Air Pollution is one of the most harmful environmental concerns. By definition, it occurs when air has a harmful amount of dust, fumes, gases, and odor. Our atmosphere surrounds us and so the more we or the rest of the world pollutes in, eventually, the air will all combine and still be polluted. For example, an average American breathes 2 gallons of air per minute which means about 3,400 each day. Inhaling pollution can take 1-2 years of a person’s life and the air pollution caused by just sitting in traffic can increase the chances of a heart attack. Even underwater, dolphins are being found with black lung disease, meaning that polluted air has found its way into the water. How to help? Car emissions count for roughly 50% of air pollution (more specifically carbon monoxide emissions) and they count for even more in more urban areas. To improve air quality, it’s suggested that people begin to do one of four things. Walk, bike, take public transportation or carpool with friends to a common location. All of these options either remove the personal emissions entirely or lower them significantly.
Greenwashing is when a company, organization, or person, spends more time and money on the effort to appear environmentally friendly than they do on attempting to minimize their carbon footprint. For example, California has banned the sale of any plastics that say ‘biodegradable’ or ‘compostable’ on their packaging as it is misleading and can create misinformation. Greenwashing has been occurring for almost 40 years yet the term has become more mainstream recently. The biggest contributor to greenwashing is with companies overembellishing facts to make the consumer more willing to purchase. How to avoid purchasing from greenwashing companies or becoming a greenwashed person? Do your research. Avoid purchasing items based on throwaway terms such as ‘eco-friendly’ and look into either how the product is eco-friendly or discover items that more clearly outline the process behind making the product. This is because a product may be environmentally clean but may have been created in a way that harms the environment. Another solution is to learn your own footprint and make small changes in the household to reduce it. You don’t want to be the person ragging on others for plastic water bottles or straws if you leave all your lights on when you leave the house or run the water while you brush your teeth.
Biodiversity describes the variety of living things, abundance of various species, and the wealth of biological resources available on Earth. The loss of biodiversity is easily one of the top environmental crises that are currently happening. Habitat destruction, deforestation, overfishing, pollution, global warming, and overpopulation all cause this tremendous loss. It’s extremely important to have extensive biodiversity because even though 80% of the world’s food supply is primarily 20 kinds of plants, we as the population still rely on 40,000+ species of plants for food, clothing, and shelter. It also plays a role in medicinal resources and drug discovery as 80% of the world uses medicines from nature. As human’s expand our living areas to be bigger and take up more space, we reduce the amount of space for other species. It is estimated that by 2050 30% of all species on Earth and 25% of mammals in the next 20 years will be extinct. The best way to help such a large problem is to make small household changes and keep informed. Purchase eco-friendly items and learn how they benefit the environment. Reduce the usage of aerosol cans, recycle all plastic and glass, eat more local produce, eat less meat, reduce car usage, and so much more.
Ocean acidification is when the pH levels in ocean waters fall way below its normal pH which is on the higher side of neutral. It’s caused by carbon dioxide increases in the water and atmosphere which is caused by fossil fuel burning, improper waste disposal, incorrect land management, and industrialization. All of these causes have detrimental effects. Aquatic life is dying off at high rates which harms societies that depend on them as a food source. Acidic water makes soil acidic as well so then the production of many crops is hindered which also harms people’s food source. The acidification ends up harming much more than just the oceans and plays a big role in the loss of biodiversity. The best way to improve these decisions is to educate yourself and others about it. You can also vote for regulations and laws as well as people who are willing to implement them and reduce your carbon footprint.
A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon that is emitted directly or indirectly by an organization, event, product, or individual. Everyone’s footprint is different depending on their habits, location, and choices. The biggest broad contributors to carbon emissions are energy, industrialization, agriculture, waste, and human inaction. However, if you get more specific biggest contributor becomes the world’s 100 largest companies who are responsible for ⅔ of CO2 emissions and are continually resisting legislative attempts to have them reduce those emissions. On a countrywide scale, the USA, China and India are the largest contributors of human-induced greenhouse gases. Even though a large portion of these emissions is from specific places or organizations, it doesn’t make us any less responsible for our own emissions. By reducing our carbon footprint we can push bigger groups to do the same. Some ways to reduce emissions is to drive less, buy locally, eat less red meat, turn off any appliances not in use, invest in solar, recycle and reuse, and even just plant a tree or a garden.
