Recommendation Report
Tyrone T. Lewis
Abstract
Environmental pollution is a growing and enduring concern in New York City. Environmental pollution takes different dimensions. However, air pollution is particularly concerning with statistics from reputable bodies attributing it to premature deaths due to complications from respiratory diseases. Partnerships between the city authorities and community and volunteer groups have seen the implementation of programs and initiatives aimed at reducing the environmental pollution in the city. However, many of these programs are not sustainable because they fail to address the human aspect as a contributor to environmental pollution, and also as a resource towards the development of lasting solutions. As such, the recommendation report, following the synthesis of evidence from primary studies finds that the implementation of a public awareness and education program aimed at inflicting behavior change through the application of knowledge to change the prevailing attitudes will contribute significantly and sustainably towards the reduction of environmental pollution.
Introduction
Problem
Pollution is among the many problems with which the residents and the authorities of New York City have to deal. The problem of environmental pollution is caused by various issues. One of the issues is sewage overflows. The occurrence of high precipitation causes the sewage systems to overflow and the wastes are directed into New York Harbor. This results in many hazards among which include the damage of habitats for marine life and the impairment of the navigation (Odach, n.d.).
The problem of environmental pollution in New York City is also caused by the improper disposal of plastic bottles. The belief that the use of bottled water represents healthy living, and that bottled water is cleaner than tap water has fueled the use of bottled water (Odach, n.d.). However, the increased use of bottled water is not accompanied by the proper disposal of the waste bottles. Statistics from the Earth Policy Institute indicated that 84% of the plastic bottles that are used in packaging the water are disposed in landfills (Earth Policy Institute, 2006). This is after they have been collected by the city departments tasked with collecting litter in the city (Odach, n.d.).
Air pollution is another dimension of the problem of environmental pollution in New York City. The biggest cause of air pollution in New York City is ozone. This results from the interaction of sunlight with the particulate matter in the air (Odach, n.d.). The particulate matter is caused by the exhaust fumes that are released by factories and motor vehicles and the fumes that are released from the burning of fuel in the homes. Statistics from the American Lung Association show that the metro area in New York City ranks 16th on the list of 25 American cities with the highest ozone pollution (Odach, n.d.). The soot from combustion of fuels, diesel fumes from the motor vehicles, ash, and chemical emissions from the many factories contribute to the fine particulate matter. As a result the particulate matter cause chest pains, asthma, wheezing and cancer as is reported by the American Lung Association (Odach, n.d.). The institution also attributes the premature deaths of the 3000 people annually.
Solution
The problem described above relates to one of the major concerns in New York City. Odach (n.d.) finds that the authorities in New York City have engaged in numerous activities to curb the rising environmental pollution. This has entailed the implementation of sustainable programs such as the reforestation of the streets in the city. One such program is the MillionTreesNYC, a program that resulted from the concerted efforts of volunteer groups, community groups and the city authorities (Odach, n.d.). The rationale behind the program was to increase the number of trees to gain the indirect benefits such as the reduction of atmospheric temperatures, and the elimination of the particulate matter that partially causes the respiratory diseases (Odach, n.d.).
While these measures have the potential to generate the desired results, the dimensions of the problem as discussed above shows that the limitation of such measures in achieving an overall reduction in the environmental pollution in New York City. The proposed solution for the problem of environmental pollution addresses another aspect of the cause; the human aspect. Dealing with this problem requires the application of different environmental management approaches that will support protection of the environment from degradation. The development of environmental cleanup reports after conducting thorough cleanup results into an understanding of the significant effects of human activities on the environment. Through these, intervention measures result that supports the approach to solving the environmental challenges that the world faces today. An environmental cleanup exercise will identify different measures through which environmental protection proves possible and hence providing means through which protection is possible.
Background
The development of cleanup practices is based on the increase in the human activities that have effects on the environment. The development of environmental effects has an impact on the economic nature of a country. Providing for approaches through which environmental improvement proves possible results into improvement. Different human activities have had impacts on the natural resources and their application in day-to-day operations. These have led to their depletion in some areas and their decreased effectiveness in others.
The increasing human activities have provided emissions that affect the earth cover leading to significant climatic implications that have indicated to future challenges including global warming and unpredictable climates. Human activities of military nature have continuously resulted in other effects to humans. The dropping of the Atomic Bomb on America by the US is a classical example of these effects. Developments of cleanup exercises based on the need to have the human activities covered in cleanup approaches that ensure the impact of their actions remain minimal.
The causes of degradation have shifted to include highly engaging economic activities. These have resulted from necessary actions influenced by the dependence of humans on them to improve their livelihoods. The economic nature of these activities makes it challenging to reduce their effects and hence leading to continuous environmental impacts (Turner, Pearce & Bateman, 1994). The cleanup exercise is meant to provide alternatives and approaches through which human activities may still occur in a controlled environment, and the environmental protection proves possible. It is through these that the study is influenced and will provide positive approaches to improving the environment.
Data Sources
Different lines of evidence from data sources will feature in this research. These will provide the information necessary for the study. The application of secondary data collection techniques will result in successful gathering and organization of data. Secondary data from textbooks, online sources, journals, magazines or websites will allow the study to gather successfully necessary data that will provide support for the research leading to the successful determination of the need for environmental cleanup exercises. The use of secondary data proves efficient for this study despite the numerous challenges involved (Kusek & Rist, 2004). Secondary data is highly exposed to errors and will, therefore; require a critical analysis through which selective data is used. It will include reliance on approved online texts, books, and journals on reducing the margin of error that may affect the results of the study.
