“Man is a complex being: he makes deserts bloom – and lakes die” – Gil Stern
Man, indeed is a very complex being. He works so hard earns all that money he does which is made of trees only to later spend it on conserving the same trees that were cut off to make his money.
Every year millions and millions of trees are cut down, just to make buildings and various kinds of infrastructure for the development of the country. Well if there is no clean air to breathe and no food to eat what are we going to do with these buildings?
As the years are passing by the number of “water stressed” states has been increasing. In 1990 it was recorded as 30, and by 2000 it was 40 states and by 2009 the number rose to 45 water stressed states in the US.
People often wonder, that there is so much that Mother Nature has to offer then why, is mankind suffering from the environmental issues that they are? As a matter of fact, nature has only a limited source to offer, but man being a greedy complex being, wants more and more. We want to cut down as many forests as we, can and plant not even half of it back.
Not only is this decreasing the specific species of trees, but it is also endangering many birds and animals. Along with that trees and shrubs hold the soil together in a particular place, so the chances of soil erosion automatically increases the minute you cut down a couple of trees. Also, by cutting down these forests we are disrupting the not only the food web but a bunch of other ecosystems too.
Well this is more on a large scale, and while reading this you are thinking how am I going to be able to contribute and make a change to this? This is too large scale. Well not only is deforestation a major issue but also water consumption, is. Those who waste water are the ones who have it easily available, but think of those little towns and villages that suffer from draughts. In many villages in India, till date women have to walk miles and miles to get fresh drinking water.
As an individual, here are few things you can do this summer, to save the planet.
- Save water.
The very basic, you can do is save water. I know, the heat is killing and everyone wants to take the longest showers and baths they can. But we have to realise at least we have the water to take bath; there are a lot of people out there who don’t have even clean drinking water. Side by side, shut the tap while brushing and another easy tip is to make sure to wash your vegetables in a bowl of water instead of running tap water over them for a long time.
It has also been noted that, there is a lot of water loss due to leaking pipes, and faucets. So this summer, get your leakage system checked just in order to save a little water. Another saving grace would be, if you have lawns and backyards, use pipes to water them once in a while instead of using sprinkles all day every day. Then again, pipes aren’t always helpful so instead of washing your car with the pipe, take a bucket of water instead. Just see how many gallons of water you will be saving.
- The 3 Rs.
We all, have been taught the 3 Rs all through our life, Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.
These Rs can be put to use for any material, plastic being the most common one.
Reduce the use of plastic. We all know it is a very necessary object in our daily life, but try using an alternative like paper bags or jute bags.
These paper bags don’t necessarily have to be bought, the 3rd R comes in help, Recycle. Use old newspapers and magazine to make grocery paper bags of any size you like, and carry them with you this way you will save the little extra money you pay for the plastic bags and also will be doing your little bit to save mother nature.
Reuse, you can reuse old plastic bottles to grow some kind of plans in them, old cloth material can be used to make pillows, etc.
- Transport
Last, but not the least use traditional methods of transport like, cycling or walking and or public transport. If it’s a short distance walk it down, this will help reduce the traffic on the road, keep you healthy, and save the planet since the fuel consumption decreases and all the money that is spent of fuel can be put to other use too. If one person can be motivated to do so, others may just follow. This way you’re bringing in a change.
There will be times when you can’t walk the distance, so take public transports. They are again cheap and much easier than getting your car out.
The change starts from you, start before it’s too late. This summer, plant a tree and save some water, Go Green.
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