As an emerging leader, I have realized that my country is really being plagued by environmental pollution. There are several laws enacted to curb pollution in the world. In Liberia, the law made to safeguard the environment and enhance its quality is the Environmental Protection Agency Act of Liberia.
However, these laws are not being implemented effectively. This is very apparent in how lackluster the responsible parties are in cleaning the cities. Bearing in mind the quote by John F. Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can for your country,” I started to involve myself in finding solutions to Environmental Pollution. This piece is a summary of the changes I have affected in my different environments to demonstrate how we as citizens can make a change.
At first, I started at my school. Many students throw dirt on the ground during recess. When they buy food to eat, most of them don’t think to throw the garbage in the trash, so they litter. Also, the students do not take good care of the bathrooms. Most of them, when they are done using the bathrooms, don’t flush. My sanitation initiative greatly impacted the school. As an elected government official of my school, we carried on projects where we bought trash cans and brooms for each class and one bottle of chlorine and a box of soaps for the bathrooms. Above all, we gave an announcement to the students that no one should throw dirt on the ground and should keep the bathrooms clean, and we enforced the laws. That led to the good health of the students and ergo, a good learning environment.
fter this success, I moved on to tackle my home community. My community was polluted with garbage; flies had infested the area. Flies can transmit enteric infections such as dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, certain helminth infections, and eye infections such as trachoma and epidemic conjunctivitis; some of these illnesses can cause death. Besides, if the garbage becomes a lot, people burn them and that can cause irritation to the throat and eyes and damage to the lungs of those who exercise or work outside. It is also bad for people who have allergies and asthma; these pollutants intensify the symptoms and trigger asthma bouts. Also, it affects the immune system of birds who then become a carrier of viruses. Even worse, some folks throw waste at the seaside. The damage this does to the environment causes a lot of harm to not only human beings, but also to plants and animals.
When people do not adhere to proper mechanisms of waste disposal, it results in accumulation or improper eradication of waste. The only way to address this problem is to make sure a proper system for waste disposal is present so that contamination to the environment is not caused.
In order to solve these issues in my community, I and some others carried on projects every week to collect the garbage from parents and carry it to the dump site. Also, every first Saturday, we cleaned the community, house by house, to ensure no dirt remained anywhere. We also cleaned out the beach where people sometimes throw dirt. My colleagues and I worked hard in order to clean the community. We did not stop there, we carried out awareness to educate the parents, children, and the youth about Environmental Pollution. We then invited the youth from different communities to a workshop in order to educate them about Environmental Pollution and also tell them about our involvement in our community, so they can do the same in their communities. As a result, many communities are now clean and healthy.
Many people are affected by noise pollution. Noise pollution is a huge problem because it creates discomfort, interferes with an individual’s peace of mind, and lessens one’s quality of life. For instance, noise can disrupt sleep and prevent one from getting a rejuvenating rest due to the high sound vibrations. There is a direct link between health and noise that includes high blood pressure, stress-related ailments, hearing loss, and speech interference. As a result, we created a program where we educated people on how to avoid listening to music at high volumes and to avoid areas with noise.
In conclusion, if we wish to survive and enjoy our lives on earth, we have to take measures. These measures will help secure our well-being as well as the next generation’s future.
Authored by Haruna Barry
Featured Picture Unsplash
