Mission
In ReGenEarth! 'R' stands for Refusing and Reducing the destructive habits, Reusing things instead of throwing them away by Repurposing these things, and, finally, Recycling the waste we produce every day; 'G' says "Go Green!"; and, finally, 'E' stands for Enact and change your routine habits towards healthy and eco-friendly life attitude.
As of today, ecological problems are in the limelight, since the humanity has started to understand the impact of human technology on the environment of our planet. Some anthropogenic disasters had serious impact on the regions where they occurred. For instance, the well-known Chernobyl accident that took place in 1986 claimed the lives of many people and, moreover, made Chernobyl an exclusion zone for years. There is also an awareness of the first-world countries about oceanic and other types of pollution with plastic waste. Non-biodegradable plastic remains at landfills, in the ocean, or on the fields for several decades or even centuries. The air pollution is another issue that is on informational surface today, because many big cities suffer from this, namely, Delhi, Beijing, Moscow, and many other.
It is the human who is responsible for all artificial ecological disasters to happen. A great effort is applied nowadays to spread the awareness about these problems and to let everyone understand that each person is responsible to stop this. However, there is still a huge number of people that do not connect these disasters to their poor habits. The latest investigation reports that even being aware about all the threats that humans do to their planet, the majority of human population still lives in the same way as it used to live.
Thus, even though the environmental problems went viral at least 50 years ago, today there are whole countries that are not successful to implement recycling and green technologies. And the Russia is of no exception. Since we are today at the ITMO University, which is one of the most progressive and non-classical universities in Russia, and are developing our educational website about environmental issues and ways to solve them, we have decided to adapt this information for the citizens of Russia and especially consider the main ecological threats that take place in Russia.
ReGenEarth! is a great possibility to know more about environmental issues on our planet and ways to contribute to solve them. Our mission is to ReGenerate the Earth, which means that we want current and future generation to be aware of how to prevent Earth’s health issues and which scientific advances can be implemented for eco-friendly lifestyle.
Who are we?
The team of ReGenEarth! project is international, and each of us specializes in different disciplines at the university. These internationality and diversity guarantee that the issues discussed on our website are considered from different perspectives, namely, ones of India and Ethiopia in addition to the perspective of Russia. These two countries also encounter serious ecological problems on their own and are on their path to successfully solve them.
Welcome and enjoy your education!
Welcome and enjoy your education!
Comic
5Rs that help the Earth
Now consider this: replace yourself with our mother Earth and replace those spam mails with dozens of garbage that we throw! Nowadays, due to rapid industrialization and high-level technology development, the number of non-degradable products is increasing in our day-to-day life. We are gradually polluting our planet Earth, our home, with this waste. But the humanity ignores the fact that everything that we do always reflects back to us! This ignorance and childish behaviour makes us continue using unhealthy products, such as plastic, toxic batteries, and more.
The light pollution is another threat to our nature that we create. It is one of the main reasons why birds are unable to track their paths. They get lost on their own home, planet Earth, eventually turning up in some geographical area that is not suitable for their survival. Thus, the bio-diversity is reducing, and we already have lost some species due to our selfish habits.
In the same way as according to Newton's third law of motion, Earth and nature also react back to our actions: Earthquakes, tsunami, cloud-bursts are covering our planet. Of course, there are some natural reasons, too. Our planet Earth gives us back whatever we have donated her! Moreover, the bio-diversity of the ocean is reduced these days due to the oceanic pollution: oils, metals, and plastic garbage are being thrown into ocean. Some species degrade from generation to generation, and some of them already vanished. Can you imagine scuba diving and seeing plastic and metal garbage thrown in previous years instead of breath-taking sea species, like fish, sea animals, and plants?
Today our children have access to the Internet, where they see beautiful species of our nature and wonderful documentaries about wildlife. But when you actually take your child to go hiking to some natural place, they may run into something strange and horrible, like that tortoise on the picture! Will you be able to answer your child how ad why did it happen to this poor creature? Can you accept that you are also a part of this result today?
The Earth is losing her natural beauty due to our sub-conscious acts. Come together and regenerate our Earth for a better tomorrow! We must be a living example for our children, so they will repeat after us! Let’s take smallest and easiest step today and help us regain our Earth its purity. Let children see how they should treat our Earth and how it will benefit for their better future.
The number five has special connection with our culture. Many things come in fives, like five fingers of a human’s hand, or five senses we have. There are even five vowels in English alphabet and the same number of rings in Olympic symbol. Finally, for basketball lovers, basketball is played with five players in a team. There is another significance of number five in our day-to-day life to make our planet prosperous. Let’s have a look at five top tips for a better tomorrow and implement them in our routine.
Refuse&Reduce
Refuse
It is hard to refuse doing things we like so much only because they are harmful for the environment. But one can adopt conscious understanding of one's health priorities. Think of this: packed fast food eaten every day is totally unhealthy, and one can refuse adding such food in daily meal. This will improve both the health of a human being and, moreover, ecological state of our planet, since less consuming fast food one will produce less package garbage.
