Today’s world is facing many problems due to pollution. Everywhere we go, we see our surroundings polluted by sewage, garbage et cetera, which creates environmental pollution.

Pollution is defined as contamination of the Earth’s environment with materials that interfere with human health, the quality of life, or the natural functioning of ecosystems (living organisms and their physical surroundings). Although some environmental pollution is a result of natural causes such as volcanic eruptions, most is caused by human activities.

Pollution creates different types of problems. It also has a dramatic effect on natural resources. Ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and rivers perform many important functions to maintain a balance in the Earth’s environment. They enhance water and air quality, provide a habitat for plants and animals, and provide food and natural medicines. Any or all of these ecosystem functions may be impaired or destroyed by pollution.

Moreover, because of the complex relationships among the many types of organisms and ecosystems, environmental contamination may have far-reaching consequences that are not immediately obvious or that are difficult to predict.

Another major effect of pollution is the tremendous cost of pollution cleanup and prevention. Due to pollution, there also arises the economic problem for cleaning the environment.

It’s time for us to make people aware about the effects of polluted environment and therefore, to clean and not pollute the environment. All of us should be aware of its hazardous effects and impacts. We should all work hard to make people aware of ‘Environmental Sanitation’ by providing the knowledge of merits of clean environment and demerits of polluted environment.

— Sagar Sharma, Jana Jagriti Gyan Rashmi Secondary School, Kathmandu