A public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic makes caring for one’s health a critical step to avoid getting sick. Many people have switched or readjusted their lifestyle to become healthier. Some measures taken include exercising regularly, eating nutrient-rich meals, and starting a vegetable garden.
With or without a pandemic, however, public health is closely intertwined with commerce and the environment. The global population has now reached over 7.8 billion, resulting in greater competition to access, own, and use both land and water resources between the haves and the have-nots. Thus, if the population boom is left unmitigated, a crippling shortage of natural resources will happen progressively and eventually will lead to environmental degradation.
Environmental degradation and its impact on women’s health
People’s wanton disregard for the environment has resulted in climate change, disease outbreaks, and pollution (land, water, and air), among others. The growing depletion of natural resources and the destruction of natural habitat have contributed to physical, aesthetic, and ecological degradation. Examples of these situations include: (1) disfigured land surfaces and destroyed watersheds in areas with open-cast mining, (2) mountains of trash in waste landfills that have made these places unattractive, and (3) endangerment/extinction of certain species and deforestation evolving from disrupted biodiversity.
Such problems affect people’s quality of life. Women and girls, for instance, get adversely affected in the face of environmental disasters. As they comprise the world’s impoverished majority, they suffer from stress caused by the loss of livelihood, poor health, and inadequate access to resources, including food and nutrition, safe water, clean air, and fertile land. Many continue to be burdened by their caregiving and household responsibilities, which are mostly – if not entirely – unpaid.
Recycling plastic shopping bags for environmental conservation
It is vital for women and girls to improve their health to counter the stress coming from external sources. Some of them have taken the leap to own and operate a business that caters to their needs as they embrace an active lifestyle.
There are female entrepreneurs like the founders of aim’n who want business sustainability without further degrading the environment. They manufacture and promote goods, such as women’s activewear, that contain harmless substances or are made of recycled materials. Likewise, they employ environment-friendly packaging standards for their products. They use double seal plastic bags that are compostable and reusable.
Indeed, recycling plastic shopping bags – including those used for selling women’s activewear – can help protect the environment that has been scarred by human disruption. As part of the reduce, reuse, and recycle (3Rs) approach, it contributes to minimizing the ecological footprint of business establishments and individual clients. It also promotes good practice in waste management.