Reduce
Once first step is made, it is very simple to go further on the second step. Reducing some fast food or packaged meals that are a bit unsalutary, one can eventually experience positive physical and mental health effects. It has been reported that reducing coffee in daily meal resulted in improvement of health and lifestyle for lots of people. Soon after some of them realized the beneficence of coffee non-drinking and stopped drinking coffee completely. Therefore, refusing converts into reducing once a person experiences the impacts of refusing!
It is hard to refuse doing things we like so much only because they are harmful for the environment. But one can adopt conscious understanding of one's health priorities. Think of this: packed fast food eaten every day is totally unhealthy, and one can refuse adding such food in daily meal. This will improve both the health of a human being and, moreover, ecological state of our planet, since less consuming fast food one will produce less package garbage.
Reduce
Once first step is made, it is very simple to go further on the second step. Reducing some fast food or packaged meals that are a bit unsalutary, one can eventually experience positive physical and mental health effects. It has been reported that reducing coffee in daily meal resulted in improvement of health and lifestyle for lots of people. Soon after some of them realized the beneficence of coffee non-drinking and stopped drinking coffee completely. Therefore, refusing converts into reducing once a person experiences the impacts of refusing!
Reuse&Repurpose
Reuse
In last ten years, a tradition of infinite consuming and "use and throw" lifestyle had become common in the first-world countries. The price of some things reduced gradually, and a lot of people started throwing them only after using them once, adding to the growth of huge landfills and pollution of the ocean. In this money-concentrated world, people who do not possess enough resources to survive, adopt the technique of reusing things for number of purposes. These habits have a very great effect on the environment, and this understanding is already there in the most progressive societies. Let’s also join this movement and contribute to reusing things before they go to landfills. Come together and share ideas of reusing things with each other!
"Reducing and reusing take nothing more than a rethink on the way we shop, and using our imagination with the things that we might once have considered junk"
–Sheherazade Goldsmith (British Environmentalist)
Repurpose
Repurposing is very similar to reusing. Initially every item in a store has its own purpose, but after some time it can be broken, and another purpose for it can take place instead of throwing it in the trash bin. For example, a gift-wrapping paper can later be used as decorating showpieces. Or a set of computer keyboards can be used to create an ultra-fashionable sofa, as happens here at the ITMO University! So, think twice before throwing anything in the garbage, consider the possibility of repurposing! Be smart with things, as they are potentially dangerous and even poisonous to our planet!
In last ten years, a tradition of infinite consuming and "use and throw" lifestyle had become common in the first-world countries. The price of some things reduced gradually, and a lot of people started throwing them only after using them once, adding to the growth of huge landfills and pollution of the ocean. In this money-concentrated world, people who do not possess enough resources to survive, adopt the technique of reusing things for number of purposes. These habits have a very great effect on the environment, and this understanding is already there in the most progressive societies. Let’s also join this movement and contribute to reusing things before they go to landfills. Come together and share ideas of reusing things with each other!
"Reducing and reusing take nothing more than a rethink on the way we shop, and using our imagination with the things that we might once have considered junk"
–Sheherazade Goldsmith (British Environmentalist)
Repurpose
Repurposing is very similar to reusing. Initially every item in a store has its own purpose, but after some time it can be broken, and another purpose for it can take place instead of throwing it in the trash bin. For example, a gift-wrapping paper can later be used as decorating showpieces. Or a set of computer keyboards can be used to create an ultra-fashionable sofa, as happens here at the ITMO University! So, think twice before throwing anything in the garbage, consider the possibility of repurposing! Be smart with things, as they are potentially dangerous and even poisonous to our planet!
Recycle
"It makes a big difference to recycle. It makes a big difference to use recycled products. It makes a big difference to reuse things, to not use
the paper cup, and each time you do, that's a victory!"
–Emily Deschanel (American actress)
How many of us keep saying that we want to do this and that, but we do not possess enough money for that? How many of us fail in going for tourist trips planned long ago due to lack of money? Why don't we try recycling things, so you don't need to buy same thing again and again? Let's take a step, let's recycle waste and make something best out of it. Help earth to be clean and explore it more with your saved money!
the paper cup, and each time you do, that's a victory!"
–Emily Deschanel (American actress)
How many of us keep saying that we want to do this and that, but we do not possess enough money for that? How many of us fail in going for tourist trips planned long ago due to lack of money? Why don't we try recycling things, so you don't need to buy same thing again and again? Let's take a step, let's recycle waste and make something best out of it. Help earth to be clean and explore it more with your saved money!
Go Green!
Let’s consider this. Suppose that you go to the grocery store every weekend, and you are used to buy plastic bag every time you go for shopping. By refusing to buy such bags every time and reusing the bag you have already bought before, you are reducing the demand for the plastic bags. A single person can reduce the demand for the plastic bags by 52 per year, which is astonishing! If you choose this strategy, your children will repeat after you and they will lower the demand even more. Let’s make this chain of transferring good habits! By teaching our children how to take care of our mother Earth, let’s build the healthy tomorrow for our future generations!
"Go green" is a concept to adopt habits that support the Earth to maintain its evergreen beauty. These are some small steps towards saving energy, such as switching off the lights and TV while leaving the room, turning off the water tap properly, using public transport instead of individual car, etc.
