Environmental conservation refers to protecting the natural environment from harmful human impacts. It is important for human and planetary health. When the environment is polluted or degraded, it damages ecosystems and human lives through problems like increased disease, worsening climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Some ways to conserve the environment include reducing waste and pollution, choosing more sustainable transportation options, recycling, composting, consuming less meat, and engaging in community environmental projects like tree planting. Protecting the natural world benefits both people and nature long into the future.

1. Environmental
Conservation and Action
Rafael Angelo F. Gernalin

2. What is Environmental Conservation?
 Conservation means to protect and or save from
harmful overuse.
 Environment means the surroundings or conditions
in which a person, animal, or plant lives or
operates.
 So Basically, Environmental Conservation refers to
protection of the surroundings against the harmful
overuse of humans.

4. Why do we need to conserve?
 We rely on the environment for many things that many people take for
granted. For example, the air you’re breathing, the food you’re eating
and the water you’re drinking have all come from nature.
 When we pollute nature, we effectively end up poisoning ourselves. For
example, plastics and micro-plastic particles in the ocean are becoming
a serious environmental problem. Similarly when we pollute the air
with fumes from our vehicles, we inhale these particles and there is
now growing concern that these are leading to increased deaths and a
whole range of serious health problems.
 To put it simply, when we damage the natural world, we also damage
our own prosperity. That is one way of looking at things from our point
of view.
 Another way of looking at it, is that as far as we are currently aware,
the earth is the only planet in our entire universe which is home to
complex life. This life is sustained by nature.

5. We Should be Conscious about the
Environment
 1) A CLEAN ENVIRONMENT IS ESSENTIAL FOR HEALTHY LIVING
The more you don’t care about our environment, the more it will become
polluted with contaminants and toxins that have a harmful impact on our
health. Air pollution can cause respiratory diseases and cancer, among other
problems and diseases. Water pollution can lead to typhoid, diarrheal diseases,
and other waterborne/water-related diseases.
 2) THE OVERALL TEMPERATURE OF EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE IS INCREASING
Global warming is causing climate patterns to change. Yes, climate change is real
and we (us humans) are largely responsible because our activities have released
large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasesinto the atmosphere.
 3) YOUR GREAT-GREAT & GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDCHILDREN WILL
APPRECIATE IT
Unless you have some superpower that I am unaware of, you are not going to live
forever. So, what type of world do you want to leave for your future family? If
you know the dangers that future generations will face due to the problems we
have now, why wouldn’t you make sacrifices and do something to prevent them
from happening?

6.  4) BIODIVERSITY IS IMPORTANT
Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals, and other living
things in our world. It can be negatively influenced by habitat loss and
degradation due to human activity, climate change, and pollution, among
other things.
We have many of the basic necessities that we need to survive because
of biodiversity. We need food that various species provide to eat, water
to drink, air to breathe, and materials to provide shelter and other
necessities. There are many natural processes that have been formed by
various species to provide these necessities. If something happens to a
certain organism, an unwanted chain reaction may occur and that may
negatively affect us. Loss of biodiversity could also cause other
problems.
 6) EARTH IS OUR HOME
It’s where we live, so we better take care of it! Would you rather live in
a polluted dump?
“Out of all those millions and millions of planets floating around
there in space, this is our planet, this is our little one, so we just got
to be aware of it and take care of it.” – Paul McCartney (English
musician)

8. Pollution
 Environmental pollution has existed for centuries but only
started to be significant following the industrial revolution
in the 19th century. Pollution occurs when the natural
environment cannot destroy an element without creating
harm or damage to itself. The elements involved are not
produced by nature, and the destroying process can vary
from a few days to thousands of years (that is, for
instance, the case for radioactive pollutants). In other
words, pollution takes place when nature does not know
how to decompose an element that has been brought to it
in an unnatural way.

12. Causes of Environmental Pollution
 1. Industries: Industries have been polluting our
environment especially since the beginning of the
industrial revolution, as mentioned above, notably due to
the increasing use of fossil fuels. In the 19th century and
for a significant part of the 20thcentury, coal has been use
to make machines work faster, replacing human force.
Though pollution by industries mainly causes air pollution,
soil and water contamination can also occur. This is
particularly the case for power-generating industries, such
as plants producing electricity (May they be a dam, a
nuclear reactor or some other type of plant).

