How can we save our earth? Caring for the environment is the way forward. This article aims at giving you the reasons and methods of protecting this wonderful planet.

Caring For The Environment: 8 Reasons to Protect & Sustain Earth

The environment around us is not only our home but everything that keeps us alive. From the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, our shelter and more, it helps us to survive. Therefore, caring for the environment is something that should be inherent in us.

Sometimes, our actions endanger everything that surrounds us, including ourselves. Our interaction with the environment should be in a way that we use the resources that nature provides, but in a sustainable manner. Here is a guide to what sustainability means and how to practice it daily.

We should ensure that our actions don’t end up harming the environment as we are the ones to suffer later.

Today, let’s look at how we can take care of our environment, as well as the reasons why we should protect the earth and the environment.

Why is it Important to Take Care of Our Environment?

We Only Have One Earth As Our Home

Why is the environment important? Although some of us may take this lightly, it is critical to know that we don’t have anywhere else we can run to. If we spoil what we have here, we will suffer the consequences of our actions. If we take care of nature, then nature will also take care of us in return.

When we pollute the water sources, we are the ones who will lack clean water. If again we cut down all trees for our short-term goals, we will suffer global warming, lack of rainfall to grow our food, and many other adverse situations.

Therefore, if we love our lives, we must love nature.

See Related: Important Health & Environmental Benefits of Solar Energy

Clean Environment Means Healthier Lives

The more we take care of our environment, the more we can have a cleaner and habitable home. If on the other hand, we neglect nature and undertake actions that harm it, the more difficulties we will have to access clean essentials like water, food, and shelter.

Polluted water sources and air will bring about devastating effects like diseases, such as cancer and various respiratory disease. Everyone, therefore, has a role in ensuring they maintain a clean environment we can all live in.

A report by US EPA showed that air pollution is closely associated with various body conditions like asthma and heart attacks, premature mortality, bronchitis and more.

The research also indicates that our indoor surroundings are 2 to 5 times more contaminated than the outside environment.

Rise In The Overall Earth’s Temperatures

Even just a minor increase in the atmospheric temperature can bring drastic changes in the weather patterns. If the average global temperatures rise, it means we will have changes in seasons which will affect both plants and animals.

Some plants may not survive in some temperatures, which would mean that some areas will start to experience food shortages. We will also experience things like strong storms and floods, among others. If you thought global warming wasn’t real, you should think again, it is real and here with us.

The worst thing about this is that human beings are the major contributors to these negative occurrences. Our activities such as industrialization, and waste disposal methods are some of the major causes of greenhouse gases.

Our habit of cutting down trees reduces the ability of nature to reduce gases like CO2 from the atmosphere.

Caring For The Environment Protects The Ecosystem And Humanity

Almost all our activities affect the ecosystem in one way or the other. If we negatively impact the ecosystem, we put various species on the verge of extinction. For example, if we pollute the water bodies with plastic or leaked oil, we kill the species that live there.

Therefore, as we produce, consume and dispose of waste materials, we should think of how it will affect the ecosystem. Again, it does not only affect what surrounds us, but it also affects us as well. Some poisonous gases and radioactive wastes directly affect human life.

Biodiversity is Essential

The term biodiversity stands for the availability of different types of animals, plants and other organisms in the world. Biodiversity offers us the chance to get everything we require for survival. Based on a study by EPA, biodiversity can easily be affected by both human activities and natural forces.

We are able to get food, air, water and shelter because of biodiversity. There exist various natural processes formed by different species that enable the availability of these essential life elements.

If anything happens that may affect these processes, a chain of reactions may occur, which may not be favorable.

Therefore, we should take care of our surroundings to prevent occurrences that may be detrimental to our source of livelihood.

See Related: Best Quotes About Sustainability

The Environment Provides Various Raw Materials And Habitats

The various things we use like furniture, rubber, food, and shelter, among others, comes from raw materials we get from forests. Deforestation, therefore, means that we are at risk of lacking such essential materials.

Also, forests offer a home to different birds, animals and even some people. Almost half of the world’s species live in these forests. If we destroy our forests, we destroy the home of multiple species.

We should, therefore, make sure that we use forest resources at a rate that doesn’t affect its life.

We Have A Moral Obligation

Since nature is the source of our livelihood, it’s only right that we should also be kind to it. Every person has a moral obligation to take care of nature. Not only, because it takes care of us, but because it’s also the right thing to do.

We get everything from nature for free. It will be greedy and insensitive of us to destroy the one thing that gives us life.

The noblest thing we can do is to preserve this beautiful environment so that we can continue to reap the sweet fruits it offers.

Protecting The Environment is An Excellent Way to Give Back

One indisputable thing is that we only live because nature offers us resources. Whether we want to hear it or not, if nature is gone, we will also disappear with it. Therefore, caring for the environment is a great way to show that we care and appreciate it.

Everything that keeps our lives moving comes from nature. Whether its energy; renewable or non-renewable, all come from the same environment.

If we preserve the environment, then we are giving back to the planet. This is a major reason why we should take care of the earth.

See Related: List of Best Palm Oil Free Products

How Can We Save Our Earth

If we want to protect our environment, here is a guide on how to take care of the earth.

