There is no denying that our population boom will bring new development and expansion, but I believe we can do so without compromising our natural ecosystem. We must preserve the integrity of our natural environments without harming the human population. My current view of nature is that it is an essential part of our lives; it offers a sanctuary to forget our worries and problems and a place to improve our physical health. Not only is nature a place of self-improvement for us, but it is also home to various organisms and natural resources on which most of our existence depends. If we want to expand, which we inevitably will, we must keep our natural ecosystem in mind; we must remember that nothing is definitive and this includes the existence of natural ecosystems. We must expand by thinking about all living organisms, which means we must form a mutually beneficial relationship with nature rather than the parasitic one we are on the path to right now. This includes reducing our current impact on the environment by finding more efficient ways or alternatives to our current lifestyle and turning to greener resources to power our daily lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Because I currently attend college, much of the food I consume and the goods I need require online shopping and shipping. Every week I make about one online purchase that isn't from California, or if not, definitely from a different city. This means that I request shipping and transportation services approximately four times each month. The food that most of my diet is based on is processed and pre-packaged, which means I also have to take into account the negative effects of the factories where the food is produced. I don't travel, except for winter and summer holidays, due to time constraints and heavy workloads, so gasoline is only a portion of my consumption twice a year. But resources like water and electricity are a vital part of my daily life. I usually drink about three cups of water and shower at least once a day. Due to the limited natural lighting even during the day, I need electricity to power three light points for about twelve hours a day. In terms of land, I live in a fairly large apartment complex that's four stories tall, but my personal room is about three hundred and fifty square feet. However, the university I attend occupies most of the land that makes up the city, and the large lecture halls and other university facilities require an enormous amount of electricity and water to operate nearly three hundred and sixty-five days a year. I would have to say that my negative impact on the environment is the amount of products I throw away and purchase, especially my reliance on ordering items online rather than going to the store in person. I hardly reuse items and the fascination that advertising shows of a new product model is often impossible for me to avoid. Even though I live in a small town where it's very easy to get around via public transportation and local farmers markets take place every week, I personally find it more convenient to stay in my apartment and have my goods delivered. The amount of fossil fuels needed to transport goods is much higher than those who don't rely on online shopping for everyday items. However, one positive effect I had was my complete independence from driving a gas-guzzling vehiclegas. Not only do I personally prefer public transportation and walking, but my current living environment is much more pedestrian-oriented than car-oriented. And even when I'm home from college, I rarely drive alone and instead try to align my schedule with my family's so I can carpool. This means that my consumption of fossil fuels in terms of driving is significantly lower than someone who needs a car to get around. One neutral effect I had on the environment was visits to national parks near my home. When I go to these parks, I never go off the designated path and I don't touch or move any of the natural forms (e.g. rocks, shells, plants, etc.); I am simply an observer. Even though the path I walk on had to be built and the concrete my car sits on had to be asphalted, all of this was done without compromising the integrity of the national ecosystem; they were created giving priority to nature. Not only did these activities occur quite a long time ago, but new developments in national parks are either non-existent or happen very rarely. The amount of water and electricity I use increases the impact I have locally. Overall, the presence and growth in popularity of my university absorbs most of the city's resources. With growth has come an increase in attendance at the local farmers' market, as well as the expansion of new stores in the city center; which means greater dependence on electricity and water resources. Personally, because I purchase all of my food and daily items online, I indirectly introduce more air pollution and more fossil fuel consumption into my area to get my items to my home. Globally, fossil fuels and the gasoline I consume with my online purchases play a role in the global warming crisis; Every drop of gas used in my deliveries contributes to the cloud of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. My heavy reliance on processed and pre-packaged foods also fuels the growth of factories in developing countries, which poses dangerous health risks to the people living around them. The wages of workers in poor nations are extremely low, which sends them into a continuous cycle of poverty, and when I do not use the local products that are at hand I contribute to their forced lifestyle. I intend to minimize my consumption habits, hoping to adopt a minimalist lifestyle in the future, which will not only benefit me financially, but will also decrease the effects of freight transportation on the environment. I also hope to hone my artistic side and use it to recycle products that I would normally throw away. This plan would reduce both the amount of waste I produce and the amount of toxins released into the atmosphere during the transportation of goods. Another of my goals is to replace my current family vehicle with an electric car within the next year; we've already put a deposit down for Tesla's new model that's being made to be more accessible to the public, but it's unclear whether or not the car will arrive within the next year. When the car arrives, our dependence on gasoline will be almost completely eliminated because the other vehicle we use is a hybrid. To show my support for bigger change on a local scale, I plan to use the new BART station in Milpitas, California, once it opens instead of driving there, which I often do; this is part of the plan to expand BART into Silicon Valley and increase the number of stations. I think it's important to show government officials that they made the right decision to expand.