Cleaning up a mess can be a dull job, but living with dirt and garbage is much worse than that. Have you ever smelled a piece of rotten fruit or a piece of meat that has gone bad? You can put rotten food in the garbage, but what if the whole world smelled like that? What if the water coming from the taps in your house made you sick with all kinds of diseases? Without clean water, good air, and healthy food, people easily get sick and die. That’s why caring for the environment is so important.
For many years, people thought very little about the environment unless it affected them directly. Water shortages were important mainly for farmers and gardeners, and resources like trees or fuel were important for helping people make money. However, people’s ideas began to change when a writer named Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962. The book showed how the pesticides designed to kill harmful insects were harming the environment and people. The author said that our food supply and the whole world were in danger because of these chemicals. Partly because of that book, the United Nations established Earth Day in 1970, and people have used that day and other campaigns to raise awareness of environmental issues ever since then.
What do you know about the challenges that the environment is facing? One problem that you might have heard about is global warming, which refers to the rapid increase in the Earth’s temperature. Many scientists believe that most of this warming is the result of pollution from human activity, such as burning oil and gas for fuel. Other problems include polluted water and air, which can make people sick or even kill them, the overuse of resources that take many centuries to replace and the loss of the top layer of soil that makes farming possible. Another issue is the deaths or disappearance of the bees, which helps plants to grow through pollination.
People have many different theories on issues such as climate change and pollution. Some people believe that human activity affects the environment, but others do not. However, taking care of your home planet is still a very good idea. How can you help? You can save fuel by walking or taking the bus to school or your friends’ houses instead of getting a ride in the car. You can use energy-efficient light bulbs and turn the lights off whenever you leave an empty room. You can turn your computer off at night and try to use as little water as possible in the shower. These changes will not save the environment alone, but if we all do them, they will make a huge difference.
Caring for the environment is a huge task, far too big for one person or even one country to do. Some environmental issues are beyond anyone’s control, and others depend on people far away on other continents. However, if everyone on Earth took responsibility for only one small part of the problem, we could make a difference.
