World Environment Day: Couple-showers or carpools? Choose your way to make a difference

They say charity begins at home. But I guess it’s high time we got a little more charitable outside of it – especially vis-à-vis our surroundings, the roads and places outside our humble abodes.

I know this could just end up as a forgotten piece preaching ‘environment consciousness’ against the backdrop of all the brouhaha surrounding June 5 (World Environment Day) but before you choose to rubbish this, consider this:

Nearly 40% of all tropical forests of the world are destroyed owing to deforestation, population explosion, warped agricultural and land-use policies, burgeoning construction, transportation, mining and the works – all man-made reasons.

As per reports, almost all the forested areas of India along with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines could be gone by the end of this century.

Now we may not be alive and kicking by then but imagine our progeny would not know the joy of ‘spotting the elusive Big Cat’ in the jungles!

There would be NO jungles.

Now if this doesn’t sound close enough (since a lot of us do not live near forests or thick greens anymore), just observe how the weather has changed drastically in your city in the past couple of years.

Ah! Well, at my side, the chilling Delhi Winter stretched this time and gave way to a longer Delhi Spring. The lovely spring gave way to uncommon rains, damaging crops and then came the excruciating summers (the Indian summer has been the worst in two decades and over 2000 people have died all over the country) and now the monsoon is playing truant.

And I just asked my mother the other day how are the pulses/lentils faring?

To which she replied, “Well, all above Rs 100. My budget has gone bonkers.”

Rings a bell! 

This concern for environment and how it could be ruinous to our pockets has time and again found its way into films.

Cut to the recent one – in ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ where even as Manu, his father and Pappi are talking to find solutions for Manu’s marriage crisis with Tanu, the lady of the house (Manu’s mother) launches into a harangue and goes on talking, admonishing and cribbing about how no one listens to her, how her wisdom falls on deaf ears and generally she is the one who is doing all the work and no one cares. Perhaps and rightly so!

It is a rib-tickling hilarious scene; not to mention a very tough scene to pull-off for the woman. She does it with élan.

At one time during her tirade, she mentions how no one bothers to switch-off lights when they leave the rooms and honestly she reminded me of my mother who is actually fed up of telling me to switch-off light and fans when I leave a room.

I kept a conscious check on this and now I generally do not forget that. Well almost.

I guess the lesson here is that it all starts with one. And each one of us can make a difference to this planet and its health.

So, on World Environment Day, here is my list of things that I consciously do and plan to do so that I contribute my two-penny bit for the planet, instead of daydreaming and gushing about big ideas one could put in practice:

• Do not litter. It is really un-cool and unbecoming for a chic girl or a handsome guy to be throwing napkins, empty chips packets out of their swanky cars. And this is one thing I religiously follow and many of my friends who have been at the receiving end of my anger will vouch for it. Some of them have been made to pick what they have thrown and I wouldn’t budge. A practice inculcated since school has stayed with me ever since. It is always good to use the bin so that the trash gets to make its way to where it belongs and can be recycled and/or disposed properly.
• Cut back vehicle use. Ride, Bike, Walk or Use Public Transport. Not possible always for it is tough in our kind of weather and even tougher to navigate through blobs of shit and spit on roads. But whenever you can, DO IT. I have just begun to discover the joys of it. Tip: Make sure you find a person who loves to hear. Just in case you are the ‘talker types’!
• Switch to CFL and LED lights. This really helps cut energy spends at home. Never mind that they do not look as warm as those fancy lights.
• Regulate water usage. Make sure there are no leaking taps and faucets (the noise of water going waste it so sad and appalling, it is like a cat scratching a wall with its nails). Minimise bath time on weekdays (opt for quick showers or better still consume even lesser water with bucket-bath / 'balti bath'). On weekends, opt for couple–showers if you can. Save water, sprinkle love!
• Say no to plastic cups and bags. Considering the amount of tea and coffee we drink these days while plodding away at our desks, it is a good idea to invest in a lovely mug. Makes for a cool style statement too!
• Use one less tissue. No questions asked, I seriously need to work on this one.
• Go for regular pollution checks for your vehicle. Imagine your beloved car emanating all that smouldering black smoke! What an eye-sore!  Make sure you give it the love it needs.
• Take the stairs. Believe me this has actually helped me shed some kilos. Actor Akshay Kumar, we have heard, swears by it too.
• Reuse leftovers. To all my friends out there who cook – I am finally ready to learn cooking but only the easy dishes made with leftovers.
• Eat local. Wherever you are. It keeps you fit and also supports the economy of that place.

It is really easy to go green, friends! And try we shall must.

Little things that will go a long way in helping us improve the environment and make a huge difference to our happiness levels too.

Are you in?

PS: I think I am not going to leave my phone on charge overnight. The battery will last longer.