Increasingly we find ourselves in a world more polluted, congested and heartless. Can we reverse?

Question

The world we found ourselves in as children is no more. Pollutants in the air, water and soil poison our bodies and that of our children. Increased competition and ratrace, television, lack of open playgrounds are all contributing to constrict the mindspace of our children. All pervading corruption is also beginning to impinge on their consciousness. How can we ensure that the world continues to reveal itself in its unspoilt and pristine glory to the future generations - that is my question.

Answer 1

No, it's only going to get worse, until we ultimately destroy ourselves, I see that happening very soon. Like the great Native Americans said "Only when the last tree is cut; only when the last river is polluted; only when the last fish is caught; only then will they realize that they cannot eat money."

Answer 2

Here, the charity essentially begins at home. First shed off all the useless pursuits from your own life and become one who has a continual anxiety for preserving the beauty of this world. These ideas should not come as fits that last only for some time. We dont want to sacrifice our own desires of making our personal image loom large in our society. And in this we are like them only who are polluting our Air, Water and earth for their personal gains. When we are in a continual pain about the state of affairs, our each step is a step in right direction. Then we need no to-do list. We should take heart and have the hope that there are many here on this earth who have this common desire for pollution free culture and enviornment. Never miss to do anything that you can do of your own. Manage the wastes of your home. Collect all the polythene bags you get from daily purchase of vegetable, milk etc at one place and give the accumulated lot to rag-pickers. The green waste from kitchen should be fed to stary cows. Stop patronising junk-food companies. Yearn for natural things. Be master of your kids. Be their role model. Throw away TV sets. Cultivate the command over you children. Dont spare the stick. Here when parents themselves like to oogle at the lusties in TV how can they stop their children.
If we dont want to leave a pollution free enviorment to them. If we dont want to conduct ourselves in a way that can make them proud to be our children, and if we still want them good then we should teach them to handle their elders with kicks and sticks.

Answer 3

the US is actually a clean place in many areas, with some stringent pollution laws. The world already saw worse in the industrial revolution when large amounts of sewage and pollutants were dumped in rivers. After dealing with clean up and enacting regulations it's much cleaner here than some poorer countries.

We have new concerns with more air pollution, these should and can be addressed. Urban life and spacial constraints are an age old concern, move to the country if you can afford it.

Answer 4

We have damaged the planet, no doubt, but efforts are under way to reverse most if not all of the damage. Will they be 100% effective, no. Does nature compensate, yes. It's as Al 'I'll ride this enviro train till I can' Gore says, it starts with you. Until new emerging economies such as Indonesia, India, Brazil, China, etc...adopt strict enviro policies, only then can we mae a difference globally.

Answer 5

Many people ask this. And I then I ask them this...If you want a reversal in the things we have done to the world, what are you doing to help bring about that change? Many people tell me "I can't do anything of significance, my little bit can't change the world"...well imagine if everyone who ever thought about this changed the ways they did things...change would come, slowly yes, but it would come.
I have started to do my part, there is a lot more I wish I could do (hybrid car), but at this moment I can't. I have stopped eating meat. I've taken to walking when I can, etc. Mostly keeping my body and my environment healthy. If everyone tried a little bit, a lot of things would get better, lung cancer, etc. And I encourage people to stop smoking.


http://goveg.com/environment-pollution.asp

Answer 6

I dont that humans posses the ability to reverse if we are lucky the politicians might get off their arses and help to slow down the destruction of the earth but I doubt money will ever be less important to them than saving the environment.

Answer 7

I give this same answer to the question regarding pollution etc.

Plant more trees
Stop chopping trees
Stop using chemical products (or minimize their use)
Recycle non bio-degradable things.
Use renewable energy (Solar/biogas)
Reduce population
Anything can be stopped its just a matter of whether we want to.

Answer 8

I WISH WE COULD REVERSE THE DAMAGE DONE!!!!
BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT THERE IS SO MUCH DAMAGE DONE THAT THE REVERSAL EFFECT WOULD JUST NOT WORK

Answer 9

it is too late now but all wat we can do is help it to an extent like we can reduce the destruction rate nothin more tat we cud do

Answer 10

Pollution Prevention and Conservation
Pollution prevention follows the same philosophy as crime prevention, disease prevention and accident prevention: 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'.

Pollution Prevention means using processes, practices, materials, products or energy that avoid or minimize the creation of pollutants and waste or environmental disturbance, and reduce risk to human health or the environment.

On this website, you will find information about Alberta Environment's approach to pollution prevention, how these ideas can be incorporated into an environmental management system, components of a pollution prevention plan, and Alberta's involvement in pollution prevention initiatives.

There are also some tips for preventing pollution and links to publications and resources.

Pollution Prevention Techniques and Practices
Pollution prevention promotes continuous improvement through operational and behavioral changes. Pollution prevention is a shared responsibility among governments and individuals, industrial, commercial, institutional, and community sectors. It focuses on areas such as:

Substances of concern
Materials and feedstock substitution
Operating efficiences
On-site reuse and recycling
Training
Purchasing practices
Product design
Equipment modifications
Product reformulation
Process changes
Clean production
Avoidance of cross-media transfer of pollutants or waste
Avoidance of spills and accidents
Leak detection

Pollution Prevention is the preferred approach to environmental management (EM). It avoids the costs and risks associated with pollution by reducing pollution and waste at the source. Pollution prevention can save money, resources and improve economic efficiencies.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
What are SMEs?