The above map shows the pollution level in the world. As of today, Russia is the on the scale of second to last of the most toxic countries. Russia is the largest country in the world that is full of various natural resources. This natural greatness makes people living there think that these resources will last forever. If you are thinking the same way, we have a bad news for you. According to recent studies, the natural resources available worldwide won’t last more than 200 years if we keep them using the same rate we use now. Thus, the concept of luxurious life needs to be changed. Adopting environment-friendly habits should be of our main priorities.
We are living in the 21st century and have access to whatever we want, while sitting on our comfortable coach at home. There are a lot of sites and mobile apps available to learn how to go green, like Green Kitchen, Green Genie, and more. Particularly interesting is GoodGuide app, which can scan the product barcode and inform you whether it is safe, healthy, and green, or not.
There is a "Spasibo" Charity Shop in Saint Petersburg. One must visit this place at least once in a lifetime. This organisation accepts old clothes, and, hence, reusable things are donated as a charity. Some of the things are sold in these shops, and others are recycled. We support this movement, do you?
Enact!
Practically, the world-famous zero-waste movement is not as easy as you might think, and this is not possible to achieve within a week. Thus, keeping 0% waste as a long-term goal, you can take small steps as short-term goals of refusing and reducing the things you buy because of advertisement.
Going for shopping only because you feel bored is not a great eco-friendly idea, since it will just add material things to your home. You already know that these things won’t be used. Just have a look around you and see how much stuff you have that is absolutely redundant! These actions have two disadvantages: first, money waste, and second, increase of unused things, i.e. increase of garbage.
You need to implement simple shopping practices: first, thinking twice before buying things and, second, spending little extra money to buy good quality reusable things, such as reusable foils and straws. These practices can save you a lot of money, which you can spend on something worthy, namely, books or tuition fees for additional classes you eager to join.
Another tip for women who love beauty products: instead of buying another highlighter or soap make them by yourself, at home. There is a plenty websites on the Internet dedicated to home-made cosmetics, which are 100% organic and fully corresponds to your taste, since you control its production, and this production does not have any bad consequences for your skin!
Another source of everyday garbage is the food that we eat, and some package left after the meal. The best way to minimalize food garbage is to compost it, since it is 100% biodegradable. This compost can be utilized to grow your own vegetables and fruits at home, which will definitely have better quality than food from the stores. The food package can be also recycled instead of thrown away, however, before storing the plastic jar after eating your yoghurt, you need to wash it to avoid bas smell.
Nowadays, kids don’t have their childhood. Parents limit their time outside on the street, being afraid of whatever they are afraid of. Today’s children are so busy staring at the screens that they feel lost if they are somewhere without any entertaining materialistic gadget. Now that they are losing their connection with nature and outside world! I personally used to play outside, most of the time alone, observing nature, making new things out of collected stuff from farms and gardens. Has anyone seen sleeping sparrow swinging on a small plant branch when a little wind starts to blow? As a child, I was so amazed by this simple facet of nature and kept looking at this for a long time. However, today’s youth does not pay any attention to these little miracles of nature. Do you realize how much beauty you miss while looking at your phone?
Moreover, today it has become somewhat a trend to buy toys for children with lots of attracting light and noise. These toys are positioned as developing the brain activity of a child, however they actually are stressful for their eyes and ears. Increase of these toys and overall redundant stuff at your house reduces the creativity of your child. We can give children the opportunity to be creative and active by handling them raw things. The happiness of making something by yourself is far beyond than getting attracted by a market toy. Assisting your child to produce some toy from waste materials boosts the quality of time you spend with your child!
Let’s enact and make the difference in our daily life for the future of our planet Earth! Refuse the advertised market garbage and mental laziness in your routine life, be conscious every single day you live! Join the movement of Green Earth, healthy lifestyle, and learning the real-life difference between "need" and "want".
Stay tuned for new footsteps towards ReGenEarth!
– Pranita Herwade, Gizachew Teshome, Tatiana Vovk, Veronica Yamilova
Useful Links
The Swedish 15-year-old who's cutting class to fight the climate crisis
Eco-friendly lifestyle articles, tips, and places
RecycleMap (by Greenpeace)
"Spasibo" charity shop in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Toxic and hazardous waste collection in Saint Petersburg, Russia (russian page)
Alkoshmot Swap Parties in Russia (russian page)
Precious Plastic: machines that recycle plastic at your home
40 ways to Go Green
10 apps to help you Go Green
Why the Paint Industry Should Go Green
HuffPost Green Section
Ecological organizations and movements
Greenpeace
National Geographic
Earth Hour
Separate Garbage/РазДельный Сбор (russian page)
Rethink Recycling
Recycle Nation
Tree Hugger
IGS
Grist
About current ecological problems
Ecological systems in Russia
The most toxic countries in the world
Year of ecology in Russia
Ecological issues in Russia
Contact
- 49 Kronverkskiy Ave, Saint Peterburg, 197101 Russia
- ITMO University
- +7 (921) 314-89-15 - ReGenEarth! project, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- regenearth@regenearth.com
- Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
