Shonima Malhotra
‘Investment’ – Whenever we hear this word, the first thought that strikes our mind is financial investment. It is a natural tendency that we tend to perceive this word in economic terms. But Investment does not merely connote financial or monetary one. Economic investment is no doubt important and cannot be done away with. But we need to move beyond this narrow perspective and consider this term in a broader way. As a sociologist, I personally feel that in the present scenario, a more serious investment is needed, that is investment in our planet earth. As a sociologist I want to draw the attention of the members of the society to the fact that it is high time we start realizing the grave necessity and responsibility of investing in our planet if we want to save it. And remember this investment will be a sustainable one with the involvement of minimal or no money. Doesn’t that seem to be gainful? Indeed, it does.
As explained by Earthday.org, investing in our planet means ‘building a prosperous and equitable future’ and ‘building healthy cities, countries, and economies.’ Green, clean energy, green innovation and commitments in the private sector, a government-backed sustainable revolution, and an emphasis on sustainable personal choices and civic actions are all examples of what it might look like to begin the journey of investing in our planet this Earth Day and beyond. Earth is a beautiful living planet in the Universe and the common habitat of more than 7 billion human population and millions of species of biodiversity. Without Earth, we cannot even imagine living. How we would walk if there is no Earth, there will be no water to drink, there will not be animals living here, and of course, no cultivation, so no food to eat. Can you imagine a life on the Earth if resources are not available here? And, the answer comes not at all. Nothing could be scarier than this. Despite unavoidable free services provided by the earth to humans, we are not able to pay off her kindness to us. Rather we humans are being cruel to our Earth with our selfish activities. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Therefore, saving the earth is the primary need. Taking care of the Earth is not just a responsibility, it’s a necessity. We need to acknowledge that our planet is the only planet that supports life. So, when the earth will be in peril, we will have no other option than to move to another planet for our safety. Instead of reaching that stage is it not sensible on our part to make the balanced use of what we have right now in a sustainable manner and start investing judiciously in our planet. I feel it definitely is. Before I start with the ways and measures through which we can make investments in our planet earth, I would like to mention that the typical approach and mindset of human beings is to set a bigger goal and then try to make the best possible efforts to achieve that goal as soon as possible. So often we convince ourselves that change is only meaningful if there is some large, visible outcome associated with it. Whether it is losing weight, building a business, travelling the world or any other goal, we often put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement that everyone will talk about. In that process we fail to realize the fact that even making small changes and improvements every day, will add up to something significant. And they too are important. It is felt that, improving by just 1 percent isn’t notable (and sometimes it isn’t even noticeable). But it can be just as meaningful, especially in the long run. In the beginning, there is basically no difference between making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse. In other words, it won’t impact you very much today. But as time goes on, these small improvements or declines compound a huge difference.
Applying this concept of compounding to my topic, I would say that if we make our earth one percent better each day for one year, we will end up making it thirty-seven times better by the end of one year. In that spirit, we need to take small steps to help save our planet. Every single one of us can do at least one small thing every day to make a positive difference in our environment and our world and make earth a better place to live on. And you know what doing these small things are both cost and time effective.
I would strongly like to emphasise that just celebrating Earth Day once in 365 days is not sufficient and would not solve the purpose. Rather, the need of the hour is to ‘make each day the earth day’. In the opinion of Jane Goodall, “We cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around us. What we do makes a difference, and we have to decide what kind of difference we want to make.” So, it is entirely upon us to decide what kind of difference we would like to bring in our planet-positive or negative. I hope the answer would be positive. Then, why not act accordingly. Focus on taking smaller steps and try slowly and slightly mending the normal everyday habits and behaviors to improve the condition of the earth.
Enough of theoretical talks. Now let’s get down to some practical actions which we should start adopting from this very moment in our daily lives. I am sure all of us are well aware of these actions, it simply that wet end to ignore them. So, let me remind you of some of the simplest actions that we can take to fulfill our responsibility towards our planet as social beings.
Focus on cleanliness and strongly put into practice the Swatch Bharat Abhiyan started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Check in with your community parks or beaches and contribute in keeping your environment clean. Try to reduce your carbon footprints via eco-friendly activities. Contribute your part by planting trees in your neighbourhood, sponsoring new trees and tree-planting groups, and tending to the nature around you to make sure that the flora and fauna are thriving and protected. Try to switch to paperless option as far as possible. Say no to single-use plastics. Make wasting your resources unacceptable in all aspects of our life, for e.g., turn off your lights, conserve water, turn off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth or use less water while taking bath. Try to save electricity by switching to the use of solar energy. Go for solutions like rain water harvesting. Be vehicle conscious. Walk or cycle when you can or carpool to the store with a neighbour or friend. Combine your errands – hit the school, grocery store and dog day-care in one trip. Buy electric vehicles instead of SUVs. Start following the 3R principle (reduce, reuse & recycle) in your home, school, or workplace. Make sure your money is going towards positive change by supporting eco-friendly products which are less damaging to the environment thereby encouraging companies to source and produce their products in a sustainable way. Food production is a major driver of wildlife extinction. So, try to waste as little food as possible, and compost the organic waste you can’t eat.
Encourage environmental sanitation by changing degradable wastes into compost manure.
Moving away from a meat-dominated diet towards a more plant-based diet can lower your impact on the environment. Vegetarian and vegan foods are massively on the rise and becoming far more common in restaurants, cafes and supermarkets.
Encourage environmental sanitation by changing degradable wastes into compost manure. If you do choose to go abroad and are looking to see the local wildlife, keep in mind to go about it ethically. Be wary of attractions involving any unnatural interactions with animals. Living a less consumerist lifestyle can benefit you and your planet. There are yet many more solutions that can be adopted but I restrict myself to these only keeping into consideration the factors of space and length.
In conclusion, I would say that as global citizens and more importantly as members of the society, all of us have social responsibilities towards our mother earth. Our ‘Mother Earth’ despite serving us truly as a mother, we as children have not been able to pay back her back in the right spirit. Thus, we need to mend our ways starting with the most obvious improvements. Improvement is not always about doing more things right, but at times about doing fewer things wrong, eliminating mistakes, reducing complexity, and stripping away the inessential. As said by Einstein, “Compounding is the eighth wonder of the world.”So, the time is ripe for us to start rectifying our mistakes and start taking smaller steps which finally would get compounded and establish a sustainable future on the earth. If we take a look around, we can see this pattern is playing out everywhere. For example, consider Amazon.
The company started by selling books. Once they mastered the online purchase and delivery process of books, they moved on to other products. Today, they sell just about everything. So, to save earth what is required on our part is to start taking initiatives, though at smaller level, but with sincere commitment. We need to love the earth as we love ourselves.
There are lots of ways to give. Become a member of WWF, adopt an animal, take on a challenge for Team Panda or encourage your family and friends to donate by setting up a Facebook birthday fundraiser.
Not only ‘Earth Day’ but each day should encourage us to reflect on what we are doing to make our planet a more sustainable and livable place. Thus, for the sustainability of our planet, let’s promise and take a pledge to fulfill our responsibilities towards Mother Nature so as to protect our living planet from deterioration & to handover clean & green planet to our future generations. Maybe our single efforts may seem small but if thousands of us can unite together towards nature conservation, then one day our collective efforts will definitely end up protecting our motherland Earth from destruction.
(The author is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, GDC Sidhra).