“A Tale of Two Eco-Worriers”, (RD, June 2012) defines the environmental concerns of many of us. Lucy Siegle and Bittu Sahgal have shown that ordinary people too can do something to augment worldwide efforts to minimize the carbon footprint. Indians through decisive efforts can reduce carbon emissions and stop wastage of water. Saving water is a great concern for humankind as unpolluted fresh water resources on this planet are now limited to mountain glaciers, lakes and ice at the poles.
Living for two years in Jaisalmer, in the middle of the Thar Desert, taught me a lot about saving precious water. Yes, we must reuse water from laundry and bathing for watering plants. I have also used a drip irrigation system based on small piece of a coconut coir rope fixed to the end of a used PET water bottle with the other end placed into the soil close to the roots of my potted plants. The slow drip of water for days keeps my precious plants healthy without any waste. Placing a closed PET bottle of water in the water tank of a closet can save hundreds of liters of fresh water flushed daily into sewers.
Yes, we should restrict our urge to keep on buying expensive new clothes and reuse old clothes. Yes, land now used exclusively for growing textile fibers like cotton and flax can be turned to producing food crops like potatoes and vegetables. But restricting use of woolen clothing, common in the colder climes, would not do much to reduce carbon emissions since people would just turn up the radiator and burn more fossil fuel just to keep warm. However, we must change the present trend by people in tropical climates to wear clothing like those worn in colder places. Why do we insist on wearing pants, jeans, woolen suits ties and leather shoes in warm and humid Mumbai, instead of using traditional clothing which is more comfortable? Our carbon footprint only goes up with our increase of aping the West. Of course, we can ape Bollywood trends of going about in minimal clothes, if it can save the environment! But most humans would not agree to go around stark naked just to save the Earth!
Yes, we must popularize usage of mass transit public transportation based on clean fuels and stop needless conversion of precious land to roads. People roaring around on powerful motorcycles and expensive SUVs run on fossil fuel just add to carbon emissions. Can we not make ownership of private vehicles very difficult as in Singapore? Usage of e-bikes and e-cycles like in Paris should be encouraged for moving around in crowded cities here.
Yes, recycling is the precious mantra we must all adopt. Everything can be reused or converted back into raw materials, saving on energy and reducing carbon emission. Yes, we should not burn fallen leaves and other branches but let the earth worms, termites and soil bacteria convert them into compost. Vegetable cuttings and other kitchen waste with a small drop of yogurt kept in a closed plastic garbage bag, turns within two weeks into powdery compost which can be used for growing vegetables in a used plastic sack on your terrace. Old Plastic bags can be reused many times by cleaning them. We must recycle them and avoid discarding them in garbage heaps or into drains or rivers.
And there is one way to control the mosquito without chemicals. Place some water in used coconut shells, overnight, on your balcony or terrace. Everyday, carefully dump the mosquito larvae in these shells into you fish tank.. Within a few months, incidence of mosquitoes will decrease dramatically in your entire mohalla, if everyone follows suit. That is the crux of the problem. Like most Indians we remain selfish and give little importance to cooperative civic behavior, till someone leads the way. I wish Anna Hazare would divert his battle on corruption by politicians and instead work on reducing carbon emissions.
No comments:
Post a Comment