Why is environmental protection necessary?

How
can we protect and conserve our environment?
Environmental protection is very important as man is dependent on Nature for life.
There are many small things you can do to reduce the ill-effects on the environment.
For instance, whenever you go out of the room, make it a rule to switch off electrical
appliances. In case of no work, turn off all electric devices. Other environment-
friendly measures are detailed below:

Some environment protection measures

1. Environmental protection begins from family

Family is the first school of environment-learning in the right sense. Family members
can give the right kind of lessons in environmental protection to the children through
many illustrations. The responsibility of every plant in the house can be given to each
member, especially to the children. Let them know the names of trees and plants,
and share specific things related to them. Animals should be reared in the house so
that children develop a bond with them. They should also be given projects such as
‘herbarium files’. They need to break themselves free from computer games, and the
captivity of rooms.

2. Imbibe simplicity in life

There was a time when children used to have a deep relationship with plants,
butterflies and birds. Recognition of houses was often associated with some tree.
Fruits were also associated with the weather. But nowadays, phrases such as
‘seasonal-fruits’ are out-dated. The stone-walls of civilization have not only divided,
but have swallowed truthfulness, honesty and earthiness of life. The talk of ‘use and
throw’ has moved from lifeless objects to our lifestyle. Simple life seems to have
been lost somewhere. Today there are ten solutions of every problem. How
complicated we have made our life! We should go for a simple lifestyle to reduce the
carbon footprint. To begin with, whenever you go out of the room, make it a rule to
switch off electrical appliances.

3. Save the Forest Cover

The growth of industries is generally considered as the basis of development.

Agriculture and irrigation are emphasized for food production, but not enough
attention is paid to the understanding of the importance of forest wealth. Forests are
just considered to be encircling the land that can be harvested for farming.
Agriculture has also been used for cutting wood and timber; trees have been cut
indiscriminately; generally, there is an apathetic attitude to the need to replace them
with new trees. Therefore, today we have become poor in terms of the forest wealth
and are facing many of its dire consequences for environment.

If the earth remains green with the help of tree-plantation, then man has many direct
and indirect benefits. From fuel and timber to fruit-flowers, medicines, air-
conditioning, balance of rainfall, organic fertilizers, prevention of earth erosion,
floods, to providing shelter to birds eating insects to protect crops, there are
countless benefits. As Scottish botanist Robert Chambers has written, if the forest is
destroyed, then there will be a shortage of water, the fertility of the land will be
reduced and the yield of crops will decrease, the animals will die, the birds will fall.
The curse of the forest-annihilation will create five terrible fierceness are – flood,
drought, heat, famine and diseases. We inadvertently destroy forest wealth and lose
more than what we find from it.

4. Plant more and more trees

Trees are the biggest source of oxygen. In the process of photosynthesis, plants
emit the most essential oxygen. In this way, trees provide the basis for the life of
man. Apart from this, vegetation also forms the diet of the creatures. Flora provides
nourishment to us.

We should grow, instead of cutting, trees. Plant must be made a mandatory gift on
specific occasions. If every person plants a tree, then environment would improve
significantly. The air will be cleaner, the number of trees will increase, and pollution,
global warming and greenhouse effect will be reduced.

As a matter of fact, plants and trees have great importance for human beings. They
are the basis of human life, but today man is neglecting them by not understanding
their significance and usage. With an eye on secondary benefits from them, we are
continuously exploiting them. We should plant as many trees as we cut down, but
this is not happening and their number is continuously decreasing. As a result, many
problems have cropped up before mankind.

In the scriptures, tulsi, banyan, peepal, amla etc have been counted as divine
creatures. Trees are part of human family; they keep us alive by providing life
energy. They are so much more useful to us. Therefore, we should try to plant more
trees. Today, all people should try to adopt measures for environmental protection.

5. Avoid packaged food

Minimize the use of packaged commodities as they comprise one-third of the

industrial waste. So, think about packaging before buying the product. Individually
wrapped candy produces more garbage, while fresh fruits and vegetables are
healthier and produce less garbage.

6. Avoid red meat

In comparison to beef and pork, fish and poultry have very little impact on the
environment, while other protein sources including nuts and organic soy are less
harmful to the planet.

7. Adopt organic food

The vegetables we eat today are grown using chemicals and pesticides. If we grow
vegetables without the use of chemicals and pesticides, it will enhance soil fertility,
and will be beneficial for both our health and the environment.
 8. Help protect -wildlife and rainforests

Do not buy products made from wildlife skins. Do not buy foreign pets who have
been brought from the forest. When you do not want to keep your pets, let them go.
Before buying a pet, make sure you are ready to take care of it. Keeping a pet is a
job of responsibility.

