A lot has recently been happening around this world in terms of promoting and safeguarding environmental security with India promising the US President, Barack Obama to extend support and co-operation in issues related to climate change. With the environment fraught with a multitude of threats as a result of anthropogenic activities, the onus lies on us to come forward and take little yet giant steps in pulling out Mother Earth from the deep trench that symbolizes the abyss of destruction and degradation. A small yet integrated effort by all, both at personal and at professional level is enough to address a majority of environmental issues that plague Mother Earth today and a majority of issues that she is threatened with, in the near future. So, let us not waste even a precious minute and educate ourselves as to what steps could be undertaken by us in our day-to-day lives to make this world a greener and a healthier place to live in… I will present to you some of our daily activities which exert a heavy toll on our environment..
“ I start my day with a long and nice hot shower with a showerhead having tremendous water pressure”- Well, if this is true for you then it’s a fact that you are wasting gallons of water everyday that simply goes into the drains without getting used for any important work. Low flow showerheads are available which help save 15 to 20 gallons everyday and these precious gallons of water could be used for various other work and by various other people who don’t have access to proper water facilities, especially in the rural areas. So, what can we do?? We can compromise by taking shorter showers and by using buckets instead of hand showers because in the latter, a lot of water gets wasted unnecessarily. Also, we can save on energy and our electricity bills if the hot water tank is properly insulated and is of the proper size. Not only this, we could even install low flow toilets and save those precious drops of water!!
“ I loathe to take public transport and I am better off in my cozy, comfortable car”- By committing this grave mistake you are just burning a hole in your pocket(alongwith a hole in the energy reserves of Mother Earth!!) by increasing your personal fuel costs everyday. Pool cars and public transport should be availed by us which not only compromises a lot of expenses which would have otherwise been incurred by us, but it also helps in checking air pollution. Yes! the more the number of private cars on the road, the more is are those unhealthy fumes that we release into the environment. Besides adopting public transport we should also encourage the use of LPG and CNG operated cars and buses which release the fumes after filtering out the toxic gases from the exhausts. Moreover, the vehicles should be designed in a more eco-friendly manner as this is of utmost importance at this point of time.
“ I print every official e-mail that pops up in my inbox, I use a paper cup for my tea/coffee and I also can’t think of a substitute for the toilet papers” – All of these activities are only increasing an unnecessary burden on the trees as paper is derived from the bark of the tree and increasing demand for paper invites increasing deforestation and felling of trees!! Do I need to reiterate the consequences of deforestation? We all know how much of a sin that can be. From soil erosion to global warming, blame it on deforestation!! So, from now on we can avoid taking unnecessary print outs always, use a thermos or a coffee mug instead of dumping tons of used paper cups. As far as toilet papers are concerned, we could use cloth towels that have been cut into small pieces, or use microfiber towels that last for several clean-ups and are lint free.
“ I am used to buying plastic mineral water bottles every now and then” – Plastic has been a widely discussed entity as far as pollution is concerned. It wreaks havoc to the environment since it is non-biodegradable and creates umpteen problems with regards to its disposal. So, instead of buying plastic bottles, we can carry our own drinking water in stainless steel bottles which is both a safe and a pollution free approach. Also, we should not encourage the buying and selling of commodities in plastic bags and use eco-friendly jute bags instead. Simple this is!! Isn’t it??
“ I am used to sleeping in a chilled air-conditioned room and I also am in love with the warm glow of the incandescent bulbs”- There are a multitude of ways to cool our homes without restoring to Air Conditioners. Air-conditioning uses a lot of energy.We can lower the temperature indoors drastically by substituting our traditional and conventional incandescent bulbs with CFL lightbulbs. Ceiling fans, double glazing, and cross-ventilation can also come to rescue. CFLs can save upto 75% of the energy and are also cost effective. Usage of CFLs should be made widespread in every household as it can prevent the emissions of around 400 pounds of greenhouse gases. Moreover, we can also select the appropriate size, color, and brightness of the CFLs to suit our needs.
The aforementioned green living ideas are some of the most important ones that should be incorporated in our daily lives and there are always many more effective solutions to many more important issues. What we need to do is to mull over these and come up with our own eco-friendly solutions and also spread it across our social circles and make it viral. Such little efforts will reap great benefits both for us and for our future generations and will help in creating a more sustainable environment for them to live in. Without further delay let us all rack our brains and prevent Mother Earth from unleashing her fury on us for all the miseries that we are subjecting her to!!
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