Environmental Issue Essay Example

collaborating with Stanford University Libraries, which acted as a living archive of his project and a means of communication in the year 2012. Due to the impact of his work on the environment, the US government has awarded him three times in the year 2014 (Glennon, 2009). Moreover, McDonough was appointed to chair the meta-council on the economic circular by the Economic Forum in the world.

The cradle to cradle idea can be used in order to improve the architectural designs in the world (Glennon, 2009). This is consequently because, most designers do not put into consideration the life cycle of the building they are constructing in the beginning. This consequently makes it easy for the buildings created by such architects to experience different faults simply because they cannot sustain the drastic climatic changes which are being experienced (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). The owners of the buildings end up experiencing huge losses in order to maintain their buildings. On the other hand, this design is very significant since it reduces maintenance costs, increases profits being realized and protects the buildings against experiencing maintenance problems due to climatic changes.

Air Pollution: air pollution is one of the major problems that the US is currently facing due to the emission of harmful gases from industries into the atmosphere. The US is highly industrialized and this consequently leads to the emission of carbon dioxide into the air by the companies. Approximately half of the population of the country lives in areas which are highly affected by polluted air. The level of air pollution is very high and this could lead into a national tragedy because the health of the citizens

is not guaranteed. Most Americans live in areas which are affected by air pollution, and according to a research which was conducted in the year 2009, almost 60% of the Americans live in areas which are highly polluted (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). Industries and vehicles were some of the main polluters of air. The gases emitted from both vehicles and industries are very high and thus polluting the air. The government put up regulations such as economic shifts in order to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide into the air. These regulations have however resulted in little effects since companies are constantly emitting carbon into the atmosphere.

Los Angeles was found to have the most contaminated air in the country. The state which has a population of more than 18 million is mainly affected by diesel engines, motor vehicles and ports which are the major air polluters. Los Angeles is currently experiencing climatic changes with increased sunny days and low rainfall. Due to the changes in the climatic patterns, the ozone layer has been hugely affected and thus leading the spread of different diseases which are caused by the changes in climate and air pollution (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). Particle pollution and the ozone layer have adverse effects of the health of human beings, and this has consequently seen most people in the country experiencing respiratory problems such as asthma, and respiratory inflammations. Moreover, the lifespan of people has been affected since pollution leads to early deaths. The number of people being affected by cardiovascular disorders in the country has also increased from 22% in the year 2006 to 48% in the year 2015 (Glennon, 2009).

This is therefore a major disaster in the country and should therefore be taken care of before it gets out of hand.
Waste Disposal

Waste disposal is a problem which is mainly associated with overconsumption of resources. Moreover, the use of plastics is really affecting the disposal of waste from households. Most of the waste products are mainly dumped into rivers, and other sources of water (Glennon, 2009). This consequently leads to the pollution of water. On the other hand, when plastics are released on both land and water, they lead to poor aeration in both water and soil hence leading to the death of aquatic and animals living underneath the soil. Increase in the number of industries has also led to poor disposal of waste products since most industries do not dispose of waste properly (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). Companies release untreated effluents into oceans thus leading to water pollution which is also a major problem in the country. Poor packaging of different products from processing industries has highly resulted in poor waste disposal. Garbage disposal systems are also poor as garbage is disposed off poorly both on land before being incinerated or otherwise being recycled.

Poor waste disposal has resulted to increase in waste related diseases and this includes cholera when waste is disposed in water. On the other hand, this has adversely affected the fertility of soil and thus leading to soil pollution in the country (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). Garbage production is very high and it therefore makes it difficult for the garbage collection systems to be able to collect them and dispose them properly. This therefore results into poor disposal of waste, moreover,

the disposal is usually done in a very wrong way by the disposal systems in order to control waste production from households (Glennon, 2009).

Due to the increased pollution of the environment, the government should set the following rules in order to aid in the reduction of pollution. In order to reduce air pollution from companies and industries, the government should only license hybrid vehicles. Licensing these vehicles would really help in reducing air pollution since such vehicles emit less carbon to the atmosphere. Moreover, this move would reduce the consumption of fuel by vehicles (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). On the other hand, the government should come up with emission regulations which would be responsible for the emissions of gases to the environment. Industries which do not comply with the regulations should be closed down. The acidic contents in the carbon should also be measured and if it exceeds the normal amount, the company should be closed down.

The number of industries will also be reduced in a way that it won’t lead to loss of jobs. This can only be done through setting areas where industries should be based, then companies which manufacture similar products should pair. Industries should therefore work together and thus being able to control the number of industries in the country. These regulations should take time before being effective in order for the government to compensate and help in the relocation of industries into other areas. The employee’s positions should be safeguarded by the government through providing acts which protect employees from losing their jobs due to relocation of industries.

Relocating the industries will really impact the economy positively since people will be

required to set up the industries thus creating job opportunities. Similarly, air pollution would be easily regulated thus protecting the environment from pollution (Glennon, 2009).

When it comes to the issue of waste disposal, the government should adapt the use of the new technology in the disposal of waste products. The garbage collection systems should have technological garbage bins which alert them when full (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). Moreover, people will be advised on how to use the garbage bins. Multiple garbage bins, some for holding biodegradable wastes and other for holding non-biodegradable waste products such as plastics should be provided to the households by the garbage collectors. The garbage collectors would then sale inorganic waste such as plastics to plastic manufacturing companies at a cheaper price (Glennon, 2009). The money gained from selling the plastic wastes should be used to improve the convenience of the garbage disposers.

The use of plastic paper bags by food stores should be highly discouraged and instead, they should be replaced by khaki bags. This would ease disposing of the bags since they are organic and cannot affect the environment when disposed of. Metal cans on the other hand should be disposed separately from plastic cans in order to make it easy for the garbage collectors to do their work at ease. The garbage collectors should also partner with different companies thus helping in the collection of recyclable goods (Chandrappa & Das, 2012). These companies should therefore pick the recyclable waste from households and thus making the collection of garbage to be convenient. On the other hand, the government should come up with regulations regarding poor disposal of wastes. Poor disposal

of inorganic waste should be a crime and the offenders should be fined a certain sum of money. In case a household has lots of garbage, the garbage bins are supposed to alert the collectors hence collecting the garbage (Glennon, 2009).