the oceans and the earth’ surface causing natural disasters that include flooding, melting of polar ice caps, rise in sea levels and also unnatural patterns of precipitation such as flash floods, hurricanes, wildfires, drought, excessive snow or desertification.

The population of the planet is reaching unsustainable levels as it faces a shortage of resources like water, fuel and food. Population explosion in less developed and developing countries is straining the already scarce resources.

Intensive agriculture practised producing food damages the environment through the use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and insecticides.

Overpopulation is also one of the crucial current environmental problems.

Generating Unsustainable Waste The huge production of waste due to our hyperconsumption is a major threat to the environment.

As per the study, the average person produces 4.3 pounds of waste per day and the US alone accounts for 220 million tons a year.

This hyperconsumption results in non-biodegradable trash in the form of plastic packaging, toxic e-waste, and harmful chemicals that leach into our waterways.

When this waste ends up in landfills, it generates enormous amounts of methane, which ranks as one of the worst greenhouse gases because of its high potential for global warming. It creates severe explosion hazards.

Since modern technology allows us to access digital environments, many things that you need can be fulfilled in the cloud.

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Reasons To GROW your own food

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It reduces carbon emissions

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Commercial farming consumes an amazing amount of resources. It is a highly mechanized practice requiring a lot of heavy equipment which uses a lot of fuel for cultivation and transportation, producing significant carbon emissions. We generally do not think about food transportation since it’s almost always waiting for us on our local grocery store’s shelves – but it has to get there somehow. In fact, much of what we typically buy travels an average of 1500 miles in the US. Products imported from around the globe obviously travel much farther.

It reduces pesticide and fertilizer use According to the most recently-available data from the EPA, sales of pesticides in the US for commercial food production total well over $15 billion annually and over $19 billion for fertilizer. That’s a LOT of synthetic chemicals going into our food stock. The practice of artificially supporting monoculture food production with chemical treatments actually depletes the soil by harming helpful bacteria and fungal networks that distribute nutrients naturally to plant roots. Without good soil, there can be no good food.

When you grow your own garden, you decide what goes in the soil and what goes on the plant and how much. You are in the driver’s seat in deciding when to use a pesticide or fertilizer and whether they’re synthetic or organic.

It tastes better There’s no denying that organic, home-grown food tastes the best.

When you take the time to choose the right plant for the right place and rotate your crops so you are growing different things at different times to maintain healthy soil, you’re able to grow happier, healthier plants with more natural sugars for better-tasting food. A lot of it has to do with timing and patience.

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Container Greens

Gardening with edible plants is a fun and rewarding activity that can produce harvests for you to enjoy and share with your community. Spark a love for community gardening – use this pack of seeds to grow food plants! As you nurture your edible plants, please share your harvest and interest in gardening with neighbours and friends.

Growing Leafy Vegetables Leafy vegetables can often be harvested in a short time period. From seed to harvest, the edibles in this brochure take only three weeks to three and a half months to grow! Growing edibles as a community mean you can harvest food when it is fresh and as needed, as well as meeting people to make friends who have a similar passion for gardening

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) Growing tomatoes in containers is easy and incredibly satisfying. Most tomatoes are happiest in big containers and will need staking or a tomato cage. This support keeps the heavy fruit from bending and breaking the vines. If you are buying tomato seedlings, look for short, stocky plants that do not have blossoms yet. Keep in mind the larger the tomato variety the bigger the pot it will require.

Peas (Pisum sativum)

Peas can be planted in early spring and then again when it gets cool in the fall. There are three types of peas: English peas, snow peas, and sugar snap peas. They are perfect for succession planting because they enrich the soil with nitrogen.

Depending on the variety grown, most peas will require some type of support. Plant them in early spring. Once it gets warm and they finish producing, pull them out and plant something else in that container. Nitrogen is a vital nutrient fertilizing the soil for the next batch of plants. Peas are also one of the best vegetables to grow with your children; they grow quickly and easily.

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Growing Steps Cut down on your trips to the supermarket by growing your own leafy greens such as Xiao Bai Cai, Kangkong and Lettuce at home!

Step 1: After placing down the netting at the bottom to prevent soil spillage, fill the pot with edible growing soil mix or potting soil.

Make holes for the seeds, small seeds like Bayam can be sown in furrows 5cm apart.

Step 2: Seeds can also be started in seedling trays and then transplanted Seedlings can be transplanted when they have 2-3 pairs of leaves Gently press the bottom of the seed tray to remove the whole root ball.

Step 3: Tadah!

You can harvest the plants after a month or so Use clean secateurs to harvest young leaves or whole plants.

Be prepared to take care of your plants throughout the growing season Going on a summer vacation? Remember that tomatoes and zucchinis are growing strongest in the middle of summer. If you’re gone part of the summer, you need someone to look after the crops or they will suffer. Or, you could just grow cool-season crops such as lettuce, kale, peas, and root veggies during the cooler months of late spring and early fall.

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Get your little ones into gardening and grow your own plants!

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They are fun, easy to grow and so beautiful!

No green thumb or big backyard needed!

Help us make gardening a part of every school curriculum. Just share a picture of your growing Back to the Roots garden on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter (tag @BacktotheRoots and #GrowOneGiveOne) and we’ll donate an organic grow kit + STEM curriculum to an elementary school classroom of your choice!

For more information visit: https://backtotheroots.com/