As humans the earth, it’s environment is something we should be passionate about, because it affects us all as individuals.

Environmental conservation and ways we can contribute to this as individuals.

Facts

Environmental Conservation simply means the protection, management, preservation or restoration of natural environments and ecological communities that inhibit them.

As of June 2018, the world population is estimated at 7.6 billion people and we emit about 38.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide yearly from the burning of fossil fuels only. This is more than triple of the world’s estimated population.

As of 2017 20% of the ozone layer has been depeleted, Majority of the world’s water body is polluted with plastic waste, which accounts for the death of over one million sea birds and 100,000 sea mammals every year .

According to World Resource Institute 80% of the world’s natural forest is polluted or cleared for agricultural purposes.

According to a research conducted by WHO traces of microplastics is found in 90% of popular bottle water brands, as well as tap water .

All these facts shows that if serious efforts are not made, by 2050 we would have succeeded in producing more waste than the environment can accomodate , the earth would be inhibitable and there would be no/little resources available for coming generations.

5 Ways to contribute to Environmental Conversion as Individuals

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

On average we purchase 5 times more clothes and food than they need, this mostly ends up unused or discarded.

In an effort to help with healing the environment, we should aim to reduce our purchases, this means buying only what you absolutely need.

Reusing means investing in products that are durable and can be used multiple times and gifting them out when we can no longer use them.

Recycling means transforming an already used product from waste into another usable product, while this cannot be done individually we should aim to collect these items and sell to recyclers. For example storing up used plastic and selling to people who go around collecting them for recycling.

Say no to single use plastic

Single use plastic is one of the major contributors to pollution, there has been a considerable increase in the production and use of single use plastic.

In order to conserve the environment, it is advised that we invest in other alternatives to plastic.

Store water in reusable bottles for daily use, take your own tupperware to food vendors to avoid collecting plastic bags and plates, use paper bags for grocery shopping instead of plastic bags, invest in reusable cloth bags for shopping.

Energy conservasion

Non-renewable energy forms almost 80% of the world’s electricity source with only a tiny 22% coming from renewable sources.

If this is an option in your community try to invest in renewable sources of energy. But when impossible here are ways that we can still conserve energy even when using non renewable energy sources.

By using energy conserving bulbs in our homes and offices, Putting off electric bulbs, fans and other appliances when they are not in use, Trying as much as we can to purchase and use appliances that have been made to use less electricity etc.

Form a car pool

Automobiles are the biggest contributors to carbon emissions in the environment, by forming a car pool (traveling with friends and colleagues in one car) we not only save money but also contribute to the goal of reducing our carbon footprint.

If you do not have a friend who owns a car, then it is also advisable to use public transportation whenever you can, Ghana has a very extensive and well connected public transport system.

Plant a tree/own a plant

Trees help to regulate the environment, they absorb the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to produce the oxygen that we breathe in.

Currently most of the world’s forest has been depleted and trees are cleared everyday to accommodate man’s need for civilisation, if we all can plant a tree it would go a long way towards reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Home plants are asthetically pleasing and can also help to absorb carbon dioxide from the environment.

Bonus point

We as Individuals have to be more conscious of our environment and it’s needs, it is our duty to protect the other forms of life that we have on this earth.

It is also our responsibility to ensure that the earth is still inhibitable and there is enough resources for future generations.

Therefore environmental conservation should be seen as a duty not a choice, if we can heal the environment we can reduce issues such as low food production, global warming, melting of ice caps, depletion of the ozone layer (which exposes us to harmful rays from the sunlight) etc.

Thank you for reading,
How are you as an individual contributing to Environmental health and conservation?

Leave your comments and suggestions below in the comment section.

Until next time, Beautiful Almond