How Economic Activities Affect Our Environment

Every day, people work to make goods and earn money. These jobs are called economic activities. You can learn more about goods and services by visiting Goods and Services.

Sometimes these activities can hurt the land, water, and air around us. When that happens, we call it an environmental consequence a change in nature caused by human work.

Logging means cutting down trees to make wood and paper products. When too many trees are cut down, forest animals lose their homes. Trees give animals shelter, food, and nesting places.

Workers can help by planting new trees after logging. Replanting helps the forest grow back and gives animals a place to live again. You can explore more about Natural Resource Industries like Mining, Forestry, and Energy Production to see how these jobs work.

Fishing is an important economic activity along Canada's Pacific coast. When too many salmon are caught, the fish population gets smaller over time. If fishers take more fish than can be replaced by new ones being born, there will be fewer and fewer salmon.

This is called overfishing, and it is a serious environmental consequence.

Mining digs deep into the ground to find metals and minerals. This can damage the surrounding land and soil. When soil and rocks are removed, it becomes hard for plants and animals to live nearby.

Land damage from mining is an important environmental consequence you should know about.

Farms need lots of water to grow food. When farms use too much water, nearby rivers and lakes can dry up. Less water means less habitat for fish, plants, and wildlife.

Places like BC's Okanagan valley show how farming can affect natural water sources.

Factories release smoke into the air, making it dirty and unhealthy. This is called air pollution. Breathing polluted air can harm people and animals.

Factories can also release dirty waste water into rivers, causing water pollution. Pollution in rivers can kill fish and plants and make water unsafe. You can learn more about Human Effects on Nature to understand how people change the environment.

When oil spills into the ocean, it hurts fish, birds, and sea animals. Oil coats the feathers of birds so they cannot fly. It also poisons fish and other sea creatures.

Oil spills are a serious environmental consequence of transporting oil along Canada's coast.

When buildings, roads, and parking lots are built, they replace the natural spaces where animals live. Animals lose their homes because the land is covered with concrete and structures.

Roads cut through animal habitat in BC, making it hard for animals like black bears to move safely. Construction noise scares birds away from their nesting areas. Wildlife bridges help animals cross busy roads safely.

Bright lights from buildings confuse night animals like owls and bats. Paving land stops rain from soaking into the ground, which can cause flooding. Building near streams can muddy the water and harm salmon in BC.

You can take action to reduce the harm that economic activities cause. Recycling keeps waste out of landfills by reusing materials. Composting puts food scraps back into the earth as healthy soil.

Conserving water means using only what is needed so natural water sources are not emptied. Planting trees helps replace forests removed by logging. Donating old clothes, using reusable water bottles, and fixing broken toys instead of buying new ones all help reduce waste.

Choosing to walk instead of drive helps reduce air pollution. Eating your leftovers reduces food waste. Buying products with less packaging creates less garbage in landfills.

Learn more about how you can help by visiting Protecting Our World and Individual Environmental Responsibility.

Economic Activity: An economic activity is a job or task that people do to make goods or earn money. Examples include logging, fishing, mining, and farming.

Environmental Consequence: An environmental consequence is a change in nature that happens because of human work or activities. For example, cutting too many trees causes animals to lose their homes.

Logging: Logging is the work of cutting down trees to make wood and paper products. Too much logging can destroy animal habitats.

Overfishing: Overfishing happens when too many fish are caught before new ones can be born to replace them. This makes fish populations smaller over time.

Mining: Mining is the work of digging into the ground to find metals and minerals. Mining can damage soil and land around it.

Air Pollution: Air pollution is when harmful gases or smoke make the air dirty and unhealthy to breathe. Factory smoke is a common cause of air pollution.

Water Pollution: Water pollution is when dirty waste or chemicals get into rivers, lakes, or oceans. Water pollution can kill fish and plants and make water unsafe.

Oil Spill: An oil spill happens when oil leaks into the ocean or a waterway. It harms birds, fish, and sea animals.

Habitat: A habitat is the natural place where an animal lives, finds food, and raises its young. Construction and logging can destroy animal habitats.

Habitat Loss: Habitat loss happens when the natural spaces where animals live are destroyed by human activities like building roads or cutting down forests.

Recycling: Recycling means turning old materials into new ones instead of throwing them away. Recycling helps keep landfills from filling up and reduces pollution.

Composting: Composting means putting food scraps and yard waste into a special bin so they break down into healthy soil. Composting keeps food waste out of landfills.

Conserving Water: Conserving water means using only the water you need so natural water sources like rivers and lakes do not dry up.

Reduce: Reduce means to use less stuff so that less waste is created in the first place. Using less is one of the best ways to help the environment.

Reuse: Reuse means to use something again instead of throwing it away. Reusing items keeps them out of landfills.

Landfill: A landfill is a place where garbage is buried in the ground. When landfills get too full, they can pollute the soil and water nearby.

Wildlife Bridge: A wildlife bridge is a special crossing built over or under a highway so animals can safely cross the road. Canada has wildlife bridges in places like Banff National Park.

Sediment Runoff: Sediment runoff happens when rain washes loose dirt from construction sites into nearby streams and rivers. This muddy water can harm fish and other water animals.

Replanting: Replanting means planting new trees after old ones have been cut down. Replanting helps forests grow back and gives animals new homes.

You can practice identifying environmental consequences by thinking about everyday activities. Ask yourself: Does this activity help or harm the environment? What can people do to reduce the harm?

Try sorting activities into two groups ones that harm the environment and ones that help protect it. Visit Making Good Choices to learn more about choosing actions that protect nature.

You can also explore Sharing Earth's Resources and Using Earth's Resources to understand how people share and use what the Earth provides.

You have already learned about Caring for Our Surroundings and Civic and Environmental Duties: People and Planet Stewardship. These topics helped you understand why it is important to take care of the world around you.

You also learned about Population Growth and Community Development and Water and Sewage Treatment Infrastructure Impact, which show how growing communities affect the environment.

Next, you will explore Community Environmental Effects, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development to learn how communities work together to protect the environment for the future.

This topic connects to many other important ideas you will explore. Community Environmental Protection Values shows you how communities work together to protect nature. Recreational Environmental Impact: Outdoor Activities and Ecosystem Effects helps you see how even fun activities can affect nature.

Small vs Large Communities Environmental Impact Analysis lets you compare how different sized communities affect the environment. Regional Biodiversity: Plants and Animals Across Diverse Ecosystems helps you understand the variety of living things that can be affected by economic activities.

You will also connect this topic to Communities and Their Environments, Resource Industries, Human-Animal Relations: Domestication, Hunting, and Fishing, and Types of Work as you continue learning.