Do not buy wood products from other countries unless you know they are from
environment-friendly suppliers. A good way to know whether a wood is favourable to
the environment or not, is to see “Authentication Label” on it. An example of an
authentication label is “FSC-certified” which means that it follows globally recognized
certification system under the forest conservation standards set by Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC).

Learn more about rainforests and living plants and organisms. Tell your friends and
parents why rainforests are important.

9. Consume Less, Repeat, Reuse

Environmental protection and preservation can be achieved with the right approach.
Unlike the world of use and throw, the “saving” civilization should be encouraged.
Reduce your consumption; for instance, use both sides of the stationery. Take as
much food on your plate as you can eat. Goods and commodities should be
collected in a tidy manner in the home so that they can be prevented from going into
vain. You will do well to drive fuel efficient cars, and do not depend on heaters to
keep yourself warm.

Almost all things can be reused. Try to buy products that are capable of recycling.
Use the clothes bag: say no to polythene and plastic. Glass, paper, plastic or metal,
all these things can be used again. Jars, wine bottles, broken glasses, old
newspapers, papers, cardboards etc or any other thing which is no longer useful,
can be recycled.

10. Reduce water consumption

We should not waste water because water is life. Clean and fresh water is the need
of our daily life as well as it is becoming more and more valuable over time and if we
are not doing anything to save it so far, water will be more valuable than gold in the
future. Therefore, it is very important that whatever we can do to save water and
prevent water contamination; we should do with greater efforts. Even our small
deeds can help in environment protection. For instance, we should close the basin
faucet or tap while brushing and shaving, spent less water during bath, and use
washing machine only when dirty clothes are enough to wash. Wash clothes with
cold water and do not use dryer. Oil and colour should not be flown in the drains,
because they contaminate the rivers and finally the sea.

11. Reduce the use of electricity

Prefer to work in sunlight during the day. Turn off the power switch when you do not
need electricity. Once you have used an electrical appliance, you should turn it off.
Turn off laptop chargers or toasters, as these appliances can consume a “phantom”
of energy, even if unplugged from power. This will save not only your electricity bill
but also energy consumption. When light bulbs are damaged, replace them with
energy-efficient bulbs. To save energy, LED or CFL bulbs have arrived nowadays,
replace the bulbs of your home with the new energy-saving devices. Once you leave
the office, you should turn off your computer and monitor. So, save energy, by
turning off everything when there is no use for electricity, whether it’s lights, TVs,
computers, printers.

Use phone, mobile, laptop, etc on ‘power saving mode’. By doing so, you will help in
reducing the power consumption. Keep a timer which can run daily and turn off
various appliances on auto mode.

A lot of things can be turned off with a power bar change. You can plug all your
devices into one area – say, your computer – in a power bar when you are using all
the devices. Otherwise, just switch off the power bar on the switch.

12. Use renewable energy sources

In USA around 71% of the electricity is produced by burning of fossil fuels which
emits greenhouse gases in the environment. An average house operated by a coal
utility burn 12,000 pounds of coal in one year which cause about the same amount of
pollution as produced by two cars. The use of renewable energy as a source of
primary power will be equivalent to planting of 400 plants to reduce indoor pollution.

You should look for resources to generate electricity from renewable sources. Make
the most of solar energy; increase the use of solar-cooker. Support environmental
issues such as the use of renewable energy.

13. Adopt healthier habits

Smoking aggravates cardiovascular diseases and air pollution. The environment can
be saved to a great extent by reducing air pollution by not smoking.

14. Take regular care of vehicles

Pollution is rapidly increasing due to vehicular emissions. If you take care of your
vehicles properly and periodically check their pollution levels, you can contribute
greatly to environmental protection and conservation. Also, walk as much as you can
to reduce burning of fossil fuel.

Conclusion

Air pollution today is a very serious problem for the entire world. There is acute
scarcity of pure air. The clean air present in the atmosphere is the basis of life to
people. In its absence, the proportion of other toxic gases increases and causes
catastrophe to all living organisms. People who breathe in a polluted air are unlikely
to live long and stay healthy. Research scientists believe that the vital air is
decreasing in the atmosphere of earth and other harmful elements are increasing. If
this is the speed of destruction of the tree wealth, the contaminated gases in the
atmosphere will become so much that life on earth will become difficult. The only
solution to this difficult situation is green enrichment. Experts say that if greenery is
not cultivated, the problems like global warming will assume terrible proportions.

In ancient times, the saints and hermits used to raise and nurture trees near their
ashram. They were acutely aware of environmental protection. They considered
vegetation to be life-giving and gave paramount importance to raising trees.

Unfortunately, some people believe that only the government and the big companies
in general should do something for the protection of environment. This is far from
true. In fact, every person can contribute towards protecting the environment from
pollution, residues, emissions, all kinds of wastes and increasing population.
Everyone should be entrusted with the responsibility and authority to take care of
environment.