Let's stop being viruses and protect our planet
There is a
dialogue from Matrix that keeps haunting me since the time I heard it more than
10 years ago.
Agent Smith: I'd like to
share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I
tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammas.
Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with
the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you
multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way
you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this
planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human
beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the
cure.
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| Phot Credit: truthalyzer.com and bancedoplanets.com.br |
So are we no better than viruses? What do each of us do to
protect the environment that we live in, and utilize for our existence? I
believe that each of us has a responsibility to nature. We should try to
coexist rather than trying to act supreme. Here are some things that come to
mind, where each one of us can contribute to protect the earth. I will write
about each of these in detail later. Just outlining what we need to do.
- Reduce your carbon footprint
- Walk more, cycle more. When going shopping to the nearby stores, use your feet or pedal. You get much needed exercise, and there is no pollution
- Avoid taking auto or taxi. Take a bus or train instead. It is more convenient to sit in a bus or taxi in our country. But keep this in mind – each liter of hydrocarbon used, puts more CO2 and other harmful gases in the atmosphere and reduces oxygen. All the man-made machines cause irreparable damage to nature. We can at least try to minimize the damage.
- Use alternate sources of energy – solar cooker or chargers. Buy a solar panel, and install it on your window. It can be used to charge your phone and other electrical appliances
- Waste Management:
- Segregate waste at home. There has been a lot of talk about it, but I think majority of us still don’t do it.
- The biodegradable waste – paper, food waste etc. should be stored in a separate bin, and disposed in a local compost pit – make one in your campus or on the roof. It will provide manure for all your plants.
- Separate plastic waste from composite non-degradable waste like tetra packs. Avoid buying tetra packs as much as possible. The only way they can be disposed is in a land-fill pit.
- Electronic waste is increasingly becoming a significant portion of the waste produced. Don’t throw it in the bin. There are some companies who recycle such waste. Store it and then send it to them. More on this later.
- Do not litter. Carry a pouch for waste with you, and put your plastic bottles, wrappers and other waste into it, so that you can dispose it properly later.
- Water Conservation:
- Ensure that none of the pipes in your house or in your building are leaking. We lose millions of liters of water to leaking water taps, and negligence. After using water, or before leaving the house for work, make sure that you have no running or leaking taps.
- Soak clothes prior to putting them in a washing machine. It saves energy as well as water.
- Monitor your water consumption. Don’t use too much. Realize that it is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity.
- Pollution Control:
- Get your vehicle’s emission checked periodically. It shouldn’t be done just to avoid a fine!
- Wherever possible use a train or bus. If you have to take a car, start carpooling. It will make parking in office areas easier, reduce your costs, and you will have company.
- Try making as little noise as possible. Do not disturb others by playing TV or music at volume above normal. You are adding to the disturbance in nature.
- Avoid using plastics. Refuse it when it is offered, and ask for a paper or cloth alternative. When you go out to shop take a cloth bag. This is not limited to grocery or vegetable shopping. Do it for your apparel and other shopping as well.
- See that non-degradable goods are sent for proper recycling. Enquire about waste disposal from your building and start an initiative to collect electronic wastes, old clothes or other junk which can be recycled and reused.
- Reduce usage of chemicals and pesticides. Use organic alternatives instead.
- Energy Conservartion:
- Buy energy efficient appliances, like five star rated fridge, A/C or microwave. Use CFL and energy efficient fans.
- Start thinking about how you can substitute your use of normal electricity with other alternatives like solar, bio-mass, mechanical etc. For example, solar charged or mechanically charged lamps and torches instead of ones running on batteries.
- Switch off lights when not required. Open the windows to let the light and air come in, rather than using bulbs, fans and A/C. Use smart cooling techniques to cool without using energy in summer, like growing trees and plants, using straw blinds which can be watered.
- Try to minimize usage of gas while cooking. Use pressure cookers, microwaves and induction plates.
- Miscellaneous:
- Make a small vegetable garden if you can. Grow your own food. Use the food waste in a compost to make manure. Avoid using pesticides and insecticides. It tastes much better and you will have a hobby that keeps you active.
- Buy or lease a piece of farm land, and invest in it to grow food. In the long term, you will benefit from it. Don’t buy five flats as an investment. It is a waste.
- Plant trees. Do it whenever you get time. Do it in all places that are barren or empty. Do it around your farm, around your house. Grow local, hardy plants rather than fancy ones. Rotate the responsibility of tending to it among your friends or acquaintances. Grow a forest!
- Spread the word. Try to convince the people around you in what you believe can be done.
- Lastly, practice what you preach! (note to self)
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