Make Use of 3R Waste Management

These are the best steps to ensure that less waste reaches landfills and in return, less pollution. The 3 R’s of waste management stands for “reduce, reuse, and recycle“.

If we can reduce the number of waste materials we produce through reuse and recycling, it means that we move one step forward to protecting our environment.

What we can not reuse, we can recycle to make new products that will reduce the necessity for new raw material. For example, if we recycle paper, we will not need to cut down too many trees to make new paper.

Also, when we recycle, we prevent paper waste from piling up in landfills which in turn generates considerable amounts of greenhouse gases.

Recycling will also ensure that things like plastics don’t end up in water bodies like oceans, as it can cause multiple dangers to marine life.

See how to choose the right recycling center for your needs.

Conserve Water Resources

Protecting our environment doesn’t have to be so complicated. Even the simple things that seem obvious, can play a major role in this. For example, when it comes to water, the act of turning off water taps after use will ensure that we don’t waste this essential product.

Also, if you have a leaky faucet, it’s better to fix it to ensure no more water leaks out.

Those tiny drops you ignore may add up to significant amounts every day, which may have been used elsewhere. Use these resources about water:

Use Clean Energy Sources

Most of the energy sources we use to drive our day to day lives generate emissions that might be environmentally harmful. For example, fossil fuels are one of the major causes of greenhouse gasses. Petroleum and other products produce greenhouse gases like CO2 when they burn.

Therefore, reducing the use of such products can reduce the greenhouse effect and lead to a cleaner environment. Also, if petroleum leaks during transportation, it may cause serious effects both to the water bodies and land.

We should, therefore, strive to make use of renewable, clean energy like solar, wind, biomass and more.

This way, we will guarantee a future for the coming generations. Did you know that you can elect to clean energy for free with no installation cost with Arcadia Power?

Use my link and you will get a $20 credit when you link your electric bill.

Shop Wisely

When we go shopping its prudent that we consider a few things. For example, the packaging of some products or packing bags. If we can avoid plastic bags and use more eco-friendly bags, we can reduce the amount of plastic we produce daily.

The best thing is to carry your reusable bags for shopping, to avoid buying the one-time-use bags.

Also, we can reduce the amount of plastic in our environment if we can buy less bottled water. We can use purified water instead and buy reusable purifying bottles.

This will help us avoid the use of single-use plastic bottles which are non-biodegradable.

Reduce The Use of Chemicals

If we use too many chemicals in our farms, the chemicals end up in the soil and water bodies. Some of these chemicals can negatively affect some plants and animals, as well as human life.

Also, industrial chemicals that sometimes find their way into rivers and oceans can sometimes cause harmful and even fatal effects within the ecosystem.

Therefore, we should always take care of what we dispose of the environment to avoid pollution.

Effects of Not Caring For The Environment

Scarcity of Water

Not caring for our environment translates to pollution and degradation of the environment. If for instance, we pollute the sources of clean water, it means that we will have less clean water for consumption.

Water is a necessary element of life and, there is no life without it. Therefore, if we don’t have clean water, it means that we will lose lives — both for animals and plants.

Air pollution

The cars we drive, the industries and energy plants, all produce harmful gases to the environment. The more polluted the atmosphere is, the more challenges and diseases we will face. In a study by the UN, they suggest that around 300,000 to 700,000 deaths occur each year as a result of air pollution.

Air pollution causes numerous chronic health issues that are sometimes fatal to humanity. Things like acid rain are also due to pollution, and they affect both plants and animals.

Air pollution will also lead to global warming, which will, in turn, lead to floods, intense storms, and change in weather patterns.

Solid, Hazardous Wastes

Sometimes we leave waste material lying around anywhere. These dumping sites can be breeding spots for dangerous bacteria and diseases. All these are harmful to us and future generations.

Some solid wastes also block water passages and drainage, which also poses a great danger to human life.

Food Scarcity

Continued deforestation and mining are some of the activities that lower soil quality. Low soil quality means less food production and therefore, food crisis for the population. Soil degradation is a serious factor in food production and that if not well addressed will cause food scarcity.

Deforestation also translates to less rainfall which not only reduces the amount of clean water but also the quantity of food production. No rain, less food.

Loss of Biodiversity

Extinction of some species is one thing that will happen if we don’t take care of our surroundings. Less biodiversity implies that we will lack some essential requirements in life. For instance, some medicinal plants may get extinct, which can be a great loss for us.

Also, it will affect the beauty of our environment, and we can no longer enjoy the serene environment with various plants and animals that we previously knew.

See Related: Difference Between Biodegradable and Nonbiodegradable Material

Conclusion On Caring For The Environment

If you thought we had a choice, then too bad. Caring for our environment is a must. If we want to guarantee ourselves a healthy life, as well as a good life for future generations, it a must that we preserve our environment.

I hope that this article helps you to see the need for environmental preservation and how we can do it.

Go green and save the planet earth.

How much more do you think we should do to preserve the environment? Share with us in our comments area.

Related Resources

Green Coast is a renewable energy community solely focused on helping people better understand renewable energy technologies and the environment.