Learning to make a difference
The 24-hour Live Earth music concert to highlight the threat of climate change, broadcast on global television on July 7, was watched by an estimated two billion people worldwide. Organised by former US vice president and eco-crusader Al Gore, soon after the release of his film An Inconvenient Truth, it generated more pessimism than optimism.Speaking for myself, the sheer scale and intensity of Live Earth is bound to make an impact. Music apart, it also broadcast short eco-films throughout its 24-hour duration, explaining global warming and climate change. If you missed it, you can go to liveearth.msn.com and see it online. Make your pledge too.
And although taking the pledge is important, I believe people want to know what they can do in their everyday lives to make the earth a better place. Hectic schedules, competition in the work and marketplaces leave little time to focus on government policies that affect Mother Earth and our lives. With corruption rife at the highest levels worldwide, the chances of environmental change just because it’s good for all and for the Earth, are remote. But a few wins of environment activists, inspire hope.
Here is a list of simple ways in which each one of us can make minor lifestyle changes:
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Within an intimate/nuclear family circle, avoid flushing toilets after every minor usage.•
Unless sweat drenched, clothes don’t need to be washed after every wear. •
Likewise, floors definitely don’t need daily mopping, cars daily washing or sheets weekly washing. •
There’s good advice in the joke "Save water; shower with a friend." When using a tap, open slightly.•
Change to energy efficient light bulbs. •
Early to bed and early rising enables optimal use of daylight, good for saving energy and good for health as well. Dry clothes on a line rather than in a dryer. Hand-washing is better for clothes and is great arm exercise. •
If you must use air-conditioning maintain it at 24ºC. •
Car pool, use public transport, walk. Share a cab. Invest in an electric car. Better still, cycle and walk. •
Reject plastic and make your vendor aware of its dangers. However, old-fashioned woven plastic bags of our grandma’s time and buckets are not the plastic to reject. Cloth bags are an inheritance.•
Teach children to live wisely by example, rather than preaching. Waste not, want not, are good habits to inculcate. •
Teach teachers to disseminate the message of environmentalism. •
Eat simple and seasonal fruits and vegetables.•
Choose organic fruits and vegetables (preferably from marginal farmers) to save the Earth from chemical farming.•
Eat for hunger, not taste. Food is fuel to nourish us, not to tantalise our taste buds. •
Buy local foods. And local everything. It saves the cost of transport and reduces the weight on Mother Earth.•
The type of clothes worn makes a difference. A chemically dyed shirt will contribute to pollution more than a vegetable dyed one. A handloom shirt is more ecological. Go for khadi. •
Reduce your needs. Need less, buy less, and use less.•
Learn to appreciate things without wanting to own them. Purchases should be needs based, not wants based. •
Recycle whatever possible, via a rag-picker who needs to be blessed and encouraged.•
Support mochis and fix-it repair shops, second-hand stores and exchange old-for-new businesses. •
Don’t dump, don’t litter, and generate as little waste as possible. Our landfills are already clogged. •
Vermicompost wet garbage at home or for your building. Witness the magic of garbage becoming compost, the best soil possible.•
Choose wisely and drop non-essentials. For instance areetha (soap nut) works well in washing machines and doesn’t pollute water.•
Support ethical business enterprises and small cottage industries. They are non-polluting. •
Support recycled products. Remember even furniture can be made from recycled paper.•
Plant trees and water them. Chipko a tree if nothing else is possible. •
Build an eco-home, harvest rain water, use bio-gas, solar and wind energy.•
Spare the soil to the extent possible. Plan lifestyles around simple living.•
Look behind to leave any site better than you found it. Be it a beach, toilet, park or pavement. •
Don’t be embarrassed about picking up litter. The high we get from taking care of Mother Earth is worth it.
Being an optimist, I believe that world leaders will in the future make better policy decisions. Solar and wind energy, gobar gas usage, etc, will become more common. Newer eco-friendly lifestyles will emerge, and individuals will act with awareness. Everyone of us has the innate power to avert many future disasters.
(Kavita Mukhi is a Mumbai-based eco-nutritionist and director of Conscious Food)