Environment, Affected By Whom?

A reflective piece exploring how our everyday habits — from shopping and toys to driving and waste — quietly damage the environment. Instead of blaming governments alone, this story highlights the small choices we all make that contribute to pollution, traffic, and rising health issues. A gentle reminder that real change begins with us.

Most of us blame governments for the changes happening in the environment. It’s easy to point fingers and say they are responsible. But if we sit down and think honestly, are they the only ones to blame? To some extent, yes — but we can’t put the entire burden on them. We all play a vital role. Every single one of us contributes, knowingly or unknowingly, to environmental damage.

Take shopping, for example.

Our wardrobes are full of clothes — some bought because they were “in fashion,” some because there was a sale, some because we just felt like buying something. But do we wear everything we own? Hardly. We rotate the same few outfits again and again. Yet the moment we see a discount sign, we close our eyes and grab things we don’t need. It’s almost like if we don’t buy something, our sugar level will drop. We laugh about it, but this habit quietly harms the environment.

The same happens with grocery shopping.

We walk into the store and suddenly become soldiers on a mission. The famous 3‑in‑1 deal appears, and we act like heroes: “Yes sir, mission rescued. All done. We defeated the enemy. All 3‑in‑1 items are in our trolley.

And then what? After a few weeks, those items sit untouched in the kitchen. We didn’t need them, but we bought them anyway. And because the store sees these items selling fast, they order more — sometimes from overseas. More shipping, more fuel, more pollution… all because we couldn’t resist a bargain.

Then there are toys.

Children today have mountains of toys. Every celebration brings a new one. But after two days, the toy is forgotten, broken, or lost under the sofa. Most toys are plastic, and plastic doesn’t disappear. It stays on this planet longer than any of us. We complain about pollution, but who bought the toys? Again — it’s us.

And let’s not forget the bridal dress.

A dress worn for a few hours, costing hundreds or thousands, wrapped and stored for years, never to be used again. The amount of material, labour, packaging, and shipping that goes into that one dress is huge. But we don’t think about that. We only think about the big day. The planet pays the price quietly.

Then comes our everyday behaviour — the things we do without thinking.

Throwing rubbish on the road.

Leaving plastic bottles everywhere.

Driving even for short distances.

More cars mean more traffic. More traffic means more pollution. And more pollution means more asthma, more allergies, more breathing problems.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Polluted air brings allergies, bronchitis, skin problems, headaches, fatigue, and even heart issues. We think these things “just happen,” but the environment we live in plays a huge role.

All of this is connected.

And again — we can’t blame only the government.

If we throw rubbish on the road…

If we drive everywhere even when we can walk…

If we waste resources without thinking…

If we keep buying unnecessary things…

Then we are also part of the problem.

The environment doesn’t get damaged by one big action.

It gets damaged by thousands of small habits repeated every single day.

So the question comes back to us: "If we are not playing our role, then why are we blaming others?"

This story is written from my own thoughts, observations, and everyday experiences. I wanted to express how small habits — mine, yours, all of ours — quietly affect the environment. I wrote the full piece myself, and I used AI only to help polish the flow, fix grammar, and make the message clearer while keeping my natural voice exactly as it is.