IELTS essay - Pollution and other environmental problems are resulting from a country's developing and becoming richer. Some think this cannot be avoided. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

All the things that human beings have designed and devised for comfort have some kind of repercussion for the environment. The industrial revolution was the main cause of environmental damage. However, I disagree that this cannot be avoided. I think it is possible to achieve progress without damaging the environment. Fortunately technology has advanced enough that environmental damage is no longer necessary for further progress.

It is irrefutable that in our quest for development and becoming richer, we have harmed some of our environment. Most of the things we use require some kind of energy to manufacture, operate and maintain. Disposing-off these things is very difficult too. Most of the energy that we use is polluting the environment. Renewable energy forms a very small part of what is used on a significant scale. Effluents from large factories are being dumped indiscriminately and landfill sites are filling up with non-biodegradable wastes. All this is being done in the name of progress.

Nevertheless, I still refute the statement that the damage to the environment is inevitable.  I think it is possible to achieve progress without damaging the environment. For instance, we know that there are renewable sources of energy which are lesser polluting. Already there are people who are designing houses that do not require air conditioning even in the extremes of temperature. For example, they are using prefabricated material such as aluminum for doors and windows. There are people who are trying to ensure that dependence on modern conveniences remains a luxury and does not become an absolute necessity. I feel that if there is awareness, we can achieve progress literally in its true meaning and without losing any single bit of our environment.

The answer lies in the green technologies which increasingly use renewable resources of energy. We should also remember the three “Rs” - reduce, reuse and recycle. In this way we can achieve an ecologically sustainable development. In order for progress to cause minimum damage to environment, sustainability has to be worked at.

To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that, earlier we could say that - Industrial Revolution = Progress = Environmental Damage; but fortunately technology has advanced enough that environmental damage is no longer necessary for further progress.