Green Earth or Grey Future – The Choice is Ours

We all have had a free lunch from mother nature who in its benign abundance gave us goodness in plenty! Well no more, as the fairytale world of lush green forests, tall trees peeping at the blue canopy above, chirping birds singing away your blues, gushing clear streams, balmy ether to detox our lungs is a lost reality that our future cannot bequeath from us. The atmosphere today is a lethal gas chamber, greenery layered in smooth, and water a poisonous chemical combination.

Mindless deforestation, callous disposal of toxic waste, vehicular and industrial emissions, destruction of fossil fuels have disturbed the delicate ecosystem that avenges in apocalyptic forms of hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and forest fires. Global warming has led to worldwide climate change and the average temperature of the earth has increased by 0.8 degrees since the last 100 years threatening to deluge coastal areas.

In a bid to smooth our lives we have set the frankincense of science on a killing spree and harnessed and meddled with nature. Our cosmetic sprays in aerosol cans, finger polish to wall paint or commercial varnish, Freon in refrigerators, air conditioners all contain dangerous levels of CFCs that deplete the protective ozone layer over the earth leading to increased global warming.

Newsprint and paper products use up acres of rain forests, gallons of water, and chemicals for their creation. An estimated seven trees are butchered per person, per year in the United States to provide paper in its myriad forms for personal use. It is believed that a ton of paper that is recycled saves 7000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, and as much electricity to electrify an average household for 6 months.

Unused paper and plastic that seem to be ubiquitously choking and clogging landfills and sewage pose the worst environmental hazard. They kill aquatic creatures and block the intestines of bovine animals apart from releasing a vast amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Over-exploited nature is gasping for breath and its skeleton is showing in expanding deserts, melting glaciers, and drying rivers.

Now the onus of saving the planet remains on us as our tiny daily activities can make a grand difference in restoring nature in its pristine self. Shifting to a paperless lifestyle, carrying cloth bags to supermarkets, preferring e-bank statements and e-tickets, recycling tins, cans, cartridges might be small steps that are effecting a huge change in reducing the earth’s carbon footprint. One aluminum can recycling can save electricity needed to run a TV for 6 hours ( GoGreenIndia ).

Mankind’s history is woven in water bodies, it is said. However, we have taken the blue arteries of the earth too much for granted, so much as to reduce clean fresh water to a rarity. Close the dripping taps, use the bucket for bathing instead of the shower, never allow oil or paint to mix into a drain as it will flow to some nearby river.

Switch off the lights and computer when not in use, use the staircase instead of the elevator, keep the air conditioner on a moderate setting to consume less energy (turning down your home thermostat two degrees saves 24-kilowatt hours a month), and make sure to use fluorescent lamps.

Using a front-loading washing machine consumes 50 percent less energy and one-third less water and again removes far more water in the rinse cycle which translates into big savings in dryer time. Make a fashion statement with Organic cotton that uses bio-fertilizers and jute bags that can potentially usher in an era of a plastic-free world. Servicing your AC machine and car frequently can reduce air pollution and smog.

Resolve to plant a tree on any occasion of life as green wonders can lift your spirit and work magic in combating pollutants. We have already robbed the green earth of its vital resources to satiate our greed and it’s time to change to a sustainable consumption pattern for the sake of posterity. Educate and inspire kids to embrace a nature-friendly lifestyle as the future generation has to be double careful in handling the mess that we have got them into.