With the whole new Covid19 experience and the way it has affected us humans has made us believe most of the destruction around the globe is man made. Sometimes it’s in the form of a virus or sometimes in the forms of an oil spill from a ship or large amount of carbon dioxide release from vehicles…in small scales it can be smoking a cigarette to even littering the pavements and releasing waste into the water bodies.
There are many thoughtful people who believe man made problems can be solved only by man himself. Haven’t we admired certain celebrities who cleaned up the Mumbai beaches or that the viral video of Narendra Modi cleaning up a beach in south India? Influencers around the globe even post a picture of how they are dumping waste in a dustbin like its something novel to do! Well, yes… certain people do dump waste next to the dustbin instead of inside the bin. We learn from our mistakes and this is the time we think about it and work on them.
Fun fact: did you know a normal human being needs 12 kgs of clean fresh air to survive everyday? Now multiply it by 7 days for a week, multiple it by 30 for a month and so on… how much do you believe you must have consumed in all these years? Multiply and be fascinated by the fact that you need unlimited amount of air for survival. We should be conserving Mother Nature in order to survive happily or Earth and gift the same clean surroundings to our future generations.
Conservation is not a term used only by scientists or community helped or humanitarians… it can be taught to a child as young as 2 as well by asking the child not to waste food, by inculcating a habit to use water wisely or even cut down on the release of CFC which is chlorofluorocarbons during the excess use of electronics such as refrigerator, air conditioner or even found in opening on aerated drink cans an perfume sprays bottles. As an alternative, can we roll down the windows while driving and enjoy a cool morning or evening breeze? Or is it possible to take the kids and arrange a small tribal party on terrace and arrange a make shift teepee and sleep under the blanket of stars instead of keeping the AC switched on all night?
There are many such small little changes you can adjust to without changing your daily routine and contribute your portion on saving the planet one by one. How about carrying your own porcelain mug to office instead of drinking from those waxy paper cups? Or how about adopting washable sanitary napkins instead of those plastic use and throw? An organic sanitary napkin takes a decade or two to completely degrade and mix with the soil even if it claims as being biodegradable.
Small steps lead to major changes. Nothing shall change overnight. No one can save the world overnight. But we can all do our little bit and pave a path of conservation to give a healthier home for the future generations.
Author:
Kunj Ganatra, Assistant Professor, Unitedworld School of Business (UWSB)
