Often I start my day with a morning run. The weather is cooler and I like to immerse myself in nature. The wonderful sight of green trees with warbling birds, squirrels jumping from branch to branch and dogs playing around fills my heart with love for mother nature.  Spending time outdoors in nature revitalizes the brain cells and as a result, makes me more productive and focused throughout the day. On some days, if I’m unable to go outdoors, then just a splendid view of green land from the window of my room energizes my mind. There is something magical and mysterious about mother nature that works as an anecdote for the stress. Walking barefoot on grass, listening to music and reading a book under a tree, sometimes simply lying down in the lap of nature brings a feeling of serenity and tranquility. 

But, in recent years, the air pollution level has increased tremendously. During winter time, the quality of air gets worse to such an extent that it is often advised by the doctors to stay indoors. In my opinion, we humans have taken our mother nature for granted. We have been over-utilizing the natural resources at an alarming rate. Besides over-utilizing the natural resources, we are also generating a lot of non-biodegradable waste. Harmful effects of using plastic are very well known, and then too we continue to use it on a daily basis. If we continue to utilize nature's gift(s) in an unsustainable way, our future generations will not be able to enjoy the beauty of our planet, as we do. Additionally, human activities such as deforestation inflict a great challenge for the existence of other life forms. Currently, the planet is facing several severe problems such as rapidly changing climate, melting of glaciers, severe heat waves, heavily polluted air and water, depleting ground water levels, forest fires in Amazon, extinction of several animal species, frequent earthquakes and with all this, a newly added problem- coronavirus pandemic. There are innumerable scientific reports that warn us about the irreversible climate change happening across the planet. All these issues make me ask the following questions:

• Why are we neglecting our mother earth? Do we really treat her as “our mother”?
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• What is causing climate change? Is it a natural phenomenon or is it more likely due to anthropogenic activities?
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• Are we going to give our future generations an unhealthy planet to live on and a filthy air to breathe?  
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• Do other species not deserve to live on our planet?
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Human activities such as burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases are mainly responsible for accelerating climate change. As a result of human-induced changes, frequency of natural phenomenons, for example- erratic rainfall patterns, cyclones have increased over the years. If immediate actions are not taken by us, it could lead to an uninhabitable “hothouse Earth''!

source: WWF

This brings me to the actions/resolutions/changes that we all should implement to leave this planet for our future generations, as beautiful as it is. There are many simple things that each of us can do to minimize the human-induced impact on the earth. Remember the little changes that we do today will decide the kind of planet we give to our future generations.  When I was in school, a concept called “sustainable development” was taught. Broadly speaking, sustainability is defined as the “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. A basic idea of sustainability is to promote 3Rs- Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. We all need to implement 3Rs in our lifestyle to minimize the negative impact of humans on mother Earth.  

The first R: Reduce

A first good step is to reduce the amount of trash produced in the houses. Avoid using single-use disposable items such as paper napkins, cups and plates. Don’t throw away the kitchen waste in a plastic bag. When you do that, it releases harmful methane gas into the environment. Rather, use leftover food waste such as fruit and vegetable peels, tea bags etc, to make compost and organic fertilizer for the plants. In this way, you can reduce your family’s carbon footprint. Besides this, always aim to reduce energy usage. Turn off lights and unplug the devices when not in use. Ride a bicycle instead of motor vehicles. Bicycling is the most efficient way of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. Do you know a four-wheeler vehicle emits approximately 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year? Infact, you can calculate your family’ carbon footprint using online calculator https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator. I ride my bicycle daily to go to the office and reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible and trust me, riding a bike is the most pleasing experience! 

The second R: Reuse

Instead of throwing items, try to look out for ways to reuse them again. Sometimes, all you need is a bit of art and creativity! For example- I often renovate my old jeans to a fancy bag with the help of tutorials available on the internet. Newspaper or any waste paper can be easily turned into paper bags. It can also be used to pack items or to make innovative DIY crafts and projects. If you can’t reuse, then donate old items so that others can use it. Donate old books and clothes to poor street children or to any charity institutions. Similarly, old furniture and electric equipment can be donated to the needy ones.

The third R: Recycle

Always try to buy the items that can be recycled. Look for recycling symbols at the back of the products. Buy environment-friendly, non-toxic products. Use toilet paper, garbage bags which are made from recycled materials. Further, use recycled paper as much as possible. Recycling 1 ton of paper saves approximately 17 trees!

These simple actions, if taken by every individual of our planet, can make a big difference. It is our responsibility to make this planet a beautiful, cleaner and greener place to live. Start promoting and encouraging 3Rs in your family and society. Remember, there is no planet B as of now and we all need this planet to live, it does not need us!

Apart from all these simple actions, another way to mitigate climate change, is to PLANT MORE TREES. Planting trees is the simplest way to tackle the environment issues. They basically absorb the carbon dioxide from the environment and therefore, help to reduce overall carbon dioxide content in the air. Since trees purify the air, they are generally called as “Lungs of the Earth”. However, we must keep in mind that planting one or two trees is not enough! We need to plant billions of trees to slow the climate change and this can be achieved only with the collective efforts of all of us. Connect with any NGO that is actively involved in plantation activities. Encourage friends and relatives to plant trees in their locality. 


Lastly, as rightly said by actor Leonardo DiCaprio “Our planet’s alarm is going off and it is time to wake up and take action”, all we need to do is to become more mindful of our actions and encourage everyone to be more environment conscious!