Робота на Genius Olympiad Луценко Катерини

  Environmental pollution from my eyes

    Unfortunately, one of the major concerns of today's world is the state of ecology and environmental pollution. That won’t be an exaggeration to say that in this contemporary era, the aftermath of human's merciless attitude and actions towards our planet is enormous. Our civilization has put a tremendous footprint on the Earth and we carry on deteriorating our Mother Nature, miserably. To a certain extent, humanity is the environment’s main evil and enemy. Humankind has a deleterious effect on the current ecological conditions. Due to depleting natural resources, dumping hazardous waste into water, deforestation, emitting greenhouse gases, air pollution, and climate change, our planet is on the verge of reaching a tipping point. A huge amount of scientists claim that irreversible harm may be caused soon if we don’t react and take adequate measures.    Sadly enough, ecological difficulties are common and ubiquitous in this day and age. Needless to say, every facet of our marvelous and alluring planet has suffered from every type of pollution: from Canada to Australia, from Japan to South Africa, and from Brazil to the UK. Unquestionably, each and everyone is a witness to it. Living in Ukraine, I can certainly declare that. Even before the invasion, I could observe the cruel and gruesome results of human existence. For example, uncontrolled emission of gases produced by factories, discharge of pollutants into rivers, and deforestation yield dangerous results. These are the most prevalent hardships for nature in Ukraine. Today, not only do these unpleasant troubles exist and aggravate the ecological situation but also the fiery war has worsened the state of our ecology. To illustrate, a vast amount of rockets, bombs, and depots exploding pollute the air. From my experience, ecological pollution is a controversial topic and people have different opinions concerning this subject. Personally, I believe that it is an elephant in the room for many Ukrainians. Being aware of this problem, a sizeable number of individuals tend to ignore the fact that Ukraine has suffered from this severe affliction as well. In my view, the reason for this is people aren’t willing to step out of their comfort zone for the sake of their future generations, they don’t want to sacrifice their convenience to save our planet. Frankly speaking, a human is an egoistic, conceited and vain creature, thus it is understandable why individuals are inclined to think so. Apart from having a fair share of negligence, Ukraine has many conscious people who are mindful of the environment and try to combat ecological problems. There are numerous organizations that take care of nature by doing the best they can. As I want to preserve our planet, I decided to enroll in a local environment club as well. We exert ourselves to do everything we can. For example sorting out plastic, gathering used paper and taking it to the recycling center, and disposing trash of from beaches and forests is the foremost task. I am surrounded by diligent and zealous people that are eager to fight against all the awful consequences of our existence. Luckily, awareness is being raised in Ukrainian society. More and more human beings become acquainted with this information and understand the depth of ecological issues and how they jeopardize and complicate our further life. This shift is essential in order to smuggle against these difficulties and take prompt action in my Motherland.       Undeniably, every country has faced environmental hardships and is a victim of diverse problems such as climate change, air/water/soil pollution, deforestation, etc. Owning to my traveling to different states in Europe, I am able to share my expertise of what I have observed there. That won’t be an exaggeration to say that Europeans greatly preserve nature. The notion of it is superiorly implemented in European society. In every country, people have distinctive behavior regarding eco-problems. It seems to me that living in an ecofriendly way is an inextricable part of their routine. There is plenty of recycling centers even in downtown areas which enable residents to follow their principles more. Furthermore, I think that governments encourage people to be more conscious by executing new laws. EU environmental policies and legislation keep air and water clean, protect natural habitats, ensure proper waste disposal, improve knowledge about toxic chemicals and raise awareness of environmental problems. One of the notable examples is Vienna, Austria. There, I have seen many people with bags in their hands full of garbage, heading to the recycling center. That really astonished me as Ukrainians aren’t accustomed to doing that. To a certain extent, I was even envious of it. Once, I visited one of these points to see what it looks like. Well, it was a great experience. They are vastly superior to Ukrainian ones in terms of modernization. The technology is tremendously enhanced and this process of recycling is quite fast. Therefore, one can easily add it to their day-to-day routine. Another prominent example may be Sweden. It was a pioneer in introducing a carbon tax, which has helped reduce dependency on fossil fuels. In addition, it isn’t a secret that the level of renewable energy is relatively high, and is one of the greenest countries in the entire world. I was impressed and pleasantly shocked by the fact that they manage to convert the trash into energy. That’s a striking idea. During my trip to Sweden, I understood why this country is praised for its awesome environmental protection. Its streets are very clean and recycling dustbins are everywhere. The Swedes are abundantly educated in the ecological problems of their country and hence help the environment as much as they can. For instance, they incorporate eco-friendly habits into their routine such as turning off the water when brushing their teeth, opting for showers instead of baths, or turning off lights when they left rooms. By developing these simple habits, one is able to save our planet without even realizing it. Europe is truly the epitome of a proactive approach towards eco problems and how to deal with them.  

      As I become more and more conscious of ecological problems, I want to try my best to prevent them from happening. Even though Ukraine isn’t in an atrocious situation like China is now, but still, I am just willing to avert this danger in my homeland or, at least, not to worsen it completely. The thought of it makes me conjure up some memories from my childhood. When I was a child, I liked spending time in nature. My grandma lives in a village not far from the forest and lake. For this reason, my parents drove me to her place, so that I could both spend time with her and observe magnificent landscapes. Since my birth I have been living in the city therefore interacting with nature was of key importance to my parents. They wanted me to spend my most cheerful days in this kind of environment. I had so much fun in the forest, in the valley. I adored swimming in the local lake and the water used to be crystal clear. Well, it used to be like that. Then, a factory started discharging its remains into this lake. So, a  huge amount fish died because of it and now it is perilous to swim there. It happened when I was twelve years old and since then the condition of this lake has been getting worse.  Moreover, the local woods were also endangered as some entrepreneurs wanted to cut down trees and capitalize on them. Luckily, native residents of this village went the extra mile for saving it by addressing the governor of our region. At that age, I understood that humanity is cruel, and callous and has no mercy on nature. I felt so sorry for it. So since I was little, I have been trying to ease the tension and help our planet. Of course, the measures I take are seemingly useless, but if everybody takes them, the situation will be better overall. Still, as Neal Armstrong said:” One small step for a man, a huge leap for mankind”. To begin with, I have developed eco-friendly habits that I mentioned earlier when writing about the Swedes’ ecological conduct. For instance, I don’t waste water and don’t use it in vain, in supermarkets I utilize fabric bags instead of plastic ones or I turn off the light when I don’t need it. Moreover, I plant trees annually with my grandmother near our house. I have a very specific tradition: when I break up for my summer holidays, I celebrate it by planting vegetation.

Furthermore, as above-mentioned, I enroll in a local environment club too. Going in for it was one of my decisions I am wholeheartedly proud of.  

    To sum up, everything that has been mentioned, our planet is in danger. Because of our bad treatment nature struggles a lot. Humans aren’t omnipotent as they think they are. Our Mother Earth is wiser and stronger than we are. Ecological damage is our fault. To make matters worse, the Earth is on the verge of reaching a tipping point and irreversible consequences may appear. Therefore, it is high time to act decisively and fast before it’s too late. Our civilization is endangered as well. We are part of nature too, so try to be more eco-friendly and kind to it.