What Can Individuals Do to Help Protect the Environment and Why - Report Example

What Can Individuals Do to Help Protect the Environment and Why? Table of Contents Introduction2. The Necessity of Individual Responsibility 3. Duty of Every Citizen in Eco Conservation 4. Individual’s Obligation to Act Along With the Groups 5. Conclusion What Can Individuals Do to Help Protect the Environment and Why? Introduction Lester Brown, the President of the Worldwatch Institute observed the world is getting richer and richer financially and is getting poorer than ever environmentally. Every individual of the world has a moral responsibility to protect what little is left of our spectacular ecology. This paper analyzes 1. Why every individual should contribute their share to environmental protection 2. How each person can make a difference in conserving ecology and 3. The importance of acting as a group when necessary to save earth There might be scores of pitfalls in the tedious task of trying to plaster our scarred environment. The paper lists some important examples of noted environmentalists who have served to make the world what it is today, in spite of the limited resources. Our world is in a crucial state where overdepletion of natural resources poses a severe threat to each and every life form on the earth. Consequences will be very bitter if every person living in this world does not start to care about the very land they are standing on. The Necessity of Individual Responsibility “People will protect the environment simply because it is the cardinal basis for their survival” (Shah, n.d.). “Why should I contribute?” is a dangerous question. Nobody is blaming any particular person for the explicit damage caused to our ecology. Yet, every person is to be blamed indirectly for not acting on time. Each person, whether male or female, poor or rich, educated or illiterate, should start contributing their own share to environmental protection just for the sake of preserving a place to live for their children. Saving millions to buy a villa for your child by digging mines extensively is similar to trying to fly by jumping atop a cliff. It might create an illusion of flying for a few minutes but will end up in serious injuries shortly. The house might stay strong and comfortable for a few days but will get destroyed by self-induced natural calamities in a short while. The simple answer for “Why me?” is “because it is for you.” Duty of Every Citizen in Eco Conservation Environment protection does not mean protesting against atom bomb alone. It is the simple act of using every natural resource wisely. Understanding the importance of every natural resource we use from water to oil will help us contribute our share automatically. Just placing an empty bottle in the toilet water holder will help save one bottle water in each flush. Recycling the wastes of any house, town or city in large will make a great difference. UK recycles nearly 40%1 of all domestic rubbish. Most of the items thrown out are glass, used paper, cardboard packages and covers. Recycling these materials constantly eliminates the need to cut down more trees. Recycling one tonne of paper saves nearly 17 trees and ample amount of water necessary to produce virgin paper. This is equivalent to stopping 5 million cars from operating every year. Imagine the enormous positive effect these measures have on the atmosphere of the city and country as a whole. A simple step taken by the government authorities and the compliance of every citizen with its rule has made a herculean task possible easily (Environment, n.d.). Several notable environmentalists such as John Muir and Rachel Carson worked for environment conservation by creating exemplary works in their own field. Rachel wrote inspiring novels such as The Silent Spring while John Muir established the Sierra Club to create wide national parks (Mishra, 2010). Likewise, there are ample ways through which a single man can make a difference. 1. Every person should take a pledge to use only green and organic food products. 84% 2 of domestic waste is organic and can be recycled through simple means. They can be converted into compost and used for the home garden or sold in markets. 2. Families should reduce the consumption of meat, leather, plastic and chemical products. Using as many recyclable products as possible is a must. 3. Businesses should use fuel, oil and electricity like precious items. They should emphasize the importance of public transport among their workers. One bus can carry the same number of people travelling in more than 40 cars. Imagine how much carbon dioxide production we can curb by preventing 40 cars running on streets every day. 4. One gallon of fuel emits 20 pounds of Co2 into the air. Nearly 500 million vehicles use up to 2 gallons of fuel every day globally. Even if half of these vehicle owners start using public transport daily, we can cut one fourth of carbon dioxide emission easily. 5. Bright students should come forward to do extensive research in recycling and digital waste management instead of concentrating only on lucrative IT jobs. Individual’s Obligation to Act Along With the Groups Acting in groups doesn’t mean taking active part in protest marches. Though every person’s voice count in such protests, against eco hazardous activities, an individual can do much more by combining with a group. 1. Entrepreneurs should come forward to set up waste management firms instead of always aiming on producing more goods and selling them. Several governments offer good grants for such eco friendly businesses. 2. Companies should invest in developing the latest technologies in the green field. Microsoft funds massive projects which conduct research on alternative toilets which use very little water, Co2 absorbents from air, eco friendly building technologies, etc. 3. Intellectual and likeminded people should work together with dedication to discover new technologies which will help in de-harming hazardous digital waste. It is the perfect time to pull out our technological masterminds from creating another slim mobile and make them concentrate on developing a technology to recycle the mobile effectively. 4. Every person should try to pursue the major associations concerned with their jobs to take eco protective actions. For example, nearly 10,000 new houses are built in a city every year. If all the construction companies demand eco-friendly paints, the paint manufacturing industries will be forced to produce only them. This can be easily achieved by passing a concurrence in the construction association. 5. People should come forward in groups to challenge government and private organizations’ environment hazardous activities through lawsuits. They have the capability to challenge the government or private company’s stand in such issues (Roberts & Dobbins). If there is an active group constantly fighting through law to protect their locality, any major conglomerate in the area will try to avoid environment exploitation as much as possible, in the name of growth. Conclusion There are thousands of practical limitations in implementing the above mentioned measures to protect our environment effectively. Yet, sharing the responsibility equally among governments, individuals and corporations instead of ascribing them to one another will help solve the issue more quickly. There is no point in blaming the individuals fully for the current environmentally disastrous situation (Fahlquist, 2008). However, it is fair by all means to ask them to extend their cooperation on the issue as Earth is the mother for one and all. Acting now will save mankind from having to regret for generations later. References Environment – how can you help protect it? (n.d.). Young Peoples Trust for the Environment (YPTE). Retrieved September 22, 2012, from YPTE website: http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/environment-how-can-you-help-protect-it-/81. Fahlquist, J. N. (2008, November 3). Moral responsibility for environmental problems – individual or institutional. Agric Environ Ethics. Retrieved September 22, 2012, from Ethics and Technology: http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/images/uploads/jes.pdf. Mishra, M. (2010, September 15). Individual efforts for protection of environment and sustainable development. Retrieved September 22, 2012, from Ecosensorium website: http://www.ecosensorium.org/2010/09/individual-efforts-for-protection-of.html. Roberts, E., & Dobbins, J. (n.d.). The role of the citizen in environmental enforcement. Environmental Law Institute. Retrieved September 22, 2012, from inece.org: http://www.inece.org/2ndvol1/roberts.htm. Shah, A. (n.d.). What are we doing to protect the environment? Retrieved September 22, 2012, from Sudhirlaw.com: http://www.sudhirlaw.com/environart.htm. Read More