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Maria Yolanda Hannah Meeuwse 26 March 2014 Gods Environment God had created the earth with all of the things in it so humans can use it wisely. Earth has given us so many things that we ever needed like animals and plants as sources of food, clothes for us to wear, shelter to protect us from the unexpected weather, and many more resources that will be used on daily basis. But sometimes, humans can get so greedy and use all of the resources for wrong reasons. Day by day, we are distructing our own environment without us noticing it. Take a look in Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. People are careless about all of the polution that theyre making each day, nor do they care about the environment around them. People these days are so comfortable with the new modern lifestyle that they forgot Gods will for them to protect and treat the environment wisely. West Sumatra is one of the many provinces in Indonesia that can still maintain the nature in their environment. We can find many fields filled with plants, hills, and forests everywhere so easily. However, the people there seem to have no respect towards the nature, and continue on destroying it instead. Many plastic bottles and bags can be seen everywhere and this really affect the plants and also us, the people who walk by or live nearby. The wastes can bring bacterias and sickness to the environment because they are exposed to us. Those wastes are supposed to be thrown away to the right place, which the government will probably provide. If they leave them there around their environment, that means the y dont care about the consequences that they might just get. When the sickness and bacterias start to spread around them, it will risk many lifes, especially those who live in the city (Padang). So,

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actually by throwing wastes in the wrong places that means theyre not respecting themselves and also the nature, for they live in the same environment. Also without them knowing, throwing wastes in public places can also affect to the tourism. West Sumatra is a very rich province with a lot of new things and places to be explored. Many people from Indonesia or even other countries will come and visit there every once in a while. In visiting places, they wont just focus on the main attraction (places or things) but they will also notice the environment around them. If the local people keep on throwing wastes everywhere, it will eventually cause bad smell and such bad sights to be seen by the tourists. With all of the beautiful places and unique cultures, they shouldnt make the tourists uncomfortable with all of the wastes. So, the wastes arent actually affecting the local people only, but they affect almost everything and everyone that interacts with the environment. People who keep on throwing wastes on public places in Padang have caused many bad things to happen to their economy. For plants to grow effectively, they need to have enough soil and also water. But, with what is happening in Padang, all of the wastes have caused water and soil contamination. The soil cant really give the nutrients that the plants need because it is filled with wastes such as plactics and bottles. Same goes with the water, because many dangerous or chemical substances will mix with the water and flow through with it. Some will go to the sea, but some will be absorbed by the soil. Then, the plants will absorb the water from the soil and all the dangerous chemical substances will go inside the plants. With this, it will cause the plants to grow slower or even worse, the plants will die. People in Padang will not get benefits from all of the dead plants, especially for fruits and vegetables. Many of the people there sell vegetables and fruits to the market to make a living. So, with many dead plants, their productions in a month will decrease and they can only sell small amount of the vegetable or plants and get small income. They cant improve their lifes if this continues to happen.

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Other than nature, people in Padang also have no respect towards the animals. One worst case that we found in Padang is in the zoo, where many animals are abandoned and look like dying. The environment around the zoo was so messy and unorganized that it affects the animals badly. In the cages, there are so many wastes and the zookeepers dont even think to clean it up. So, all of the animals need to live between all of the wastes and sometimes even eat it (plastics, food leftovers). The zookeepers also dont pay attention to the animals healths, this can be shown from the conditions from all of the animals. Some have red eyes, some were too skinny and look very tired, and some dont even have a proper cage. Another thing that they do to the animals is abusing them by accident or not. Take a look at the elephants there as the first example, they were chained so they cant walk freely. They cant drink unless the zookeepers give some to them because the distance of the pond and where they are chained is so far away. Another example will be the bears, the cage is abandoned and it looks like they have no food that they can eat. They start to eat the wastes that people keep throwing in there and also their own wastes. Also, because of the unhealthy environment and really bad water source for them to swim or drink, they seem to have an infection on their eyes and nails. This is another action that people have been doing to prove how terrible we are towards our own environment. In Psalms 24:1-2, it is written the earth if the Lords, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has found it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. From the start, God had created the animals as a part of the earth so that they can be our friends while we can protect them. But now, people seem to be abandoning Gods will and continued on treating those animals not wisely. Not just that they have abandoned God, they also have caused some serious stress for the animals because of the constant abuses. The major reason why people in Padang keep on doing these things is because of the lack of education. Sure they have standard educations like elementary, middle, and high

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school now, but they dont really get the other education outside school. One important thing that they still dont understand is that how their actions towards the nature and animals will cause bad effects towards the environment and also their lifes. Maybe, this issues about environment and global warming arent the biggest issues that they will talk in this province. Considering they are still lower economy families, the major things that they are concerning about is how to make money so they can fulfill their daily needs (food, shelter, clothes, etc). The government also dont really pay attention on it because just by looking at the economic growth of the population, many people still have difficulties in getting to school or to get job. So, they must see education about environment and how to treat other living things as minor issues to handle. If the government had reacted on this wisely from the start and actually team up with the central government to start educate their people about environment and how dangerous global warming is, then maybe the situation is a lot better now. At least, people will think twice before throwing wastes or to abuse animals. People in Padang have shown how terrible their relationship are with their environment. From the way they treat the nature, how they accidentally abuse the animals, and also how they are lacking of education about environment have caused all of this. If they can actually treat this issue like they treat other important issues, then maybe, Padang will be a place where people respect other living things like what God had said to us.