Anastasia 1 Jessica Anastasia Hannah Meuwese Humanities and Biblical studies assignment March 22, 2014 The Earths

Devastation The city weve observed is called Padang, located in West Sumatra. Although this city has a lot of green, there are still certain areas that have trash pollution. Roads, beaches, and even the zoo in Padang are filled with piles of organic, plastic trash. That much amount of trash would affect the air because it produces unwanted bacterias. The unwanted bacterias are an issue because it could create a disease and would affect the locals health. Pollution is one of the situation people is trying to get away from. People are trying to have a better healthy life, but they do not realize that by littering they are not achieving that goal. The interaction of the people towards the environment affects the outcome of their surroundings. Peoples actions, no matter how small, have a way of impacting the environment. The people of Padang are neglecting the environment because they are not aware of their actions. However, there are some environments that they still take care of. Unlike Jakarta, the population in Padang is less than the population in Jakarta. This makes Padang an easier area to take care of. If the people are willing to change the way they live and the way they dispose their trash, Padang could still be a beautiful place to sustain. Peoples interaction towards the surroundings will affect the outcome of their environment because their character is influenced by the wise choices they make. The people of Padang need to know the impact of their actions and should realize that their selfish attitude is not going to benefit their surroundings if they are going to keep up with this interaction. As I visited the local zoo called Fort De Kock, I have seen how the people neglect the environment around them. The owner of the zoo has not carefully thought

Anastasia 2 on the survival of the animals he caged. He hasnt thought about the responsibility of his workers as well as their job. The zoo itself looks abandoned because the animals are not well taken care of. An example is shown when I saw a bear with a lot of bruises on its skin. My first thought goes to the condition of the cage, which have a lot of trash. But as I look closer, the condition appears to be worst than what I have imagined. There is no fresh water provided by the owner/workers, which forced the animal to drink dirty water that might have not been cleaned for months. This situation is going to kill the animal slowly because they are not given a care that they need in order to survive. Another animal that have caught my attention is the deer. The cage for the deer looks clean until I saw them drinking each others urine because they are not provided with fresh water. As I go around that zoo, the condition of the animals gets worst. The owner has not thought about what he/she is doing to the animal. The caged animals are better off in the wild than being tied to a pole in a zoo and are left to die just because there isnt anyone who would give them food. Through this observation I have concluded that it is better for the owner to release back the animals he caged because there is a better chance for them to survive out in the wild. Their ecosystem has not support their living because their environment is filled with trash pollution and unwanted bacterias. The world is affected by this situation because the people of Padang are killing animals slowly which decrease the animal population in the world. Through this action the global sustainability isnt moving forward because the people arent taking care of the animals in their province. The peoples actions towards the environment gets worst as I saw piles of trash along side the street roads in Kota Gadang. From what I observed, the people do not care about the environment. They dispose their trash anywhere they want. They

Anastasia 3 arent told about the impact of their actions to their community. They do not think that it is a big deal because they havent had the consequences of their actions. The consequences of their actions include having bad diseases spreading across the city. This would impact the locals health. The trash piles are not only found in kota Gadang, but also in the Padang beach not far from the Gadang city. The beach itself has a beautiful scenery and good weather. Even so, I was still disturbed by the amount of trash on the sand. There are piles of trash along side the beach, and even dead animal corpse in the seawater. If this condition continues than it would affect other beaches because the water flows through the same sea. Although the people noticed the trash around them, they seem to be well with it because they are not showing any effort to make their community a better environment. The locals have no care about the piles of trash around them because they think that it is not going to affect the rest of the world. They have a thought that they could not do anything about the never-ending piles of trash. Nevertheless the locals still have a caring reaction towards their local river because it affects their daily activities. The locals wash their dirty plates and clothes and even bath in the local river. The waterfall that we first visited is called the Anai waterfall. This waterfall has clear flowing water, which shows how much attention and effort the people have towards the waterfall. The sea flows to other seas in the world, which affects it globally. Plastic pollution affects every waterway, sea, and ocean in this world. It affects taxpayers and the local government because they have to clean the beach so that it would not affect the publics health. Even though the trash are being carried to other waterway, the government from that particular waterway area have to be the one to take care of the trash being carried from Padang.

Anastasia 4 Not only the peoples interactions, some factors of the world have also affected the environment in Padang. Factors of population and economics have affected the situation of the environment. If the people were willing to change their point of view towards their environment, there would still be a chance for them to sustain their healthy and clean environment. The number of population in that area affects their environment. Padangs population is only one tenth of the population in Jakarta and yet they have a bigger landmark than Jakarta. As I compare the population between Padang and Jakarta as an example, I have studied that population will affect the outcome of an environment. Having a small population means having less trash around. By having a small population, it would be easier to manage the trash disposal. If more people were willing to take a job as a sanitary engineer, it would be easier for the Trash Mountains to clear out. By having less population, the amount of trash an area produce would be less. Because Padang is not a well-developed city like Jakarta, it does not have the equipment or machines to remove trash in a faster way. A tool that would help clear trash in a short amount of time is the shovel car. Clearing out the piles of trash in the beach with a shovel car would take a shorter amount of time compared to picking it up by manually. The economic factor does not support this because from what I observed, Padang have a low economic state. If they have a better economic, they would have a greater amount of money to purchase machines that would clear out the whole beach or purchase medicines to help heal animals. If the local government were willing to take part on sustaining their environment, the result would produce a great satisfaction towards the people. A change in the city is not going to be made by one people, but also by the higher authority. Waste pollution is causing damage to the earth. By having a lot of trash on the

Anastasia 5 beach, the good soil will be affected. Therefore, waste pollution creates an impact to the earths environment. Garbage takes 50 years to decompose. Which is why people have to realize that they should throw trash in a place where the trash can easily decompose. They have to be aware that as they litter they do not only affect the environment but also other people and the animals. Waste pollution affects the animal ecosystem because they can choke on the trash. It would also affect the air because the trash would create a bad smell and produce unhealthy bacteria to the air. The trash pollution is affecting the global sustainability because its stopping other countries to develop. The trash that we make and are thrown out to the air is causing air pollution which affects other countries air, and the trash we throw out to the sea affects other countries because it is being carried to various places according to where the wave is taking them. The human role is to take care of its environment in the best way possible. We are given the power to rule and it is our job to use that power to do good things in the world. Because of this power, God gave us his trust, and he gave us the responsibility to take care of the earth. But over the past years, the earth has been worst. The locals in Padang have not gained an understanding that every action that they do no matter how small it is, would affect their community either in a good or bad way. With wisdom, the people would be wiser in decision-making. As God says in Genesis 2:15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. It is clear that God has chosen mankind to work and to keep the Garden of Eden clear. The Garden of Eden in the verse represents the environment around us. Because our task is to take care of our environment, it is not right for us to litter and neglect it. God gave us the power to do something, and it is our job to take action on the problem we have caused.

Anastasia 6 As human beings, it is our job to take care of the environment so that other people can also enjoy the benefit of living healthy. The situation of Padang will get worst over the years if the people do not give in an action any time soon. The trash piles are filling up the beach and going to the sea, the animals live in a cage full of trash, and there are piles of trash along side the roads of Kota Gadang. Nevertheless, the environment is also affected by worldly factor. The factors of economics and population have also affected the trash pollution. With a better economic, people could receive more knowledge through education. If people were more educated they would understand better how their actions matters. They would understand these types of situations and what they should do, because their small actions would help affect the rest of the world.