Pollution survey
Aim:
To identify pollution in your local area, and take action to clean it up.
You will need:
Paper and pens, map of local area.
Duration:
1-2 hours (or longer)
If we want to do something to clean up our environment we need to start by understanding what the problems are. Start by carrying out a survey of pollution in your local area. You could use a map, and identify different places you want to visit and examine. You could go on a walk around your area to see what you notice. Or you could ask people to feedback their suggestions of areas they think are suffering from pollution.
Remember there are several different types of pollution you may notice:
- Air - from vehicle exhausts, heat and power generation, factories and fires.
- Water - from petroleum products, agricultural chemicals, heavy metals, hazardous waste, and sewage.
- Soil - from agriculture, mining and quarrying, sewage sludge, household waste and demolitions.
- Noise - from road, air and rail transport, industrial machinery and neighbourhoods.
Note down the locations you think are badly polluted, and what you think could be done to reduce the pollution. As the next step, you could inform your local authority of the problem, or you could find out if you can help to clean up the area. Here are some suggestions of action you could decide to take:
- Remove rubbish from a pond or stream.
- Hand out leaflets to encourage people not to use their cars as much.
- Plant trees to help make the air cleaner.
- Provide litter bins so people do not drop their rubbish.