The essay topic that interests me the most is the first option to define a specific, local environmental problem. One major environmental problem is littering. Almost every block has some form of litter whether its a receipt, gloves, leftovers flying around, there is some form of garbage on the ground. Living in New York this is nothing new but the reality is that this is beyond insane! I have not done any research yet but I can definitely come up with a few ways to help eliminate this problem. Littering has destroyed our oceans which not only harms but alters the environment which is a home to many sea animals. I don’t know about you but who doesn’t adore dolphins and sting rays? All this mass littering has already destroyed their homes and killed other fishes by getting stuck or caught by the garbage. I believe we should have at least two trash cans located at the corner of each block to help eliminate littering. The more people are prone to seeing trash can they can quickly associate with recycling or proper trash disposal. I think we should create a whole industry solely based on environmental jobs. The environmental jobs would specialize in hourly public area sanitation, cleaning the streets daily by disinfecting public areas, picking up garbage through out the day, collecting recyclables and so on. This would make a huge difference in our society! Who wouldn’t want much cleaner cities? We need to put environmental jobs on a platform to help promote and maintain a healthier habitat not just for ourselves but for our planet. To start my research paper I would look to see what articles would back my idea on creating an environmental work force. I would also research other ways we can further clean our environment or fight against the air pollution that is drastically altering our seasons. I would research on how much our environment has changed over time being that I know so little. I have only scratched the surface on what really goes on in our environment and just how rapid it’s destroying it. I think about everything that has been going on with the COVID-19 hysteria. Now I notice the amount of gloves and masks thrown out all over the streets. To a certain extent everything that has happened this far is necessary in order to “flatten the curve”. We should all be washing our hands constantly through out the day, everyday. We should all give people at least 6 feet of space in large public areas. We should have the option to wear masks in order to avoid bacteria and germs if used correctly. I think one of the key benefits of creating a lock down has impacted the air quality. On the other hand this created a supply demand craze that was unnecessary, This brings awareness to over population under a crisis. The virus spread like wildfire because of the population of people who daily interact with one another at a close proximity. The population devoured the supermarkets and cleared out all supply stores under crisis. Just image how much worse it will get when crops start to fail due to weather conditions and famine rises because there is not enough food to go around. The possibilities are endless and I cannot wait to dive into this research paper.
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Lots of great, provocative ideas here. I want to pull apart a few discrete topics and encourage you to begin specifying only one:
* littering on the streets and a solution to address this (one thing I like about this is that you suggest we can solve two problems in one: the litter AND the glut in the job market, by opening more positions in waste management)
* urban population density: this is a tricky one, because, while city life can be polluted, the average urban citizen emits way less carbon than a suburbanite, because they tend not to drive and generally consume far less resources. There’s a long, long and troubled debate around overpopulation vs. resources distribution. I encourage you to tap into the contemporary form of this argument and explore the salient points and problems with each position. Those who argue for overpopulation often assume a level of energy use and resource consumption per person that’s not necessary, while about 800million people in the world are starving. If you go this route, you might consider sticking very closely to the possible connection to climate/pollution.
* air pollution in the city: this is a great one, and would take some defining of terms. What counts as “pollution”? How has it shifted in the past few decades? What’s the status now? What can be done to combat this?
Lots of great thoughts here. I’m excited for you to begin researching.