Monday, May 21, 2007
Can we save the environment?Before I jump straight to the question on whether we can save the environment, we should think on a few factors to consider.
Who has to play a part in saving the environment?
What can we do to save it?
Where can we start off to save the environment?
When can we do it?
How can we do it?
Considering on these factors, we can come to a solution. But again, is the environment really worth saving? The environment has lived for quite a long period of time even before we were born. Ever since the dinosaur period, the environment is already here. Now, we are sharing the same environment as before. What is the only difference from before and after? Well if I could put it in a simply way to say it, I would say, before, it was healthier. Now, it’s like a piece of wasteland. Since humans started to live on Earth, we discover many new things out of curiosity.
As the proverb goes, ‘curiosity kills the cat’, in this case, curiosity kills the environment. Not knowing that each time we discover something new, the environment has to sacrifice something too. For example, where to our writing papers come from? They come from trees! See the link? We discover paper and we’re happy with it. The environment loses trees and of course she’s not happy with it. We cannot find out how the environment is feeling. We can’t tell whether it is happy or sad, that’s because the environment can’t speak. It’s up to us to tell ourselves whether the environment is suffering badly or not. We take things for granted. For example, seeing that there’s so many rare living species that can up boost human health, the poachers seek out in the wilderness to hunt for these animals, and sell them in the market for big money. As too many of them are hunted, they end up endangered.
I admit that humans are greedy people. Who isn’t money minded? Everything in the world talks about money. Everyone aims to be rich. In industrial areas, factories work extremely hard to boost profit, earning more money as usual. They do not really bother on what method they use, they just want money. They neglect the environment by doing this. Each time they work, the factories emit toxic fumes and waste to the environment. Let us refer to the case that happened in Russia – St. Petersburg. Again, we talk about humans harming the environment. Taken from ‘http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3007228.stm’, reported by BBC. Here, we have a case of untreated sewage flowing from St. Petersburg to the Neva river, then to the Baltic sea.
Taken from ‘http://www.helcom.fi/environment/assessment/en_GB/assessment’
This image shown above is the Baltic sea during the pollution. Much effort was taken to clean up the sea.
Below is another image of what happened during the pollution.
Taken from ‘http://www.healthypages.net/newsstory.asp?newsid=4851’
As shown, these fishes died during the pollution. It certainly isn’t a pleasant sight to look at it.
So now, onto the main topic. Can we really save the environment after all have happen? We all know that the answer to that question would definitely be a NO. We can’t really turn the environment back to what it was before. All we can do is, contain and minimize harmful effects to the environment. All of us should know by now. Only we can play a part to save the environment. Of course, the environment doesn’t have hands to save herself, but we do! It is true that each and even one of us cannot really do much to help, but by doing what we really can do, we can lessen the burden of the environment, prolonging her life. At the same time, we gain by having a clean and green Earth to live in.
Firstly, we humans can start off by controlling pollution.
Stop disposing toxic wastes into the waters! They would only harm the marine life. When marine lives are killed, fishermen get nothing for their harvest. As a result, we consumers get nothing to eat. Dispose these wastes properly. Go through proper treatment before throwing them out into the environment. This way, lives could be saved.
Stop intensive agriculture! Take the pig farming in Poland for reference. This farm named Smithfield Foods only knows how to earn money. They do not take the environment in regard to what they are doing. They keep all their thousands of pig in a single room and leave them there. Naturally, pigs would give out manure when they need to, like we humans, but having too many pigs and having too much manure in one single room would stink the entire vicinity. If pig manure is not taken care of properly, it could turn into a dangerous pollutant. These manure produces ammonia and hydrogen sulphide which, in high concentrations, cause headaches, eye irritations, mood alterations and fatigue. In addition, nitrates from the manure can seep through the soil and into the water systems. It can cause serious problems for marine animals and can be a risk for human health. Pig manure can contain antibiotic resistant diseases also, which is dangerous to us too.
Credits to ‘http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4035081.stm’
Next. Where can we start off to save the environment?
Taken from’ http://www.swdahsv.org/faq.html’
This is an easy question to answer. From home, we can already save the environment. Recycle what we can and dispose what we can’t. It saves the environment by recycling.
Reuse items that can be used again. Do not always wish to get new items to use. Everyone is trying to save the world.
Reduce the amount of items we throw. At the same time, reduce the amount of water and electricity we use. If its possible to save, please do.
Now onto, where can we do it?
Anywhere of course! Be it at home or outside home. With just our two pairs of hands, anything can be done, but please do not litter. Use appropriate rubbish bins for proper disposal.
How can we do it?
We can spread the word to other people, telling them to note what they waste each day.
Following all these methods, we could at least keep the environment in shape, but as time goes by, the environment would still have to leave us, and at the same time, we would leave the environment.