Friends of the Earth Trust
Friends of the Earth Trust is an educational charity set up to help people of all ages become aware of the threats to our environment. Pollution is just one of these. The destruction of wildlife and wasting our natural resources are others.
In Britain, the countryside is disappearing or being destroyed – modern farming, mining, motorways and power stations are all adding to this destruction. By the year 2010, about half the world's animal and plant species could be extinct.
Every year a forest the size of Wales is cut down to make paper for use in Britain. If more people used recycled paper, fewer trees would be cut down, and there would be less waste to dispose of. Another important benefit would be the new jobs created in the collection of waste paper.
New jobs would also be created if there was a large programme to save energy in buildings. It is cheaper to save energy than to produce electricity, but vast amounts of money are spent on nuclear power. From the mining of uranium to the disposal of radioactive waste, there are a number of threats to the environment. In addition, there are close connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. There are safer sources of energy.
Energy could also be saved if more short journeys were made by bicycle. This would reduce pollution and traffic congestion. Cycleways should be built to make cycling safer.
The threats to our environment are all related. For instance, building cycleways instead of unnecessary new roads would save energy and reduce pollution and the destruction of our wildlife.