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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45741
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

These answers are all really good, so I'll just add a couple of things.

1. Imagine your setting as a character. You've already personified it by making it "uncaring" and "hostile". Now, make it behave like an uncaring and hostile creature/character. Your setting can interact with your characters just like they I react with it. "As much as Mary was determined to survive, the wasteland was determined to kill her."

You can give your setting a backstory, mood, emotion, even motivation, all of which can contrast with that of your characters.

1. Make sure that your characters are seeing your world through all five senses. It will help draw your readers in and help them experience your environment more thoroughly. Your characters can see the wasteland and feel the burning sun, but they can also smell the decay, taste sulphur in the air and hear metal against metal grinding in the distance.

This will also give you more material to contrast against your characters. "Mary hummed 'You Are My Sunshine' to drown out the sound of metal grinding in the distance."

Original score: 6