Maintaining a clean environment is important for a number of reasons:
- A clean environment promotes the growth of the natural ecosystem. This includes all forms of life, from trees to tree dwelling animals. The continuation of species is something many people are deeply concerned with, especially considering the cost that our lifestyle accrues to the environment already. Waste dumped in rural areas often leads to injuries and deaths of animals, including some endangered species.
- Many locations depend on tourism to bolster their economies. A clean environment can be a tourist attraction in itself, as people will often travel thousands of miles to spend their holidays in scenic locations. These people are less likely to visit if the environment is polluted or over industrialized and this will have negative implications for the local economy.
- A clean environment also promotes good health. Areas of filth can be rife with disease, and people who are forced to live impoverished in slums often become ill and die due to dirty conditions. A clean environment is essential for disease prevention, and it is important that newborn children especially avoid living in dirty conditions.
- An unclean environment may also cause depression in people living near it, due to the stress brought on by worrying about health issues and implications for wildlife.