A Greener World

Since ancient times people have been destroying nature in their search for food, housing and fuels. Deceiving themselves that natural resources were boundless, they cut down forests to get timber, mined fossil fuels, built houses, roads and factories. Today we face sad consequences of man’s activities which are reflected in different environmental problems such as air, river and sea pollution, the greenhouse effect, energy crisis and many others. From a beautiful fairy land Ukraine is being turned into a treeless area, where millions of cars and thousands of factories emit toxic smoke into the air we breathe in. It seems green policies in this country haven’t moved with the times and remain ineffective. It’s absolutely vital that we must prevent the environmental catastrophe. Hence, I’d like to present my own vision of the ways out in the project on environmental development of Ukraine in the next 15 years called “Green Ukraine 2030”. 

To begin with, while efforts to recycle household waste are still a partial solution, a groundbreaking task for the Ukrainian government is to introduce green taxes for the overproduction of hardly-recyclable items, such as plastic bottles and metal cans. As for households, Ukrainians should opt for recycled products and not hesitate to reuse scrap paper, old wood & clothes.

Secondly, in order to minimize soil pollution farmers should be highly recommended to use less chemical fertilizers and pesticides for plants. This would help to maintain sustainable agriculture throughout the country.

Also, we should mind the dangerous signs of the irreversible climate change like widespread flooding in the Carpathian region and changed weather patterns. Fighting deforestation and reducing air pollution would be effective ways to lessen the problem.

 Sadly but true that the greatest polluters are transport vehicles which emit exhaust fumes. Thus, the best solution to reduce our carbon footprint  would be to switch to hybrid cars. The advantages are but vivid: they’re eco-friendly, energy saving and can work simply from rechargeable batteries. Still, for those who can’t afford this kind of vehicle, the beneficial option would be using bicycles for short journeys and maintaining old vehicles in good condition. 

What is more, we should bear in mind that deforestation upsets the oxygen balance being a real threat to the endangered species. It’s our shame that a lot of wild animals are now on the verge of extinction. A moral task of everyone is to help them survive. It’s not as hard as it sounds – we should stop buying products made from endangered animals & plants but instead donate to animal welfare schemes. The Government should assist in creating more natural reserves to preserve natural habitats of wild animals. Simply planting a tree near our house can be beneficial for wildlife and make the air cleaner.

Last but not least, Ukrainians should develop alternative energy sources for homes, as long as lack of resources like water & fossil fuels demands more efforts from  us to use them rationally. Building homes with solar heating and eco-friendly design have to be highly encouraged by the Government. In the long run, all households should switch to energy-saving eco light bulbs as they reduce our energy consumption and last for longer.

Taken together, all these suggestions are sure to bring about positive changes to the Ukrainian green policies and to make our Motherhood greener. With sufficient will, we CAN always find a groundbreaking solution!