14.  2. Transportation: Ever since men
abandoned animal power to
travel, pollution of the environment has
become higher and higher. Its levels have
only been increasing until now. Similarly to
industries, pollution caused by transport
can mainly be attributed to fossil fuels.
Indeed, humans went from horse carriages
to cars, trains (which, before electricity,
used to be propelled by coal), and
airplanes. As the traffic is increasing every
day, pollution follows that evolution.

16.  3. Agricultural Activities: Agriculture is
mainly responsible for the contamination of
water and soil. This is caused by the
increased use of pesticides, as well as by
the intensive character of its production.
Almost all pesticides are made from
chemical substances and are meant to keep
diseases and threatening animals away
from the crops. However, by keeping these
forms of life away, harm is almost always
made to the surrounding environment as
well.

18.  4. Trading Activities: Trading activities including the
production and exchange of goods and services.
Concerning goods, pollution can be caused by packaging
(which often involves the use of plastic, which is made
from fossil fuels) or transport, mainly.
 5. Residences: Finally, residential areas provide their fair
share of pollution as well. First, to be able to build
homes, natural environment has to be destroyed in one
way or another. Wildlife and plants are driven away and
replaced by human constructions. As it requires the work
of industries, construction itself is also a source of
contamination of the environment. Then, when people
settle in, they will produce waste every day, including a
part that cannot be processed by the environment without
harm yet.

20. Effects of Pollution
 1. Effects on Humans: The effects of environmental pollution
on humans are mainly physical, but can also turn into neuro-
affections in the long term. The best-known troubles to us are
respiratory, in the form of allergies, asthma, irritation of the
eyes and nasal passages, or other forms of respiratory
infections. Notably, these well spread affections can be
observed when air pollution is high in cities, when the weather
gets hot, for instance. On top of that, environmental pollution
has been proven to be a major factor in the development of
cancer. This can happen for example when we eat
reminiscences of pollutants used in the production of processed
foods, or pesticides from the crops. Other, rarer, diseases
include hepatitis, typhoid affections, diarrhoea and hormonal
disruptions.

22.  2. Effects on Animals: Environmental pollution
mainly affects animal by causing harm to their living
environment, making it toxic for them to live in. Acid
rains can change the composition of rivers and seas,
making them toxic for fishes, an important quantity
of ozone in the lower parts of the atmosphere can
cause lung problems to all animals. Nitrogen and
phosphates in water will cause overgrowth of toxic
algae, preventing other forms of life to follow their
normal course. Eventually, soil pollution will cause
harm and sometimes even the destruction of
microorganisms, which can have the dramatic effect
of killing the first layers of the primary food chain.

24.  3. Effects on Plants: As for animals, plants, and
especially trees, can be destroyed by acid rains
(and this will also have a negative effect on
animals as well, as their natural environment will
be modified), ozone in the lower atmosphere
block the plant respiration, and harmful
pollutants can be absorbed from the water or soil.
 4. Effects on the Ecosystem: In short,
environmental pollution, almost exclusively
created by human activities, has a negative effect
on the ecosystem, destroying crucial layers of it
and causing an even more negative effect on the
upper layers.

26. Ways to Conserve The Environment
 1. Create a compost heap in your garden or use a compost bin. This helps recycle food
waste and other biodegradable materials.
 2. When going shopping, make it a habit to bring your own eco-bags and say no to plastic
bags as much as possible.
 3. Join as many tree planting trips as you can.
 4. If possible, try carpooling to work, business presentations, events, or even to run
errands. Think of ways you can reduce the number of trips you make using your car.
 5. Reduce emissions from cars by walking or cycling. These are not just great
alternatives to driving, they are also great exercise.
 6. Use public transport, when you can, for everyday travel.
 7. Send your drinking bottles, paper, used oil, old batteries and used tires to a depot for
recycling or safe disposal; all these very cause serious pollution.
 8. Do not pour chemicals and waste oil on to the ground or into drains leading to bodies
of water.
 9. Wherever possible, separate biodegradable and recyclable waste from non-
biodegradable and work to reduce the amount of non-biodegradable or recyclable
waste.
 10. Reduce the amount of meat you eat, or even better become vegetarian.