How Long Before Earth Becomes A Wasteland?

A few days ago, my neighborhood was thrown into chaos after residents noticed a thick dark smoke in the air. It was so much that the smoke in the sky casted a huge shadow on houses, and I was so scared because I thought a house was on fire. I had just my shorts on and rushed to grab a shirt.

I couldn’t even wear it indoors and was running in the direction of the smoke while putting on the shirt. Other residents had stepped out, and we were all rushing to see what was burning. Upon arriving there, we realized someone was burning a heap of tires. I was so angry and just returned home because it made no sense why someone would burn tires where there are recyclers who pick these things up everywhere. If you don’t need them, you can give them out instead of contributing to the air pollution we are struggling with already.

From burning of items that can be recycled releasing dirty fumes contaminating the air we breathe in to dumping of refuse clogging drainages causing floods, especially in this time of the year when we experience excessive rainfall, and many more are little things that contribute to the massive effects of pollution on the world.

Shared Responsibility in a Global Crisis

We are all responsible, and nobody is a saint when it comes to pollution, and what differentiates us is how heavily involved we are. There are people who don’t burn or dispose their waste wrongly, but they pile pressure on the industries to produce products they could have just recycled. The industries end up cutting down trees, damaging the soil just to get natural resources, and in the end, they release their waste into the air or ocean causing harm to the ecosystem, so automatically you’ve played a part.

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Pollution is a global crisis, and we are yet to see the worse consequences because for now, the real consequences are still in the gym preparing to strike.

Humans in general have become nonchalant about waste disposal; we don’t care about the ecosystem, and yet, we pretend to do.

It’s even funny how the elites in the society who fund campaigns against pollution are the biggest contributors because they own the industries. Our leaders who should stand against it go about with 15-20 convoys, all these cars emitting toxic fumes, so how do we tackle pollution properly?

I have thought about this a lot of times, and what comes to my mind mostly is that we’ve lost the war against pollution, and the consumerism lifestyle we are obsessed with turned out to be the gas that keeps pollution burning.

A Glimmer of Hope, but Challenges Remain

I don’t want to sound too negative and would just assume that there is still a way to reduce but not eradicate pollution. Yes, I meant it when I said we can’t end pollution because there is no way humans won’t generate waste, and considering the rate at which the world population is growing, pollution will only grow worse.

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Solutions to Curb Pollution

To curb the growth, everyone has to play a part just like we’ve all contributed to the whole problem.

• Strict Government Rules: I believe that the government making strict rules to curb pollution will go a long way, and it won’t be just the citizens obeying the rules. Every individual in the government must obey the rules if we ever want them to have an impact.

• Mindful Consumption: Minding our consumption would make a difference as usual, and we don’t need the government to help us with that. We really should embrace recycling and upcycling to reduce the demands on products that would force industries to produce more. I know it’s not easy because of what we are used to, but for the sake of the planet Earth, our home, creating a balance is important.

A Sobering Reality

I don’t see these things happening though, and someday, we will realize how much we’ve damaged the Earth. Global warming, climates, and natural disasters here and there are mere warnings. I just hope it’s not too late before we understand that pollution is clearly destroying our planet.

_{All Image Are Mine.}