Scope and Limitation
The study will focus on the development of cleanup exercises for the different human activities that have led to environmental degradation. It will aim at providing a detailed understanding of the cleanup activities and the importance it carries to the society. The study faces many limitations that may affect its ability to deliver highly reliable results. These include the following:
Limitation of resources
These influence the entire research process and may lead to inadequate data collection. The limitation of resources will slowdown the process considering limited personnel availed and challenges in gathering requisite data.
Time as a Limiting Factor
The time factor is a major constraint to the work considering some data may exist in experiment form that may require experimenting to develop an appropriate understanding of the environmental degradation aspects. Relating time and resources reveal the difficulty of having sufficient personnel working on the project with the length of time it takes to obtain appropriate results. The minimal the resources, the lower the number of personnel and the higher the duration of time needed to complete the study.
Thesis Statement and Supporting Arguments
Examining the link between environmental degradation and human activities reveals numerous aspects that prove central to understanding the different approaches to developing a cleanup approach to reducing the effects of human activities. The study provided support for identifying the link and hence facilitating the development of cleanup measures that would support dealing with environmental issues arising from human activities. The cleanup of each human activity will result in improvement of the approaches to environmental challenges. It will support maintenance of economic activities that have an impact on the environment but with fewer impacts registered. It is, therefore, important that the link between the human activities and environmental degradation are established to support the cleanup process.
Methods
The preparation of the recommendation report is based on the synthesis of both primary and secondary information. This is done to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution in other places where it has been applied with the aim of reducing environmental pollution. The preparation of the recommendation report considered the application of the public awareness and education approach in fighting environmental degradation other locations. The fact that some of the primary reports highlighted the effectiveness of the public awareness and education in fighting environmental pollution in other countries was not a limiting factor.
Results
Elton Consulting (2002) performed a study in which their aim was to determine the relationship between the environmental values, knowledge, attitudes and the behavior of people. The findings of this study are important because they indicate the relationship between knowledge and behavior and knowledge and attitude, and attitude and behavior. The comparison of the baseline data collected during the pre-survey and the data collected post-survey shows that there were significant changes in the values and attitudes as a result of the public awareness and education campaigns.
Elton Consulting (2002) also found a change in attitude from the externalized beliefs where the prevailing attitude was that it was upon the experts to resolve the issues of environmental pollution to a neutral attitude. In the final analysis, Elton Consulting (2002) found that there was statistically significant correlation between the knowledge of the community members on environmental pollution and their attitudes. Elton Consulting (2002) also found that there was an increase in knowledge on environmental pollution following the community awareness and education campaigns.
Elton Consulting (2002) also found a statistically significant relationship between the attitudes of the community members and their environmental behavior. This implies that approaches that aimed at changing the attitudes of the community members from externalized responsibility could translate into the desired environmental behavior. This is corroborated by the finding of a statistically significant relationship between change in the externalized and internalized attitudes determined post the intervention. The other significant finding by Elton Consulting (2002) was that the community members who exhibited internalized values and attitudes; these are the attitudes that the community members have a role in resolving the issues relating to environmental pollution, posted higher scores when tested on their environmental behavior.
A similar study by Fore (2013) found that the use of public awareness and education programs and approaches that are aimed at behavior change are effective in achieving the behavior change and reducing environmental pollution. However, Fore (2013) reported that increasing awareness among the public regarding environmental pollution did not necessarily result in a desirable environmental behavior change. Even so, Fore (2013) reiterated the importance of public awareness and education in successful behavior change approaches. The researcher also found that the most effective behavior change programs are those that were targeted towards specific audiences and behaviors.
Conclusion
The environmental pollution problem in New York City is an issue of concern for both the public and the city authorities. The city authorities in partnership with volunteer groups and other community groups have implemented various programs to find lasting solutions for the environmental pollution problem. There is an incentive to find sustainable solution considering the premature deaths that have resulted from some of the dimensions of the environmental pollution problem in New York City. The analysis of the problem shows that the human aspect is important to achieving a lasting solution to the problem of environmental pollution in New York City. It is for this reason that the recommendation report looks at public awareness and education campaigns as a problem to the problem of environmental pollution. The recommendation report considered primary and secondary data on the effectiveness of public awareness and education campaigns in reducing environmental pollution. The primary studies considered showed a statistically significant relationship between the knowledge of their community members and their attitudes toward environmental pollution. More importantly, the studies showed that increased awareness led to a change in attitude from externality responsibilities to the belief that people had a role in reducing environmental pollution. The studies also showed that while public awareness is important for the success of any program aimed at behavior change, the increase in the awareness of the community members will not always readily result in a change of attitude.
Recommendations
Following the findings made in the discovery of evidence, the following recommendations are made.
It is also recommended to target a given group to enhance the effectiveness of the public awareness and education campaign.
References
Earth Policy Institute. (2006). Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain. Retrieved from http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/plan_b_updates/2006/update51
Elton Consulting. (2002). Effective Environmental Education Campaigns. Retrieved from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/stormwater/casestudies/ednreport.pdf
Fore, L. (2013). Effectiveness of Public Education and Outreach Programs for Reducing Impacts of Stormwater on Rivers and Streams. Retrieved from http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/psmonitoring/ps_monitoring_docs/SWworkgroupD OCS/PublicEducationWhitePaperFinalApril2013.pdf
Kusek, J. Z. & Rist, R. C. (2004). Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System. World Bank Publications.
Odach, R. (n.d.). Pollution in NYC. Retrieved from http://homeguides.sfgate.com/pollution-nyc- 79338.html
Turner, R. K. Pearce, D. & Bateman, I. (1994). Environmental Economics: An Elementary Introduction. Viewed on March 15, 2016 from http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/19931861592.html;jsessionid=21C812D06FAD6CA408CDA1EA5308AA18
