I am a Lithuanian citizen and live in Vilnius. I would like to discuss some problems such as pollution, recycling and construction of football stadium in Vilnius.

Let me start about pollution. People use too much private cars to go to work or shopping or drive short distances. Many experts have highlighted that Vilnius’ inhabitants prefer cars rather than public transport. On the one hand, there is a problem of connection between suburbs and the centre. On the other, people have developed habits which they do not want to change. I think that there is a significant potential to build up new habits. Recently new busses and trolleybuses drive in the streets. They are equipped with air conditioners, have more space, provide information on destination etc. I would suggest making better advertisements and messages about the benefits of public transport for Vilnius inhabitants, promote going by scooters or bikes and motivate walking.

We all face the problem of climate change and unfortunately contribute to it by our deliberate act not to recycle. Though the city authorities build more and more recycle bins around living premises, people lack consciousness to recycle. Additionally, there are no any such bins in the city centre. I would strongly recommend to put them on the streets and squares and regularly clean them. It would be great to raise awareness about less use of plastic and encourage businesses to use environment-friendly sale-materials. I believe this would help to reduce trash that pollutes our planet.

And last but not least – I have a feeling that the construction of football stadium by using public money does not match the interest of all population. I think it is not fair to invest people’s money to football stadium when there is lack of investment to other sport activities for all inhabitants and make them equally accessible and useful. I support the necessity to promote healthy life and think that more programs and sport activities could be developed at schools.

Sincerely Yours,

#activecitizen

On the one hand considering the number of people disliking this town it gets scary, but on the other hand, I don`t think it`s too bad. Of course there are some problems. And these are a few things that I would change. Firstly, I would build some bicycle tracks. Secondly, people should start recycling more. And thirdly, I would take into account what people are suggesting, because they matter.

If I were the mayor I would build some bicycle tracks so people could go to work, school or any other place of their choice by bicycle, that way we could be reducing the amount of cars and pollution at the same time. Secondly, I would provide people with four different rubbish bins so everyone could recycle their stuff easier. Thirdly, I would encourage citizens to say what they think is best for our town and its surroundings.

I think all of these things would make a big, positive impact on my town. In my opinion, the most important thing to do is to force people to recycle, because it`s not only good for us, but it also benefits the environment a lot.

Kristupas Čeika

My town is a great place to live, but there are a few problems here too. Firstly, there is too much noise in the town center. Secondly, some of the shops don’t have enough cheap products for people. And thirdly, there are a lot of violent crimes here.

If we could make a difference, we would ban cars from the town center, and force people to cycle more.

Secondly, We would create an event to collect money. In this event people should dress up in dog costumes and share chocolate with others. The money from this event would sponsor shops, so they could buy more products in bulk and sell them cheaper so people would be happier and also shops would make more profit.

Thirdly, to make the streets safer, we would encourage people to report about the crimes they saw.

We think, if we changed these things people would lead safer and happier lives.

Kotryna Kutkauskaitė and Deimantė Mačiulytė

My town is a great place to live, but there are a few problems too. So firstly, the air quality in here isn‘t good enough. Secondly, there is a lot of litter in woods, parks, town streets even in the town center. And thirdly, there are a lot of unemployed people.

If I were a mayor, to reduce air pollution, I would encourage people to cycle or walk more, it would be better for the town and for the people‘s health. To make the town cleaner, I would encourage people to sort their trash, also I would make it illegal to drop litter in the streets, parks or somewhere else, and I would provide more rubbish bins. To reduce the number of people with unemployment, I think, I would pass a law to provide everyone with a job or some kind of occupation, where they’d get a place to live in. I believe that it would reduce homelessness.

In my opinion, these actions would improve life in my town. But if I could only do one thing, I would reduce air pollution. Fresh air improves everybody‘s health and it benefits nature too. LET’S TAKE CARE OF OUR PLANET 😉

Livija Pilipauskaitė

All of us know that trees produce oxygen and that it is vital for our survival, but trees do so much more. Our forests are natural sinks of carbon dioxide and produce fresh oxygen as well as helps in regulating temperature and rainfall. Now forests cover 30% of the land but every year tree cover is lost due to growing population demand for more food, shelter and cloth. Deforestation simply means clearing of green cover and making that land available for residential, industrial or commercial purpose. This article will look into causes and effects of deforestation.

Deforestation occurs around the world, though tropical rain forests are particularly targeted. NASA predicts that if current deforestation levels proceed the world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years which would be a disaster.

There are many reasons of deforestation, but most of them are related to money or to people’s need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more space for planting. Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut tons of trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests – which leads to further deforestation. Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires, which may prevent the growth of young trees.

Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Deforestation also causes climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water steams back into the atmosphere. Without trees forest lands can quickly become deserts. Trees also play a huge role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere – and increased speed of global warming.

We can already see negative results of deforestation, but we can try to improve the situation. The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees and plant new ones. The cutting should be balanced by the planting enough young trees to replace the older ones which were cut down. It is a slow process, but it can change a lot.

Tropical rain forests which cover 6-7% of the earth’s surface, contain over half of all the plant and animal species in the world. So it is time to think that every action of ours have some kind of effect and cutting down trees can have a huge effect to the Earth in the near future. So all of us should think of a ways to stop or at least to reduce deforestation.

recycling. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, use Less Heat and Air Conditioning, use less hot water, encourage others to conserve!

Tropical rain forests, which are crucial to stabilizing the climate
One more issue is the pollution. Pollution comes in many forms and no matter where we live we all
have probably seen it. It became a part of our daily routine to see a thing like smog in the streets of big cities. The first thing we can all do to reduce the amount of pollution in our streets, air and water is to change our mentality. Before buying a new product, ask yourself if you really need it or if you might be able to purchase it secondhand. It could make a big difference in the amount of trash we see in our landfills. Secondly, if you don’t already recycle, get into the habit. If everyone adopted these easy principles, the world would be in a much tidier place.

change causes more droughts. Only three percent of the world’s water is fresh water and 1.1 billion people lack access to clean, safe drinking water. How to deal with this problem? Installing an ENERGY STAR-certified washer, using low-flow faucets, plugging up leaks, irrigating the lawn in the morning or evening when the cooler air causes less evaporation, taking shorter showers and not running sink water when brushing your teeth.

It’s time for us to open our eyes and hearts and start caring more not about ourselves but also about our planet, our home. It is high time for human beings to take the ‘right’ action towards saving the earth from major environmental issues. We and only we create a world we want to live in. And it is up to us weather we want to have a bright future or destroy everything we have. If ignored today, these ill effects are sure to curb human existence in the near future.