Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility, and this starts with the government making
people understand the importance of the environment. To a large degree, such responsibility should
be shared by both the government and the local people.
It is quite obvious that all people should do their part in taking care of the local environment,
but there are always some people more committed to their environmental obligations than others. One
important reason is that those who do less harbor a misconception that individuals can do little or
nothing to make a noticeable difference. In fact, all individuals have created the environmental
problems by neglecting the environment, and that must mean that together they can fix most
problems, whether they are making large or small contributions. Another reason is that, in the name
of economic development, people pollute the local rivers and lakes by putting into them dirty water
or industrial wastes.
Then, apart from enforcing regulations and using penalties or fines as a means to hold individuals
accountable for their damage to the environment, the government should do more to alert people to
the way the environment is going, then people would be more likely to do their bit. If people are
not reminded of the risks that affect their own local environment, they will often forget. Unless
there is a particular crisis going on, it is always the case that the public will become immune to
shocking statistics or terrible photos, for they have seen too many of them and tend to neglect
them. It is, therefore, the job of the government to keep informing the public (through television
or other media) of the current environmental issues.
To a great extent, the responsibility for looking after the local environment must be shared by the
government and individuals. The government should let the public know that environmental protection
is everybody's business. Otherwise, what seems to be everybody's business would become
nobody's business.