save environment essay
Answers
Environment commonly refers to the surroundings in which all living and non-living things reside and establish a sense of attraction with one another. These include air, water, soil, human beings, animals, etc. However being a part of the city, town or village, we observe that the environment around us was originally a natural landscape, for instance, a desert, a forest, or even a river that has been shovelled by humans for buildings, roads and factories.
But even the people belonging to the metropolitan cities get their food, fish, fuel wood and fodder supplied from rural areas, which are eventually extracted from the natural landscapes. Hence, our dependence on natural resources has made it essential for us to take considerable measures to prevent the destruction and depletion of our natural environment.
A geographical area or the natural world that includes mineral soil, air and water, animals, etc. which is affected by human activity is termed as environment. With the movement of the Homo sapiens towards urbanisation and industrialization which led to the development in medical, industrial and societal field, the natural landscape got replaced by concrete buildings and roads. However, our dependency on these natural landscapes for food, water for drinking and agriculture, fuel wood, etc. still persists. This dependency of ours on nature is to such a large extent that we cannot survive without protecting its resources.
These natural resources can broadly be categorized into renewable and non-renewable ones. Renewable resources are the ones that can be regenerated naturally. These include water, forest, crops etc. On the contrary, the non-renewable resources such as oils and minerals cannot be replenished and in the present scenario are being consumed at a very fast pace.
The main factors leading to this rapid depletion of all forms of natural resources are population growth and ‘consumerism’ on the part of the privileged sections of the society. This has led to loss of not only wildlife and trees, but has also disrupted the eco-system. Thus, it is high time that we should stop misusing these natural resources and instead use them judiciously.
Importance of Saving Our Environment
Today in the industrial and urban sectors, this environment comprises of well paved roads, multi-story concrete buildings and skyscrapers. Their main motive is to accommodate the increasing population and provide various luxuries to the affluent sections of the society.
However, despite this movement the reliability of humans on the resources derived from nature still persists. We use air for breathing, water for drinking and other daily chores. Even the food we eat is derived from plants and animals including vegetables, milk, eggs, etc. In consideration of these requirements, protection of these resources has become very important which can be categorised as:
Renewable Resources: As the word suggests, renewable resources can be renewed naturally through rainfall and re-growth. However, these will be depleted if their consumption at this fast pace continues, even before nature can replace them. For example, rubber, timber, fresh water.Non-Renewable Resources: These resources have been formed over a period of millions of years under the soil and hence cannot be replenished. Once used, the non-renewable resources including fossil fuels such as coal and oil can’t be renewed.
Conclusion
The need of the hour is to prevent the misuse of resources and instead use them judiciously as Mother Earth cannot sustain with this rapid utilization of resources. This is only possible through ‘sustainable development’. Moreover, the solid and liquid by-products discarded as garbage by manufacturing units should be equitably managed in order to prevent pollution that leads to various diseases like cancer and gastro-intestinal diseases. This is possible only if steps are taken on the individual basis, rather than depending entirely on the government.