When is the last time you thought about the environment? You probably haven’t lately. But you probably will start to think about it. A few years down the road when you hear somebody ask, “What happened to the sky? It used to be blue, now it’s brown.” Or when somebody else asks, “Why is my water tinted brown?” All of these things may trigger you to think about how the quality of the environment has taken a downward nosedive.

You may take a look outside and think, “This looks normal to me!” but if you take a look deeper, you’ll see things aren’t “normal.” Species have been becoming extinct faster than ever. Litter is all over the ground, even in some of nature’s “paradises” or “havens” like deep in the woods. Landfills are overflowing. Trash is thrown every which way for lack of a better place to put it. Incinerating trash would help the overflowing part, but would cause air pollution to skyrocket. The only solution is recycling. Tons of garbage thrown in landfills each year could actually be recycled and used again! This is amazing considering the many things we actually do recycle.

Another huge problem is air pollution. Think about the smog in Las Angeles and Pittsburgh. That could have been prevented. After a while, America in its entirety will be covered in that ugly, despicable smog. We need to prevent this. By stopping smoking, putting filters on top of smokestacks, and enforcing more laws dealing with the emissions from cars.

I hope this essay has opened your eyes to the extreme problems of pollution and the downward nosedive of the quality of life and the environment.