The Environment: How We Can Help Save It

When the human race was young, our forefathers used to be in awe of mother earth. How vast she was, and how unimaginably strong! They worshipped her and her natural manifestations like the rain, the wind, the water, and the mountains.

After a few hundred thousand years, we are not afraid of the earth any more. We have increased in numbers by a few billion, annihilated innumerable species, and left our footprint in every square mile of the earth.  We have also caused her more damage in the last 50 years than she suffered in the 50 billion before that.

Perhaps a little perspective is needed to understand how fragile, how vulnerable to damage our lovely planet is. Astronauts who have put a bit of distance between themselves and the earth have had a completely different take on our planet, invariably coming back with a strong protective instinct about the earth.

Winning the War Against Pollution

Fortunately the awareness about environmental degradation is far morewidespread today. We even have Green Parties fighting elections in many countries, and that is quite something! Most people today would rather do something that protects the environment from damage, instead of the earlier attitude of ‘I couldn’t care less.’

The point is, how does an individual help in winning the war against pollution? Not everybody can be a storm-trooper of the Greenpeace variety and join a boarding party for the nuclear sub come to town, or commute to office on a bicycle, or withstand severe winters without heating. Given a choice, we would still wage our own battles quietly and resolutely; but before that we have to have a way to contribute in this mother of all wars.

A Positive Effect on the Environment

The happy news is, there is such a way. Every individual on this earth can contribute in this war. We can add our little bit to the fight against global warming and environmental degradation simply by refusing to buy any product that harms the environment. At the same time, it is incumbent upon us to encourage products that have no ecologically harmful effect or better, have a positive effect on the environment.

It is not just the favourite whipping boys, the big corporations, that pollute the earth. As consumers, we create the demand for almost every major pollutant. We have to look for alternatives that are cleaner, greener, and more sustainable.

There isn’t much time left. Mother earth is aging quickly, and we can hear her groan under the weight we have thrust upon her. In a few years from now, global warming and other environmental disasters will not be a mere topic for discussion. We will be standing eyeball to eyeball with them. They threaten the very air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat.  Unless we recycle and use greener alternatives for everything we use or consume, we will be signing the death sentence of our children.

Not only do we hope to make a difference. We have to make a difference.