2015 Time for Global Action for People and Planet

- What Young People can do for the People and the Planet at a Local Level

 

Winner's name: Justin Chung (South Korea)

Prize: Eco-generation Prize

 

Currently, threats to the environment are significantly growing at a dangerous speed. These threats are being caused by various reasons around the world. I'm from Seoul, Korea where many ecosystem related problems can be spotted all over the city. Littering, smoking, excess use of electricity, etc. are exposed on a daily basis. In this region, polluting the environment has become a natural process and not many are motivated to change this. I truly believe that this needs to be altered to create a healthy planet. In order to settle this problem, everyone needs to contribute, especially children and youth. Just by changing the pattern of our daily lives, we can benefit the environment and resolve the issues.

 

First of all, means of transportation can hugely affect the environment. For instance, using bicycles or just walking to go places are more environment-friendly. Cars and other motor vehicles pollute the air while scooters, bicycles, skateboards, etc. do not. In addition, taking public transportations such as buses or subways can also support the environment. This is very important because pollution needs to be reduced immediately. Pollution is the major problem that causes human and animal casualties, and harms earth in detrimental ways. Among various types of pollution, air pollution is getting worse at an alarming rate and is becoming an epidemic in our society.  Secondly, recycling and preventing littering can be a big part in solving the environmental problem. Recently, I moved into a new apartment that was built just this summer. In our case, we put a lot of effort in filtering recyclable material such as cans, clothes, plastic, etc. We could?ve just thrown all these away into the garbage can, but we decided to sort these into different sections to help the cause. When we completed this process, there was a significant decrease of waste that would've otherwise caused extra pollution. This is when I realized the vital importance of recycling. Due to this personal experience, I believe that recycling can easily be done by a youth like me and gradually help achieve a greater goal. In our everyday lives, we need to remember that our tiny actions of recycling can lead into a huge change in the pollution and the way our world is running. Currently, social media is taking over the entire globe. Then isn't this the perfect chance to share the idea of saving the environment? Just one post on a blog, facebook, twitter, snapchat, instagram, etc. can remind people to be eco-friendly in their daily lives. This can easily be done by young people and is an ideal plan to benefit the ecosystem in practical ways since everyone is linked online. So remember, one small post can change the perspective of many people to be friendly to our debilitated world.

 

In conclusion, the earth is in a helpless state where people need to take action in order to survive. However, remember that it does not take a lot to help the environment. Anyone can do it regardless of age by treating the environment as if it was our own body. For example, just putting a plastic waste into the recycling bin instead of a general garbage bin will eventually help earth to be less contaminated. Through personal experiences, I realized that being eco-friendly is not difficult at all. Ways to help the environment are all around us if we just stop to think about how we can change our actions for the benefit of the environment. Even young people like me could actually help the cause by making small actions and by altering our old and bad habits.

 

 

Origin : http://tunza.eco-generation.org/noticeView.jsp?viewID=13700&searchType=&searchName=&pageNumber=1

 

Justin, Chung