Owning a motor vehicle sets us class apart from peers in society. It provides freedom and movement, not to mention style and status but these also come with a big impact on the planet.

Though vehicle pollutants harm our health and contain greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

Burning gasoline and diesel fuel creates harmful byproducts like nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, benzene, and formaldehyde. In addition, vehicles emit carbon dioxide, the most common human-caused greenhouse gas.

The fact that cars consume massive energy before ever making it to the open road, the production leaves a giant footprint as materials like steel; rubber, glass, plastics, paints, and many others are hazardous to the environment.

Similarly, the end of a car’s life doesn’t mark the end of its environmental impact. Plastics, toxic battery acids, and other products may stay in the environment.

Unfortunately, South Sudan doesn’t have recycling plants or facilities in place like her other sisterly countries, this contributes to pile-ups of grounded cars littering all around our urban areas and cities.

Absence of recycling, and disposal facilities cost direly on our environment. The impacts are difficult to quantify and largely beyond the control of most consumers.

Government should consider allowing importation of eco-friendly and economical cars into the country.

It’s good news that pre-shipment verification of product conformity with the standards of all motor vehicles and spare parts imports to weed out substandard products will be mandatory.

The National Bureau of Standards should most importantly restrict the importation of used or second-hand cars and consider only brand-new and durable models to access our roads.

Other aspects of reckless drivers who end up leaving automobiles along the roadsides in accidents will be looked at later by traffic police and the hospital staff.