Some people think that environmental problems are too big for individuals to solve. Others, however, believe that the problems cannot be solved if individuals do not take some action. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Environmental problems have become a frequent topic when talking about the planet where we are living now. Whether individuals can make a contribution to improve our living surroundings is debatable. Some people hold the view that environmental pollution and destruction are brought about by complex causes, so individuals can not tackle them. Take river pollution

for example

. Contaminated water may be caused by randomly emitting dirty water from chemical companies and

thus

it is only the governments rather than residents who have the ability and power to solve it, from their perspective.

However

, they ignore that we, all individuals, are the consumers of the products produced by those firms. If we can refuse to buy their goods due to the bad behaviour,

then

they will have to take some advanced measures to

firstly

deal with the problems in order to maintain profits.

Therefore

, individual participation in environmental protection is apparently crucial. One of the main reasons is that many hands make light work. If every person can choose public transport,

such

as a subway and a bus, over private cars, there will be fewer fumes discharged, which is beneficial for air quality.

Similarly

, if everyone opts for wooden baskets or cloth bags, there will be less plastic pollution.

Besides

, for necessary consumption, taking full advantage of resources smartly, reusing water and paper,

for instance

, is

also

a good method to conserve energy and reduce contamination. In conclusion, people can play an important and indispensable role in coping with environmental problems through saving energy and selecting green products.