Medical waste is defined as being any form of waste produced in large quantities by healthcare centers and is considered to be bio-hazardous. These waste items include used or contaminated needles, syringes, gloves, tubes, blades, body parts or bodily fluids, and more. The US healthcare system is said to contribute 9%-10% of national greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon emissions are released through the incineration or transportation of medical waste from site of contamination to the treatment facility and then to a landfill. How do people who are not in the medical industry help? Stay informed and do research on your hospital’s environmental policies to reduce carbon emissions. Some hospitals, such have Kaiser have signed an agreement to become carbon neutral by 2020. If you find your healthcare centers do not have environmental policies in place and/or produce large quantities of emissions, one of the best options (if able to) would be to switch to an even slightly more eco-conscious healthcare facility. Voting is also extremely important, and if you are old enough to vote into place policies, regulations, and people who will work to reduce healthcare carbon emissions then do so.
Littering is as simple as throwing away or leaving objects on the ground instead of properly disposing of them in a trash or recycling bin. It seems to be that the biggest factor in littering is that people do not care enough to properly throw something away. This inconvenience creates millions of dollars in costs to have someone else clean up the mess so that public areas stay clean and safe. Interestingly enough, cigarette butts make up for over half of the littered objects, meaning other’s bad habits are also killing the Earth. Littering contributes to water and soil pollution, as trash is swept away into gutters or poisons the ground it sits on. Additionally, littering contributes to wildlife deaths, where animals may become trapped in the trash or mistake it as food and choke. One common example of this is sea turtles dying due to unintentionally consuming plastic bags instead of jellyfish because they look so similar. Some ways to reduce littering is by voting in legislation that makes littering a more severe fine, educate others on its causes and effects, picking up litter if you see it, and just stop littering!
Light and noise pollution is a disruption in an environment caused by an increase in light and noise. It is commonplace in more urban areas where street lamps and city lights disturb the natural light cycles and where cars, highways, construction, and other loud noises can be harmful. This is especially a danger for wildlife as almost all animals depend on whether it’s night or day to complete daily activities. Noise pollution can frighten animals, disrupting the normal hearing senses, and preventing them from locating food sources. While it’s hard to make a dent in such a large scale issue, some ways you can help are by voting for stricter noise and light pollution regulations, staying educated on the topic, and turning any lights and/or appliances off that you aren’t using throughout the day/night.
Overpopulation occurs when a species outnumbers the carrying capacity of its environment. In this case, it refers to the fact that there are too many humans on Earth and not enough resources. As our living conditions get better, our medicines more effective, and technology more advanced, fewer people are dying and more people are having children. This is a detriment to us as we will eventually run out of the resources necessary to improve that technology, create medicine, and build homes. Overpopulation also poses a massive threat to other living things on this planet. This leads to the mass extinction of plants and animals which leads to malnutrition in humans. The best way to combat this problem is by being aware of your own carbon footprint and resource intake. Try to cut down on unnecessary items, energy, and other resources. Most importantly, stay educated and read articles, petitions, and legislations around overpopulation.
Trees are a major part of the answer to saving the planet. Currently, forests cover 30% of Earth’s land and that percentage is rapidly decreasing. Trees are incredibly important as they absorb Carbon Dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are emitted by society. Deforestation is caused by a need for farm space, living spaces, and resources. The more the population grows the more space is needed which means there is less space for the other organisms on the planet. Paired with human’s overconsumption of resources, there is even less space for things like trees. 80% of the Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests and so deforestation threatens the existence of hundreds of different species. To combat deforestation: stay educated, vote, plant a tree, reduce your carbon footprint, and be conscientious about the resources you use and how you can lessen them. You should also work to buy more sustainable and local products as well as reduce meat consumption.