How does it matter? This is the predominant question we human beings ask ourselves. Even this predominant question comes up very late which is a very sad part. Our eyes open only when the loss is done till then our ears and mouth both stay shut. We started taking actions against depletion of ozone layer only when ultraviolet B rays affected our health and eventually there was a hole in the sky. During the era of industrial revolution nobody thought industrial revolution would lead us to global warming and when there was a surge in plastic production no one knew this boon would become a bane for the hapless sea creatures and then finally after incurring these losses (which deprived us of clean air) we became active and took some salient steps and tried gradually to underpin environmental values by making environment as a subject in school education, formulating new treaties, after all it was a collective interest so different nation all around the world came together and agreed on signing many conventions such as Ramsar convention on degrading wetlands, Stockholm convention on persistence organic pollutants, united nations framework Convention on climate change (UNFCCC) on climate and Vienna convention on protection of ozone layer. We made some progress in tackling some harmful effects of climate change yet there are so many determinants which have to be looked upon immediately. Conference of parties (Cop)25 in Madrid (Chile) Talks failed to agree on carbon pricing, that meant there was no outcome and united nation climate summit ended with key decision deferred. Intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) in its report global warming of 1.5°C has assessed that limiting warming to 1.5C is not geophysically impossible, Emissions of carbon dioxide would fall by about 50% by 2030 reaching net zero around 2050 with deep cuts in methane and other emissions. Pathways to 1.5c include a steep decline in coal increased energy efficiency, the use of a wide range of technologies and behavioural changes. In such a scenario where we can’t agree or disagree we should calculate the proportion of our responsibility. Indeed today we all know the importance of healthy climate and what is halting us to immaculate it.
Environment hasn’t changed on its own it were us who have taken drastic steps to deplete its essence. This is the high time to awake human conscience, there is no point complaining state. There are three kinds of human beings living on our planet earth. First comes who doesn’t care for environment at all perhaps they have their own personal interest or they are so ignorant that they couldn’t imagine wreckage, secondly who after witnessing the ravage go in despair and they don’t know how to express their anguish and in due course they live with this agony. Finally 3rd category belongs to those people who are not ignorant, don’t have self-serving interest and they see cause of environment as a collective interest. They are the one who don’t either go in despair. These people have strength to resist against any wrong happening to environment. They strive to protect, preserve and secure the environment. This environment belongs to everyone of us so technically it becomes our responsibility to adhere its values. Now what we could do to be in 3rd category of people, well it’s very simple we shall start from our homes, offices, education institutes. Waste segregation i.e; to bifurcate the waste into dry and wet, dry waste would include wood and related products, metals and glass, if possible one should bifurcate dry waste which has same properties. Wet waste would include those article that has organic composition. It’s basically biodegradable waste that especially includes food, fruits, vegetables peels, flower waste and other organic stuff. This wet waste would be predominant for organic farming which would lead us to use less chemical fertilizers and pesticides that eventually would result into increased productivity of soil. After the work is done at home we shall move out and see in our locality if there is waste dumped if so we shall make everyone aware about the consequences of waste. Local nalas i.e; dry canals are the hotspot of waste. We can raise money to dig the ground near respective nallas and in these enclosed tanks all waste would be dumped, from where this collected waste could be taken to different location for the ultimate disposal. Waste menace has become pandemic. It has entered rural boundaries, single use plastic is the big hurdle.
Problem is that rural areas have the large landscape there is no solid machinery to cover all those areas where waste has been dumped , moreover rural people are not aware or not enlightened to repercussions of waste. Again we could make up a team to go into the village side and cause awareness among them about the consequences .We should cling to renewable resources rather than non renewable resources, we can use public transport instead of travelling by personal vehicle, there should be increase in bicycle usage and electric vehicle. We shall say no to those products which contain harmful gases. Instead of playing the blame game i.e; developed vs developing vs underdeveloped states who put blame on each other.
These are the small initiatives we can easily take, these steps would eventually lead us to prosperity. We are not the only stakeholders, our coming generations depend on our decisions because this environment, equally and fairly belongs to them. Sustainable development is the key to our children healthy future. Sustainable development shouldn’t just stay as a captivating word, we should deal it with pragmatic sense. Taking above initiatives would surely make our development sustainable. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizen can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”- Margret Mead.