Post World Enviroment Day
Growing up, I remember my father constantly telling my sister and I, how we should be respectful of the resources we have - “never waste even a grain of food, someone broke his back getting it to our tables”, “turn the lights and fans off when you leave a room, there is no infinite source of electricity”, “use as little water when you are washing up, it’s precious”. Unsurprisingly, as kids, we were just annoyed by the constant nagging and honestly, I cannot remember if I practiced any of it, unless out of fear of being found negligent.
Years later in college, I did a Liberal Arts course on climate change with Mr. Vishwanath S, Director at Biome Solutions based in Bangalore. His rare, warm smile and soft-spoken, gentle manner reminded me of my father. But the passion with which he spoke about climate change and sustainability brought back memories of the my father’s warnings about the need to conserve and be respectful of the precious resources we thoughtlessly, almost recklessly use up.
He and Mrs. Chitra Vishwanath (Principal architect & managing director at Biome Solutions) kindly invited us for a tour of their home, where they explained how they had built it with materials entirely sourced locally. The exposed brick structure had a warm, inviting feel to it. The interiors were simple and down-to-earth, just like the owners of this home. They showed us around their terrace garden, where they were growing everything for their household themselves, back then. They were also experimenting with an Eco-friendly composting toilet. I still remember her consternation at these two-floors tall columns in a house along the way, as we walked from her office to her home. Apparently, concrete or RCC is one of the major reasons adding to the atmospheric temperature rise. She couldn't help but express her annoyance at the insensitive architects who use such redundant architectural features, if not the unaware clients.
It was an interesting and inspiring class, but I'm pretty sure our enthusiasm to actively conserve waned after we turned in our submissions. Its been almost a decade since I graduated. And just look at the ways things are! Forest fires, hurricanes and tornadoes, a full-blown pandemic, and the list goes on. Going through the notes from school, I came across a reading Mr. Vishwanath had set us, as a part of the course -
"A decade ago, around 1700 of the world's leading scientists, including most of the Nobel prize-winning scientists, issued the following warning to humanity: Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.. No more than one or few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished." November 1992.
- Excerpt from Brand New Justice by Simon Anholt
I guess not enough was done in the years that have passed and things have only gotten worse. Well, we can't complain that we weren't warned. But neither can any of us shirk off the responsibility of doing our bit. Not all of us can be so passionate about environmental conservation (even though we should) and cannot make sudden, extreme lifestyle changes. But we certainly can take small, gradual steps in the right direction. My one practical take-away from that class is that an individual can bathe everyday with about 9 mug-fulls of water, that I still practice as much as I can. It needn't be any life-altering change. Even small steps, when practiced by many, could be helpful, in my rather naive opinion. Once you get into the habit, the bigger ones will follow because your perspective and attitude towards conservation has changed. And the urge to voluntarily keep doing it will come along in due time. You could start off by using water judiciously, switching off appliances when they are not needed and never wasting food. That sounds doable right?
