The Littering of Plastics in Our Environment - Essay Example

Civic Action Scorecard

33. Eliminate the consumption of single-use plastic for seven continuous days

There has been over time, the high increase in the number of plastic disposals in our environment. Through my research, many people around the globe, prefer using plastics. The use of plastics is the most convenient for many people, and its price is much lower and affordable. I discovered that plastics have been beneficial to people, but they negatively side effect the environment.

I have discovered that society no longer strategizes and takes responsibility for the littering of plastics in our environment. Plastics have been a significant concern to international bodies like the United Nations, whereby they have termed plastics as a significant cause of environmental problems facing the world. Our oceans and lakes are the major dumping sites of plastics and have significantly affected marine life and eventually affecting the livelihood of sea creatures. I have gained more knowledge about plastic disposal and realized that they have led to clogging of drains and leading to flooding and breeding of diseases.

Xanthos (2017) suggests that, if we are to take the excellent tactic of managing our environment, then we have to reduce the unnecessary single-use plastics. The research I did was beneficial, and I realized that the packaging companies should be at the forefront in managing plastic use by taking a more responsible approach.

34. Eliminate consumption of meat, fish, & animal byproducts for seven continuous days

Many people have widely considered meat consumption due to its friendly price. Through various books that I have come across, meat is an essential and nutritious meal to the body. However, a high level of meat consumption exceeds the nutritional needs and leading to high rates of chronic diseases in the body, such as cancer and Diabetic Mellitus. The research carried out in the United States of America shows that the industrial and agricultural systems have great consequences to the health of the public due to its use of fertilizers and pesticides, unmanageable use of resources, and environmental pollution (Walker et al., 2005).

I have grown up knowing that meat is a good source of protein and is also essential to the body. Though through reading the research report made, I have realized that the high consumption of these foods harms the health of an individual. The methods put in place during the processing and preparation affect the chemical composition and the nutrition value of the animal foods.

Through the report, I realized that it is of paramount importance for public health professionals to be aware of and get involved in how our food is produced. Through this mechanism, there are cases related to the consumption of meat that will be prevented. The public should also be educated on the importance of regulating their meat consumption and maintaining their diet to stay healthy.

30. Reduce your carbon footprint for 14 consecutive days

The building sector has been leading in the contribution of greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas globally. Through my study, I was able to implement a calculation procedure for carbon footprint available in civic buildings and also helped in examining emission reduction potential (Huang et al., 2017). Some activities have been implemented by the National Climate Assessment Board to curb the threats of climate change. I have realized that individuals can significantly reduce their carbon footprint in many different ways.

I discovered that the implementation of low-carbon strategies in the building sector, such as increasing energy-saving retrofit for those existing buildings, would lead to a significant influence in reducing carbon emission. Planting trees and putting up solar panels are the best and cheap methods when implemented, reduces the carbon footprint.

Through this research, I have learned that urban buildings need to perform the quantitative assessment of the carbon footprint to build carbon emission reduction. The quantitative evaluation of the carbon footprint will improve the safety of the environment. Improving environmental conditions makes it safe for humans and other living creatures. I learned that greenhouses increase the level of carbon footprint by emitting gases to the environment. Thus, people having greenhouses need to cut gas emissions into the atmosphere.

27. Report issue or concern in the community to proper governmental authority

The community budget is an issue of concern. I surveyed our community to see how our yearly budget performed. It was shocking to find out that the community budget had fallen to about 42%. The budget directly links to the community goals, and it focuses on getting the best outcome-based value. According to my research, a well-managed budget gives the government employees the satisfaction that they are positively contributing to the health and wellbeing of the community.

According to my statistics, poor budget management has led to many people's poor living standards in society. According to Kimario (2014), the local officials' community funds have been mismanaged by the local officials through corruption. The mismanagement of funds has eventually led to poor management of the budget and thus, leading to poor living standards of my community people. I took a stance action of taking the matter before the court.

The evidence that I submitted before court enabled the culprits to pay back mismanaged funds. The court ruling was a great win to my people, and I did all these to save the lives and economy of my community people. Th act of reporting the matter to government officials was purposely to enable the employed local officials to know that there is a need to create openness and being transparent to the public on how the council is working toward reaching its goals.

49. Participate in social innovation/ entrepreneurship event or workshop

Last summer, I attended a social innovation event that was held in the United States of America. The event was organized by entrepreneurs from the World Bank, which impacted knowledge to young people who had aspiring dreams of starting their own companies. The workshop's essence was to show the innovation journey and their impacts on the outcome results.

Innovation journey is a development model distinguishing between the start, developmental, and enactment of innovations (Oeij et al., 2019). It majorly looks at barriers and drivers. I also learned that change considers stockholders, hindrances, infrastructure, and adaptation. There was qualitative comparative analysis used to assess how social innovations develop and examine if they look like business's journey.

Participating in the social innovation workshop impacted me enough about innovation elements of innovation and their positive impacts on social changes. I also learned that success is dependent on contingent factors.

