The One Which Ties Them All

In environmental science there are multiple pressing issues which we, as residents of planet Earth, have to face in order to ensure the long term sustainability of our planet.  Throughout the semester I have learned about many of these issues and come to realize the importance of being aware of not only how the global community is affecting the environment, but also how as an individual I am affecting mother nature.

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If I were to pick the single most important environmental issue it would be pollution caused by humans.  There is no doubt that humans have more of an impact on our local environment than any other species combined.  The reason I consider pollution to be the greatest environmental issue is because it the cause, directly or indirectly, to all the other major environmental issues.  For example, our gas emissions are driving global warming.  The different types of toxic chemicals which we dump into our water systems is driving species to extinction.  The different types of nuclear tests we have conducted have driven organisms to have mutations.

As a society is our responsibility to stop ourselves from from slowly devastating our environment.  Some of the many actions we can take is advocate for cleaner regulations on the political level.  If some of our policies were to change then it would greatly reduce the negative impact that we have on the world.  If certain companies and other organizations continue to behave in a detrimental behavior then we can use the greatest power in the world to make them change their ways, money.  By appropriating our money responsibly we can punish those who punish the environment and reward those which are more sustainable in their practices.

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Many of the factors that affect and changes I suggested are on the macroeconomic level.  However, change starts at home with the individual.  The average American produce about 4.5 pounds of trash a day.  If we can't change our own habits then how can we expect larger organizations to?  As an individual some of the actions which I can take is to reduce the amount of plastic I use.  Now this a statement when stated usually means plastic bottles.  But as I learned in class even small items such as straws contribute greatly to the amount of pollution which we produce.  So by reducing or eliminating items such as those I can help reduce the severity of this issue.  Another act I can take is by reducing other resources.  Reducing warm showers means less energy required to heat up the water.  Consuming locally grown food equates to less energy needed for the transportation, less energy and chemicals needed to grow food, and overall healthier food.  Changes such as these can be done by individuals and produce real change.

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Throughout the course I gained various different types of knowledge.  I learned that my phone had gold and had components and constructional parts from nearly all the continents of the world.  I also learned the extent of our subsidies for major farms and crops such as corn.  It is due to these subsidies that we have an abundance of corn.  Locally, I discovered something called  Community Supported Agriculture(CSA) which provide fresh food to local residents.  This is something which I have personally become interested in. Going further into food I was surprised at how much food we truly wasted and much of this food was perfectly edible food. Perhaps one of my greatest educational moments of the class was that as country we can never really be energy independent because we would also want to see energy to other countries in order to grow business here.  

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While much of the information I came across in the class was not new, it was the fact that we went in-depth that I really learned a little about how our economic, political, and cultural systems work in regards to the environment.  I intend to use many of the new types of information and opportunities which I learned about in my personal everyday practices.