“OUR PLANNET” WHAT AM I DOING!

It is imperative and a reality that we need to save this planet. A planet for us and our brothers and sisters. Children and millions to be born.

We have lived and enjoyed most of nature but at the rate of pollution and hazardous activities human raze has got into we need to really sit back and think about the existence of Mother Nature. As I sit and think back I have many thoughts about the environment and how each one of us is contributing to the nature’s destruction. I am really not aware about the big talk around “CLIMATE CHANGE” and the carbon foot print and others but only have felt the change through personal experience:

1. 10 years ago, I remember we did not use even a fan at home or office in Bangalore city;
2. Summers are getting hotter each year particularly over the past 3 years. You all will agree that this year was unbearable;
3. Many water bodies I have personally visited are getting polluted Cavari river in Karnataka and Mahanadi river in Chhattisgarh are two rivers which were clean and beautiful I remember even bathing in them many years ago today they are all polluted beyond imagination; particularly in places where human contact is high.
4. Rains have become lesser particularly in northern India;we hear of failure in crops. Agriculture growing patern has changed;
5. My friends and I used to go by public transport, today every one have a personal vehicle, if not a car at least a 2 wheeler;
6. Increase in having junk food has increased leading to wastage of large quantity of packaging; earlier there used to be even milk bottles which were delivered with the milk and after consumption recycled and reused;
7. People use more plastic these days;
8. Consumption attitude has increased; of gadgets, every thing one thinks of;

Can we really make a change is my question, pondering over the matter some years ago I told myself that let me make a beginning and if not a large contribution will try to at least do something to humanity and planet which I believe has given me many things; so I am trying hard to do the following:

1. Use light only when it is needed; luckily, I don’t need any light but encourage folks at home to switch off lights;
2. Use electrical gadgets only when necessary;
3. Using only one bucket of water for bathing;
4. Using cold water for bathing at least in Delhi for 9 months in the year;
5. Using a mug of water for brushing teeth and face;
6. Use rechargeable batteries for my radio, camera;
7. Limited use of plastic – recycle plastic covers and bags; we at home use plastic bags for keeping cloths, I take them on my travels and keep using until its unusable; we take cloth bags for shopping including vegetables and grosaries;we avoide taking plastic bags unless situation is unavoidable.
8. We have decided not to purchase any vehicle; and use the public transport;
9. No use of air conditioners at home;
10. Walk where ever possible and not use the elevator;
11. Use one mobile until it gets obsolete;
12. don't print stuff for reading; including emails and reading stuff; first of all i don't need hard copies;
13. use CFL bulbs;

These are small things I know, but hope they make a change in the environment in the long run. My hurdle begins now, having tried to work on saving our plannet at a small scale my efforts are not really going to make a change I think because we:

1. get all stuff in plastic in the shop lets take a simple packet of maggy,packet of bread, packet of milk, curd, all our ration “””all in plastic””” can we do away with it???
2. We are fascinated by gadgets we tend to purchase more and more and fill the shelves of our house with these stupid toys as they become cheep and affordable;
3. All recycled products come at a higher pries/ at least to my knowledge; not reached by the common man;
4. printing stuff unnecesserally;

I only hope and pray that rivers, streams should not become history, natural habitation of birds and animals should not become comics for our children, forests become entirely concrete jungle with no space for peace and sanity, air and water become tradable commodities like food and clothing.

The thought still lingers in my head every day “our planet” what I am doing: are you?