We’ve all heard about air pollution and how it’s bad for the environment, but what about noise pollution? Even though you can’t see it, it exists, especially in urban settings. Learn how noise pollution can affect us and 4 ways to help limit it.
In both environmental health and permaculture classes, the subject of noise pollution comes up multiple times. Noise pollution occurs when there is disturbing or undesired sound in an environment. A few examples of this are things like airplanes flying over your house, heavy traffic noises, or sounds coming from large construction machines. Noise pollution is typically thought to be machine related, although sometimes nature sounds can be considered noise pollution by some select people.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, constant exposure to noise pollution can actually have harmful effects on your emotional, physical, and mental health. A few examples of these harmful effects that the EPA mentions are stress related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption, and lost productivity. Noise pollution not only affects human health, but animals and plants can suffer too. So, what can you do about it?
- Raise Awareness about Noise Pollution
Talk about it with your loved ones and people you care about. Share this article about noise pollution with your friends and family members. You can also share your own personal essays, information, personal blogs and thoughts about noise pollution on social media. Hand out personal flyers that address the seriousness of pollution noise and its negative effects. There are many creative ways to raise awareness about noise pollution, like through art and music. Letting others become aware can help you gain support in limiting it.
- Support Laws on Limiting Noise Pollution
Another great way to help decrease noise pollution is to support local, state, and national laws that limit it. Laws on noise pollution depend on your country, state, or area you live in, but if you don’t know your rights, then you have no rights at all. A website that can assist you in finding out about the noise laws in your area is noisehelp.com. The site even gives you a few ideas on some solutions to noise pollution.
- Protect Nature Spaces
If you have parks or nature spaces to get away from the noise pollution, I suggest you support and try to help protect those spaces any way you can. By protecting these nature spaces, you can ensure a safe place for you and others to go and have some peace from the noises that disturb you.
- Assist Activists Against Noise Pollution
For those who want help actively limiting noise pollution, I would suggest finding and assisting environmental activist-groups in your area who are against or want to limit noise pollution.
Noise pollution is something worth thinking about because it affects our environment as well as our quality of life. For more information and resources on limiting noise pollution, you can visit nonoise.org.
