The environment: a very important, yet highly overlooked subject. People assume that every natural resource is infinitely abundant, but the truth is that issues like pollution can destroy so many of them. Many countries don’t have clean water because of the quantity of people living in such a small area, and some people don’t have access to things like wood to build homes out of because of mass deforestation. The more people there are in a small, condensed urban area, the more pollution there tends to be. While this is unfortunately unavoidable, there are ways to lessen it and hopefully someday prevent it.
As a society and even as individuals, we can help the environment in so many ways. It doesn’t take some huge notion, it can just be as simple as turning off your computer at night. Below are a few ways you can help the environment, and if you spread the word and have all of your friends do these small things, you can make a bigger impact than you ever thought possible.
1. Unless you are making bread or pastries, don’t preheat the oven. Just turn it on when you put the food in.
2. During the average year, Americans use about 2,200 napkins — around six each day. If everyone in the US cut down their napkin use, even a little, more than a billion pounds of waste could be exempt from landfills.
3. Buy from local farmers markets. It supports your local economy and reduces the amount of greenhouse gas created when products are flown or driven in.
4. Don’t use coffee stirrers or straws. Each year we throw away 138 billion straws and stirrers. If you cut down the use of these small pieces of plastic, recycle them, or even stop using them altogether, the benefit would be huge.
5. Plant a tree! Such a simple, beneficial step to a healthier environment — and a prettier one at that.
There are an infinite number of things you can do to help the environment. Come up with a few with your friends and family! Even if it’s something as simple as adding more clothes to each load of laundry to cut down water use or making a compost pile, it can be done! Being more environmentally conscious is not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. It can be really, really easy; you just need the right mindset and motivation to make this world a greener, healthier, and better place.