28. Plant or help maintain a tree, garden, nature plant, food plant, or pollinator

Planting or maintaining a tree is the best way of protecting wildlife for our children’s future. National Wildlife Federation has been the leading organization in conserving and offering environmental education to people worldwide. The organization aimed was to connect people with nature, protect wildlife, and provide solutions to climate change.

It was to my advantage that I got an opportunity to attend the National Wildlife Federation's seminars, where I was impacted with adverse knowledge about the importance of planting and maintaining trees. I was among the team that was sent into the field to educate people on preserving wildlife and its importance in general. We learned the importance of trees to our planet's health and the tangible experience of making a change through the planting of trees.

Moreover, we were sent to the field for a tree planting session. Tree planting was my best experience, and it impacted enough knowledge to me about the importance of preserving our ecosystem.

39. Perform a random of kindness

My in-depth analysis of kindness shows that helping others can also be beneficial to your health. The act of kindness helps reduce stress, improves the wellbeing of our emotions, and even benefit our health physically. Reaching out to our friends in schools, workplaces, and local neighborhood shows an act of kindness. Reaching out to our friends shows compassion and protects and sustains good mental health for everyone.

Helping others feel good is the perfect act of being kind to those around you. When one offers help to others in the community, it improves social support and enables us to lead a physically active lifestyle, and it distracts us from our problems. Another principal act of kindness is calling someone and tell them how much they mean to you on their happy birthday, instead of wishing them happy birthday through social media. Asking how someone is and sincerely mean it, intently say "How are you" and stay for an answer. By doing this way, it shows how kind you are to that person.

I've learned that it is always good to be kind to people surrounding you. Being kind is beneficial to an individual in many ways. Kindness is essential to the health of a person. It protects the mental health of a person.

20. Participate in civic engagement workshop or training

Today, there are opportunities for youths to engage and participate in policymaking and governance. These are great opportunities that are given to teens. Kids in many countries have been given opportunities to participate in the development of national-level policies.

Delli Carpini suggests that being given a role to participate in the government's policymaking, was the most significant opportunity I've ever had. It was my golden opportunity to enhance my development skills, competency building, and gaining more confidence by participating in the activity.

Furthermore, my participation in policymaking enabled me to access youth-friendly forums where we could discuss and, thus, reflect on issues that are very important to us. These youth-friendly forums were essential to me; they impacted me with civic problems and enabled me to engage with people from our communities and other youths. I was also affected by collective action that helped me advocate for and take strict action on the goals and issues we have identified.

Through the report, I realized that it is of paramount importance for public health professionals to be aware of and get involved in how our food is produced. Through this mechanism, there are cases related to the consumption of meat that will be prevented. The public should also be educated on the importance of regulating their meat consumption and maintaining their diet to stay healthy.

30. Reduce your carbon footprint for 14 consecutive days

The building sector has been leading in the contribution of greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas globally. Through my study, I was able to implement a calculation procedure for carbon footprint available in civic buildings and also helped in examining emission reduction potential (Huang et al., 2017). Some activities have been implemented by the National Climate Assessment Board to curb the threats of climate change. I have realized that individuals can significantly reduce their carbon footprint in many different ways.

I discovered that the implementation of low-carbon strategies in the building sector, such as increasing energy-saving retrofit for those existing buildings, would lead to a significant influence in reducing carbon emission. Planting trees and putting up solar panels are the best and cheap methods when implemented, reduces the carbon footprint.

Through this research, I have learned that urban buildings need to perform the quantitative assessment of the carbon footprint to build carbon emission reduction. The quantitative evaluation of the carbon footprint will improve the safety of the environment. Improving environmental conditions makes it safe for humans and other living creatures. I learned that greenhouses increase the level of carbon footprint by emitting gases to the environment. Thus, people having greenhouses need to cut gas emissions into the atmosphere.

27. Report issue or concern in the community to proper governmental authority

The community budget is an issue of concern. I surveyed our community to see how our yearly budget performed. It was shocking to find out that the community budget had fallen to about 42%. The budget directly links to the community goals, and it focuses on getting the best outcome-based value. According to my research, a well-managed budget gives the government employees the satisfaction that they are positively contributing to the health and wellbeing of the community.

According to my statistics, poor budget management has led to many people's poor living standards in society. According to Kimario (2014), the local officials' community funds have been mismanaged by the local officials through corruption. The mismanagement of funds has eventually led to poor management of the budget and thus, leading to poor living standards of my community people. I took a stance action of taking the matter before the court.

The evidence that I submitted before court enabled the culprits to pay back mismanaged funds. The court ruling was a great win to my people, and I did all these to save the lives and economy of my community people. Th act of reporting the matter to government officials was purposely to enable the employed local officials to know that there is a need to create openness and being transparent to the public on how the council is working toward reaching its goals.

49. Participate in social innovation/ entrepreneurship event or workshop

Last summer, I attended a social innovation event that was held in the United States of America. The event was organized by entrepreneurs from the World Bank, which impacted knowledge to young people who had aspiring dreams of starting their own companies. The workshop's essence was to show the innovation journey and their impacts on the outcome results.

Innovation journey is a development model distinguishing between the start, developmental, and enactment of innovations (Oeij et al., 2019). It majorly looks at barriers and drivers. Read More