Reducing global environmental damage should be handled by governments rather than individuals. To what extent do you agree or disagree

There are those who believe that decreasing worldwide environmental damage should be handled by states rather than individual women and men. To my way of thinking, there are both merits and shortcomings to

this

contention. In defence of

this

argument, there are all kinds of reasons, if you ask me, why it makes sense. In the

first

place, the only authorities have the power to legislate new environmental policies, but ordinary people do not. Most environmental damages are caused by big factories and mining companies.

For instance

, factories release chemicals into the water sources like rivers, lakes and so on. It follows,

therefore

, that it is not suitable for drinking, which can lead to water shortages. It is essential to enforce new environmental laws to stop them or force them to develop alternative renewable energy sources. Having said that,

however

, there are

also

a lot of reasons why

this

view has problems if you ask me. For one thing, everyone can make a difference in environmental protection. To name but one example, we can minimise our household waste. If we recycle and reuse paper, glass and metal containers, there will be less waste in landfills. On top of

this

, we can bring our own shopping bags

instead

of using supermarket plastic bags.

This

prevents factories from making new ones. Turning to my own experience, the way things are when it comes to

this

matter in my country, China, is very similar to the circumstances across the world over. fey hometown of Shanghai is a classic case in point in relation to

this

. Here, the government charges high taxes to those companies has significant impacts on the environment. At the end of the day, there are both positive as well as negative aspects to all considerations in life. Both authority and individuals can make positive environmental impacts at different levels.