World Environment Day: Are We Losing Our Environment Or Protecting It? Food for Thought

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Practically, everything surrounding the human being is classified as the environment but are we losing the fortunes of the environment or we are protecting it for future benefit?

Posterity will however, always be the judge.

As today marks the world environment day, can you think of some activities human beings do to protect the environment and also what humans do to lose its fortunes? Which of them weighs the other?

Things to do to protect the environment include;

– Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Cut down on what you throw away. Follow the three “R’s” to conserve natural resources and landfill space

–Educate. When you further your own education, you can help others understand the importance and value of our natural resources.

-Conserve water. The less water you use, the less runoff and wastewater that eventually end up in the ocean.

–Volunteer. Volunteer for cleanups in your community. You can get involved in protecting your watershed, too.

–Choose sustainable.

-Shop wisely. Buy less plastic and bring a reusable shopping bag.

-Use long-lasting light bulbs. Energy efficient light bulbs reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Also flip the light switch off when you leave the room!

–Don’t send chemicals into our waterways. Choose non-toxic chemicals in the home and office.

–Bike more. Drive less.

–Plant a tree. Trees provide food and oxygen. They help save energy, clean the air, and help combat climate change.

However, there are a lot we do to destroy our environment and also include;

-Pollution

Pollution is everywhere. From the trash thrown out on the freeway, to the millions of metric tons of pollution pumped into the atmosphere every year– it’s obvious, pollution and waste are inescapable. Air pollution, water pollution, Land pollution and Noise pollution. Air pollution is inarguably the most among the rest, however, water pollution is astronomically marking time due to the illegal activities in the country called Galamsey, though there are a lot of activities.

–Deforestation 

With an exponential expansion in human beings, more food, materials, and shelter are being manufactured at stupendous rates, mostly stemming from forestry. Forests are cleared to make way for new humans, which in turn, makes more humans, you can see the problem.

–Acid Rain

When humans burn coal, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere where they rise up and accumulate in the clouds until the clouds become saturated and rain acid, causing havoc on the ground beneath. When the rain falls, it accumulates in water bodies which are especially harmful to lakes and small bodies of water. The ground surrounding the water soaks up the acid, depleting the soil of essential nutrients. Trees that absorb the acid accumulate toxins that damage leaves and slowly kills large areas of forest.

However, most opinion leaders are only being theoritical instaed of putting into practice what they say. In Ghana, the fight against Galamsey staged by the president, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after assuming office was to clean our water bodies. In the end, people think it never yielded any good results.

Let us know therefore that through our pettiness a lot of wildlife are going extinct. Let’s rise up and protect our environment.

By: Nana Gyasi | Radio 1 | Ghana