SMEs are highly diversified small and medium-sized enterprises that are the fastest growing facet of the Canadian economy. The needs of small businesses and their interaction with the environment differ from those of large companies in the following ways:
Generate less environmental data

Have less environmental expertise and/or experience

Have fewer resources

Differ in organizational structure


Individually their environmental impact is likely to be small, but cumulatively they can generate a substantial amount of wastes that may impact the quality of our air, land and water.
Common definition of small and medium-sized enterprises

Firms with less than 500 employees and less than $50 million in annual revenues. (Source: Statistics Canada)

Small Business has less than 50 employees. Medium Business has 51 to 500 employees. (Source: Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment)

Canada has 2.6 million SMEs:
94 percent have fewer than 20 employees
75 percent have fewer than five employees
(Source: Certified General Accountants Association)
SMEs and Pollution Prevention (P2)

SMEs collectively may create considerable pollution. Roughly 80 percent of the smaller polluters scattered throughout communities across North America have increased the amount of pollutants released to air, water and land by 15 percent for the time period 1998 – 2000. For most citizens, this means that the facility down the street or in a given local community is more likely to be doing worse – not better – when it comes to creating and releasing pollutants.
SMEs are typically less closely regulated than large operations. As well, the small size of these companies makes it difficult for them to devote significant resources to P2 activities. Alberta Environment has identified Small and Medium Enterprises as potential partners that can be encouraged to develop P2 strategies to help them reduce waste and decrease the amount of emissions to the environment.
Although individual companies sometimes think that the pollution from their individual operations is minor, when taken as a whole the small business sector is a major source of pollution. Some estimates suggest that SMEs may produce up to 70 percent of the total environmental pollution load of certain business sectors.


Funding and Information Sources for Small & Medium Businesses

Funding for pollution prevention planning is often not readily available for many small & medium businesses. Here is a list of possible funding sources. (PDF document)



Pollution Prevention Consultants Listing
SMEs do not normally have the expertise in-house to develop and implement a Pollution Prevention Plan. A list of consultants providing P2 planning is available here. (MS Word document)


Additional Information

The Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention (C2P2) has developed a website specifically for SMEs on pollution prevention and other environmental information that contains preliminary information for different SME sectors. Refer to the C2P2 website.
Municipalities also have access to funding for pollution prevention initiatives, please visit our list of funding sources.

Industrial Ecology?
Industrial systems work on the idea that raw materials (energy, water, minerals, etc.) are used (inputs), and products and wastes are produced (outputs). Industrial ecology tries to change that linear style system to mimic natural ecosystems.

In nature there is no waste – everything is re-used or recycled by naturally occurring processes. Industrial ecology tries to copy natural systems and make the most use of inputs to minimize waste. Where waste is produced, the goal is to find other companies or processes that can use that waste as energy or as raw material to create another product. It’s expensive to create, manage and dispose of waste, and it’s a lost opportunity to create a marketable commodity.

Industrial ecology descriptions will often contain one or more of these characteristics:

A systems view of the interactions between industrial and ecological systems
The study of material and energy flows and transformations
A multidisciplinary approach
An orientation towards the future
A change from linear (open) processes to cyclical (closed) processes, so the waste from one industry is used as an input for another
An effort to reduce the industrial systems’ environmental impacts on ecological systems
An emphasis on harmoniously integrating industrial activity into ecological systems
Creating industrial systems to emulate more efficient and sustainable natural systems
Making environmental factors an integral part of economic and business decision-making.
Is this a new idea?
Industrial ecology is an emerging field. It’s a new way to deal with environmental problems, and develop new industrial park complexes. Jay Forrester from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was one of the first people to look at problem solving using a systems approach and looking at the world as a series of interconnected systems. (Principles of Systems, 1968, and World Dynamics, 1971: Cambridge, Wright-Allen Press). Others followed his lead, building and defining other concepts associated with industrial ecology.

The term “industrial ecology” comes from “industrial ecosystems” – the topic of an article written by Robert Frosch and Nicholas Gallopoulos in 1989 entitled, ”Strategies for Manufacturing”, (Scientific American 261; September 1989, 144-152). Their ideal industrial system would function in the same way as a biological system where there is no waste; everything is re-used or recycled by naturally occurring processes.

Pollution Prevention Plans
These steps show how pollution prevention can be implemented.

Establish the Pollution Prevention Program
Executive level decision
Policy statement
Consensus building

Organize Pollution Prevention Program
Name task force
State goals

Conduct Preliminary Assessment
Information gathering
Review sites
Establish priorities

Write Pollution Prevention Program Plan
Consider external groups
Define objectives
Identify potential obstacles
Develop schedule

Do Detailed Assessment
Name assessment team(s)
Review data and site(s)
Organize and document information

Define Pollution Prevention Options
Propose options
Screen options

Do Feasibility Analysis
Technical
Environmental
Economic

Measure Pollution Prevention Progress
Acquire data
Analyze results

Maintain Pollution Prevention Program
P2 in the Environmental Management Hierarchy



Pollution prevention is particularly beneficial, when effectively applied, because it:

minimizes or avoids the creation of pollutants;
prevents the transfer of pollutants from one medium to another;
accelerates the reduction and/or elimination of pollutants;
minimizes health risks;
promotes the development of source reduction technologies;
uses energy, materials and resources more efficiently;
reduces the need for costly enforcement;
limits future liability with greater certainty;
recognizes that waste is a cost that can be reduced;
avoids costly clean-up in the future; and
promotes a more competitive economy.