Today we live in an environment where people do anything for
economic benefits. They kill animals, cull trees, pollute the surroundings with a “who
cares” attitude. In such a scenario our environment is changing, almost every
day. Hence it is imperative that we understand the problems that our planet is
facing and the magnitude of the consequences.
Currently the pressing issues that we are facing are:
Global Warming: Climate changes influenced by man because of
the production of greenhouse gases like carbon monoxide, methane etc. Rising
temperatures, melting of the polar ice caps, flash floods are some of the
consequences which are going to change the entire geography of the human race.
Pollution: Polluting the air, water, soil is very easy but
to bring it back to usual, it takes years. Today’s high car emissions polluting
the air, oil spills polluting the ocean waters, toxins releases by various big
industries are one of the major contributors to environment pollution.
Overpopulation: Every natural resource in this world is
limited and the splurge in the world’s population is pushing it to
unsustainable thresholds.
Deforestation: Erasing the green cover and making it available
for residential or commercial purposes for the human habitats is on the rise.
Forests regulate temperature, rainfalls and by cleaning the trees up, we are
putting our future in the greatest of dangers.
Above are some of the major environmental issues that we are
facing but besides that we have many more like Resources scarcity, weakening of
the Ozone layer, Genetic Engineering, Rise in the urban spread, water pollution
etc.
Having said these, it is quite vital that we bring in some
changes to our daily life and also push the Government to bring in policies for
safeguarding the future. Here are a few easy things can we adopt to contribute
to environments betterment:
- Stop littering and use the garbage bin
- Always carry your own bag for a grocery shopping and avoid usage of plastic
- Take public transport once a week for travel
- Join a car pooling group
- Take a walk or ride bicycle for distances less than 2-3 kms
- Use the stairs more often than the elevator/escalator
- Turn off the taps while shaving or brushing teeth. Use the mug
- Think twice before you hit the “PRINT” button and if at all, use the “print on both sides” options
- Unplug the electronic devices and make sure you switch off all them completely if the appliances are not in use
- Drive at 40-50 kms/hr.
- Always use a timer while using air-conditioners
- Use energy efficient lightings
- Buy more of e-books than hard copies
- Avoid charging your phone while sleeping.
- Before buying new clothes, make you sure donate your old stuff
The above are just few of simple
things which we can do immediately and it is not rocket science.
Yes, it is true that we cannot
clean the ocean water, we cannot fill in the holes in ozone layer, we can’t
create forests forests in a day or two but raising awareness in our neighborhoods,
by teaching our kids & families the rules of cleanliness, joining hands
with a hew NGOs like Green Yatra, we can make the world a much better place to
live in. At the end of the day when are a part of the problem, we need to be a
part of the solution as well.
