Green Movement Essay

The Green Movement Persuasive Essay
In today's society, we have become very wasteful. Many Americans have never lived or been exposed to an environment where resources were not plentiful, so there is a lack of appreciation for the resources that are easily reachable. The United States of America generates hundreds of million tons of solid waste per year. The commonly known term for solid waste is trash or garbage. Solid waste has become a major problem- it is a potential threat to public health, it scars the environment drastically. Therefore, the green movement is essential to the return to normalcy of the Earth.
Trash is the anchor that holds us back from a cleaner and greener environment. According to Brian Handwerk from National Geographic News, trash---
“.. clogs up human infrastructure such, as in Mumbai when they clogged the storm drains during a heavy storm and the streets were flooded. When it breaks down into small pieces and it is consumed by animals or absorbed into the environment. Plastic breaks down into edible pieces but is non-biodegradable so it gets eaten and fills the stomachs of animals, mainly small sea creatures. When trash breaks down all the toxic chemicals on or in it get released into the environment. Landfills, also, emit pollution and sometimes leak into their surrounding environment.”
Trash is more than something we get rid of. Everything that is thrown away has to be broken down and has a bad effect on the environment, especially the living organisms; humans too. The government is realizing the impact of the trash as well and it’s getting involved in the green movement too.
The U.S. government had to take action on the green movement. As recorded on May 28, 1892 is when the U.S. environmental movement began. That is the date of the first meeting of the Sierra Club, which was founded by noted preservationist John Muir and is generally acknowledged as the first environmental group in the United States. Muir and other early members of the Sierra Club were largely responsible for preserving the Yosemite Valley in California and persuading the federal government to establish Yosemite National Park. From that point the government has made its imprint on the green movement. Due to the unique aspects of our environmental law system is that ordinary citizens can go to court to force the government to uphold its obligations under the environmental laws and to sue polluters if the government refuses to do so.
Today, the green movement is defined and stimulated by its command of issues like global warming and climate change, wetlands preservation, the Keystone pipeline, nuclear production, hydraulic fracturing or "fracking”, fisheries depletion, species extinction and other important environmental concerns. What distinguishes the green movement today from the earlier conservation movement is its emphasis on science and research. The U.S. is far more likely to call upon scientific information and practical research to support arguments in favor of wilderness preservation, or against polluting industries. Politicians refer to the work of researchers and use computerized climate models to battle global warming, and medical researchers rely on public health statistics to argue against mercury pollution. Even if they succeed or fail it still depends on the passion and the commitment of the components of the green movement.
You may not be able to reduce global warming, end pollution and save endangered species single-handed, but by choosing to live an earth-friendly lifestyle you can do a lot every day to help achieve those goals. Like instead of putting wet clothes in the drying machine you could hang dry your clothes. Another way could be to recycle old cell phones that are being unused. But it's safe to say that environmentalism has become a powerful force in American culture and politics. Ongoing efforts to understand more clearly how we can use natural resources without depleting them, and enjoy natural beauty without destroying it, is inspiring many of us to take a more sustainable approach to the way we live and to tread a little more lightly on the planet.