Pollution is everywhere. It is one of the world’s biggest environmental battles that destroys wildlife and causes health problems to millions of people. It takes different forms of energy like heat, noise and light. Everything can be polluted like

air, water and even the population itself. China, Russia, India and Peru are among the countries that are considered to be the worst polluted countries in the world.

What do you think is the Most Polluted City in the Philippines?

In the Philippines, pollution is considered in different cities but with different kinds.

Like Quezon City in Metro Manila, it is polluted because of the growth of population in the area. Business and commercial establishment can be found in this city which makes it attractive for people to live in this place to make a living. But the effect is that it is over populated which resulted to population in the area that can give health risk to the residents. It has numerous subdivision and has the highest concentration of urban poor residents which can be a cause of the over population of the city. Since if there are a many people residing in the area, competition in terms of career is also high which makes average people becomes poor compared to highly-competitive individuals.

Baguio City is considered to be the most polluted city in the Philippines due to air pollution.

It is considered a summer tourist spot in the country due to its cool weather. The result is air pollution due to the vehicle emission that private and public transportation produce which the tourist used to visit the place. Smog, the result of smoke and fog, is what makes the air polluted in the Baguio City since it produces fog because of the cool weather and the smoke coming from the transportation.

Marilao and Meycauyan Bulacan is considered polluted because of the river system in this area. There is a dumping site situated in this city for lead smelters, metal refiners and area tanneries. The chemical contaminant that the waste material produces causes pollution in the river. The commercial fishing industry in the city is greatly affected because of the pollution and it causes health problems to the residents.

Pollution can be a natural cause or man-made. As humans, we can be responsible with our acts and thus, we can prevent producing pollution in the environment. If everyone will cooperate to stop or eliminate pollution in our planet, we can have a chance to live in a clean and pollution-free environment.

Mining is a large-scale business that mainly focuses in the extraction of metals and minerals on earth. This is a business that can earn a lot of money and revenues for the businessman and government. Workers can also get benefits and income from mining. Environmental protection is disregarded in the mining business. It is very destructive for the environment because of deforestation and pollution that it causes to the area. Chemicals are being used in the procedure and trees are being burnt to be able to do mining.

President Benigno S. Aquino III was lashed out in the recent mining issues since his actions seemed not for the environmental protection but the foreign investors. Three mining companies were attacked by NPA in Claver, Surigao del Norte last October 3, 2011 and heavy equipments were burnt. President Aquino ordered security procedures and condemned the said attack. According to presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, it is for the safety of the investors and fellow citizens that deserves to pursue their livelihood without violence to disturb them. But the attack that happened was said to be for the irreparable damage in the environment that mining caused in Surigao del Norte. Also, it is a punishment for the exploitation of the workers because of repression and displacement in livelihood which was given to foreign investors.

Environmental protection was not sustained in the area which imposed serious health risk to the tribes and residents of Surigao del Norte. There was no proper siltation of dams that could have maintained the environmental protection. High-level of nickels were found in soil and water in their water systems which are above the acceptable level for drinking water. Not only the residents are affected to the pollution but it also damaged their marine resources.

Environmental protection should be the utmost priority in every business and not just trying to have investors for the country. Although economic gain plays an important role in every country but if the environment protection is the one at stake, we should think twice before we decide. If we have money but we have poor health, we will just waste our hard-earned money paying for hospital bills and medicines which we could have used for our other needs. Violence is not acceptable as well since it is not right in every aspect but the government also needs to decide which is best for the country to avoid people in doing violent attacks. Environmental protection should be given the utmost importance since the natural resources is our source for everything.

In the recent speech of US President Barack Obama, he highlighted that a healthy economy goes hand in hand with a healthy environment. Having a healthy and safe environment means a good economy. If there are negative things that happen in the

environment, it will affect hundreds of lives and will cost the country’s economy. Just like the current typhoons and earthquake that happened, the government is providing help and funds to the victims of these natural disasters. To which, it might not happen if we are caring and thoughtful in every acts that we do to our environment.

The speech of the U.S. President promotes having and investing in clean energy and green transportation. With these projects, it can provide jobs to people in addition to having a clean air and less threat from having climate change. Even in our simple ways, we can also help the environment in becoming safe and healthy. The following ways to eliminate trash can be done by everyone to be able to help and join in our fight against climate change.

1. Recycle. Recycling our waste is being taught to us ever since we are kids and our teachers in school gives us assignments or projects to promote this. In as easy as making used containers to become a pencil or pen holder, we already helped our environment in minimizing our waste troubles. Aside from that, we also saved up some money because you don’t have to spend buying a new container to put your pens. It also proved the fact that a healthy environment is a healthy economy as well.

2. Segregation and waste management. Separating our trash from bio-degradable and non-biodegradable can help us sort which waste items can be reused or recycled. Every waste management process starts with segregating the waste materials before it is being processed to become a new and useful product. In our homes, we can start doing this by having separate bins for different kinds of trash like plastic and bottles need to be separated from food waste. Good thing there are now various technologies nowadays that can help us make use of non-biodegradable materials. RDF system for instance produces refuse-derived fuel which helps in decreasing pollution.

3. Avoidance. Using environment-friendly things can help us minimize our trash. By means of using paper instead of plastics for bags, we can be part of the fight for a clean and green environment. What’s better is not to have trash at all. We can live healthily by eating fruits to which, it does not produce trash since we can eat every part of it like apples. If we are able to avoid creating trash, we can be assured of having a clean environment.