Nowadays, the importance of environmental protection is widely recognized. While some people understand that people cannot do anything to solve a large-scale environmental problem, others believe that the authorities will not achieve anything without the help of people. In this essay, I will discuss both perspectives in depth and then illustrate why I believe that people’s participation is crucial to solving these environmental problems.
There are many compelling reasons why some believe that ordinary people cannot contribute to solving big environmental problems, and most importantly, the power of each individual is limited. As a result, all our efforts and attempts can only have a minimal impact on the overall situation. For example, a recent survey in Japan found that the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere by a single volcanic eruption can exceed the world’s industrial emissions in a decade. As can be seen, people have good reason to believe that the efforts of the ordinary person are insignificant to the vastness of problems in the environment.
On the contrary, some oppose this idea and say that citizens can contribute a lot in solving environmental problems by cooperating with the government, because the government cannot do anything without the help of the community members. I think that if authorities and citizens work together, they can solve all environmental problems. Besides that, individuals should be encouraged for solving some environmental issues by the government. For instance, in some countries people are being encouraged for picking the rubbish up in the park and turn off the lights when leaving. Even in some places, special containers have been set aside for disposing of unusable bottles, in which people can earn money by throwing wastes.
In conclusion, although, some think that ordinary people cannot solve big environmental problems, the government and citizens should work together to solve the biggest environmental problems.