We are Killing our Environment: This Needs to Change
By Béline Chan
We are killing our environment and we need to reduce the harm as much as possible. It is easy to ignore issues if we don’t see the negative effects of them in front of us all of the time, but by ignoring these issues, the problem is worsening and we need to reduce the effects of global warming before they become irreversible. Unfortunately, we have been already seeing the negative effects of global warming on our environment, but we should not let this demotivate
us from making a change. If anything, this should motivate us to change our behaviour in order to preserve and save our environment, ensuring a positive, healthy and safe planet for our future generations.
When we think of waste, we might think of plastics and food, but there is also a lot of waste that is harmful yet overlooked, such as E-Waste. E-Waste stands for electronic and electrical waste. This comes from computers, television, washing machines and so on. There are toxic materials in E-Waste such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic which can have dangerous effects on workers and everyone’s physical health in general. When heat and E-Waste mix, toxic chemicals are released, which in turn harms the animals on land and in water. This is also very harmful to humans and the chemicals can affect the central nervous system, reproductive and endocrine, immune, digestive, blood and respiratory system. So it’s essentially harmful to our entire bodies! E-Waste is a difficult waste to get rid of as the waste has to be broken down into individual components, which can be expensive and time-consuming. This makes E-Waste recycling a complicated challenge, therefore it is important to reduce this type of waste. Ways you can minimise E-Waste is by reducing our consumption, reusing the electronic items by giving them to friends, family or by donating them to charity or to someone we who needs them, instead of throwing them away. You should also make an attempt to purchase environmentally friendly products. This isn’t the only way we can reduce our waste. There are plenty of ways in which you can help the environment, any effort and contribution is a step closer towards progression.
Instead of buying bottles of water, why not use a reusable bottle, where you can save money in the long-run and produce less waste. Some places also offer discounts to those who bring or use reusable bottles.
Don’t leave the lights on when it’s unnecessary, especially if it is bright outside during the day, or if you aren’t in the room when the lights are on, this helps in saving energy.
Reduce the use and purchase of plastics. Instead of buying products that are made from plastic, especially ones that cannot be recyclable, there are a range of environmentally friendly reusable straws, reusable bottles and glass reusable boxes that you can use instead. Not only is it better for your pocket as you won't have to keep buying plastic straws and bottles, but it helps reduce plastic waste and promotes the use of reusable items, and raises awareness on the harm that single use plastic products can cause.
Reduce the use of vehicles when possible, as the overuse of transport contributes to air pollution and overuse of energy. It’s best to walk, cycle or use more environmentally friendly ways of travel if and when possible.
Reducing meat and dairy consumption. The consumption of meat releases greenhouse gases such as Co2, methane and nitrous oxide, which all contribute to global warming. Meat, eggs and cheese have the largest carbon footprints, therefore reducing your intake of these foods (unless it’s harmful for your dietary requirements etc) can reduce the issues affecting global warming, but it can also be beneficial for your health.
These steps are simple, yet we have all been guilty of accidentally overlooking or forgetting about some of these simple things, which have quite a negative impact on our environment.
Reduce, reuse and recycle; this might seem like a simple concept as this has been taught to us since we were children, but there’s more to this than you might think, and overlooking slight mistakes aren’t as small as you might think they are initially. Recyclable items include glass jars, newspapers, plastic bottles and so on. The thing is, not all recyclable products are 100% recyclable which is where mistakes start to be made when people are throwing their rubbish into the recycling bins. In hindsight, a plastic bottle should be recyclable, but sometimes some of their components aren’t recyclable such as the lid, or more commonly, the labels. If the label and lids aren’t recyclable, then these should be removed before throwing the bottle away. There should be a symbol stating whether it’s recyclable or not. This is easily overlooked as people assume most bottles are recyclable, but this is not the case, and it’s a small mistake that has a large negative impact due to the mixture of recyclability. The non-recyclable item in the recycling bins can break the machines, and most importantly, it can contaminate other products. Once the other products are contaminated this means that all the waste will be thrown into a landfill or even washed into oceans, even if it’s due to one product. According to the World Count, every year we dump a massive 2.12 billion tonnes of waste.
Landfills are a serious problem that is highly contributing to the damage in our environment. Landfills cause air pollution by emitting dust and gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. This keeps in the heat, in turn making the planet warmer. This creates a domino effect as a warmer planet causes extreme weather, flooding and wildfires. Heavy rain has increased in Korea by 27% since the early 2000s, no doubt influenced by global warming. On the 11th of August, Seoul suffered from the heaviest rainfall in 115 years, resulting in landslides, power outages, severe flooding and unfortunately some deaths. The South Korean mayor stated “The damage from this record rainfall shows that there are limits with short-term water control measures when unusual weather conditions due to global warming have become common”. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, record-breaking temperatures in 2021 increased the frequency and intensity of wildfires and their associated risks to human and environmental health. Wildfires have also doubled the amount since 2015 in the northern side of the United States as well. Between 2019 and 2020, the Australian wildfire burned more than 42 million acres of land. The smoke from these wildfires has a negative effect on the earth’s atmosphere, as it releases a large quantity of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particles into the air, resulting in its pollution, damaging crops, trees, as well as our respiratory health.
World Wildlife states that we lose Arctic sea ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade, and over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by 95%. The permafrost in the Arctic stores large amounts of methane, (a greenhouse gas) and once this ice thaws, the gas is released, increasing global warming.
It is evident that our world is in desperate need of help, and the issue of global warming is only going to get worse as time goes by if we neglect this issue. You might think that one person can’t make a difference, but everyone’s effort will not go to waste, and as you can see, one person’s action can make a great impact on the environment. Let’s look after the planet so we can live in a healthier, happier and safer world that will also be a thriving place for all living things alike and for future generations.