Ecological problem is one of the most important issues nowadays. Human activities have a negative impact on the environment. Humanity currently faces problems with air, water, and lands pollution, unreasonable agricultural systems, deforestation, and others. As a result, the number of available natural resources is decreasing. Another negative consequence of human activities is the process of global warming and global climate changes. These changes affect the whole Earth and might result in adverse consequences for people and wild nature (“The Consequences of Climate Change”). Therefore, it is obvious that the situation should be improved.
Probably, everybody asks oneself what he or she personally could do to improve the ecological situation. After all, the main source of pollution is the industry sector. However, we all belong to humanity and make our small impact on the environment. And we all could make the situation slightly better. Our daily habits have both positive and negative long-term consequences for the world we live in. It is important to understand to plan our life and our activities.
As far as my family and I are concerned, we performed several steps to reduce the negative impact on the environment. First of all, we all try to save clean water. We always remember to turn off our taps. We do not keep the water running when we brush teeth or wash something. Saving clean water is very important for the environment. The problem of clean water availability, probably, is one of the most pressing. No living creature can survive without clean water. Fewer sources we use, more of them remain for the future generation.
Another important action we perform to improve the situation with water is avoiding water pollution. Our family refused to use cleaning detergents with phosphates as it is known that these substances are harmful to human health. Moreover, it is difficult to eliminate these compounds from water. Therefore, phosphates in the water get to nature and poison living organisms. Thus, it is better to use detergents without phosphates. It helps to keep the healthy and to reduce water pollution.
Except for water pollution, there are a lot of other problems that need to be solved. One of them is waste deposits. These deposits occupy a large area. Different wastes need different (however, always significant) times to decompose. Besides, while decomposing, a lot of harmful compounds appear. These compounds poison the land and can get to the water. In the last decades, a lot of programs of waste separation appeared. People are asked to separate the waste: to combine plastic with plastic, organic with organic, and paper with paper. Different wastes are treated in different ways, which allows cutting pollution. For example, plastic can be remolded and used again, while it requires hundreds of years for its degradation in nature. Moreover, during this process, a lot of harmful products release (Law and Thompson 144). Thus, it is better to separate plastic material and recycle it. It would be even better not to use plastic at all, and when it is possible, try to use biopolymers instead.
It is important to understand that small steps are better than nothing. If we want to improve the ecological situation, we should start with ourselves, analyze our daily activities, and make improvements where it is possible. Carrying about our environment is our responsibility as citizens. Finally, the small effects of such actions might summarize positive global changes.
Works Cited
“The Consequences of Climate Change.” NASA. 2017, Web.
Law, Kara Lavender, and Richard C. Thompson. “Microplastics in the Seas.” Science, vol. 345, no. 6193, 2014, pp. 144-145.