Many people think it is very important to protect the environment but they make no effort to do it themselves. Why do you think this is the case? What actions should individuals take to protect the environment?

It is abundantly clear today that our

environment

is under threat. There are many who believe in the importance of looking after it, but take no

action

themselves to do

this

. In

this

essay I will suggest why

this

is happening and propose ways in which anyone can give our

environment

some of the protection it needs. The main reason why people take no

action

to take care of their

environment

is because they are largely cut off from it. Let us take the example of half of our world’s population who are now living in urban areas. They often reside in high rise air-conditioned apartments, travel to work on trains and buses and rarely leave the city. Their offices are cool too, so, being mostly unaffected by pollution, global heating and other symptoms of our disregard for our

environment

, they have few daily reminders of the need to do anything to protect it.

Although

they recognise that their world needs their help, they are not sufficiently affected or inconvenienced by decades of failure to care for it. There are so many ways in which people could act in support of their

environment

. The two I would propose taking a lead from the saying, ‘Think globally, act locally’. Because it is usually overwhelming for an individual when she thinks about how to protect the planet, the first

action

to take is to lobby elected officials

such

as members of parliament and local councillors to share her concerns, ask what environmental policies are in place and find out what her state and country representatives are doing to protect the

environment

. On a local level, in every city around the world there are groups actively engaged in caring for and improving their neighbourhood which anyone can join. From street gardens which supply free produce to citizens to groups campaigning for greener transport options, from food cooperatives, which grow food on rooftops and in underground car parks to those working to better recycle plastic waste, there are numerous ways the individual can take

action

to look after the local

environment

. Given the pressures of life, it is not surprising that people fail to act on their belief that it is important to protect the

environment

. Holding those we elect to account to take

action

and joining local initiatives to enhance the area we live in are two ways people can respond to their understanding of how important it is to look after the world we live in.