In the modern era, environmental-related problems have attracted much attention. It is said that individuals personally cannot make much contributions to environmental improvement. By contrast, effective changes can only be made by governments and big corporations. From my perspective, I totally disagree with the aforementioned statement, and this essay will illustrate my viewpoints.
Admittedly, governments and big companies may have remarkable influence on a community or society, they can launch programs and advertisements that raise citizens’ awareness about environment conservation. However, if these campaigns could not receive support from people, their influence would become meaningless. For example, the Vietnamese government has recently introduced a plan for the reduction of gas emissions to improve the air quality. They prohibit vehicles using gasoline from several main routes, and encourage citizens to drive electrical motorbikes and cars. This measure has received much protest from city dwellers because most Vietnamese people use gasoline-vehicles, and they cannot afford new electrical ones. As a result, the campaign would face a failure, which may undermine public trust in the governments.
I contend that each person plays a crucial role in environmental improvement. Although individual efforts to protect the environment may appear insignificant, small contributions can gradually lead to substantial outcomes in reducing environmental pollution. When individuals practise simple actions such as waste separation, proper waste disposal, and saving the consumption of electricity and water, they will gradually contribute to the environment’s sustainability. Moreover, they can also encourage their relatives and friends to protect the environment together, which is more practical than the governments’ programs. Thousands of people in the world taking actions and changing their lifestyle would make great contribution to protect our planet, decreasing the speed of global warming and preventing climate change.
In conclusion, I believe that only governments and big businesses cannot succeed in improving the environment without the support from citizens. People on their own, by contrast, play a significant role in environmental protection. All individuals should be aware of their importance themselves as contributors to the success in the reduction of environmental pollution.