The reality of human caused climate change has passed the stage when denying its presence would give any real solace. It's happening and humans are responsible for whatever will unfold upon our future generations because of it. The lasting solutions to these problems – if they ever come – must be spearheaded by governments. However, governments are constrained by other more immediate problems to deal with: economic development, education, health, national security, not to mention elections and vote banks. Individuals, on the other hand, are free to apply practices of sustainability quite directly. For them, the problem is that of replicating the benefits: how do I convince people around me to adapt these methods? Or how's it going to help if only I do it while most others continue living callously? Many of us have the tenacity to work towards a sustainable model of life at an individual level, but can't find the will to spread the word.
Anyway, parking the above very real and difficult issues, let's see what changes an urban citizen can bring about in his life to approach a more sustainable lifestyle. It turns out the steps are concrete, doable, have multiple benenfits, cost little or nothing, and immediately becomes examples for willing others to replicate – eschewing the need for explicit activism.
Reduce Vehicular Pollution. Vehicles contribute significantly to atmospheric pollution. Individuals can reassess their part in this major evil. Office commute is probably the single biggest reason why we travel on road everyday. We should ask ourselves if we are being considerate to sustainability in our choice of our mode of daily commute. For example, cars are a good choice if you have to travel a long distance, and there are at least 3-4 people travelling the same way. However, if our workplace is within a few kilometres of our residence, if we are reasonably fit, and if there is no one else to travel along with us, there seems to be no justification to travel by car. There are several other alternatives: car pooling, public transport, 2-wheeler and so on. For those willing to go a step further, walking and bicycling are not just eco-friendly, but also good for your health. For longer journeys, consider travelling on land instead of air if possible.
Water conservation. Water tables are plummetting around us. Water bodies which used to be a pride of our city's landscape have been gradually consumed by greed and corruption of the real-estate sector. Most apartment complexes in the city are now at the mercy of water tanker suppliers – which is much less a business than a ferocious mafia. Unavailability of pottable water has been quoted as one of prime reasons for possibly turning Bangalore into an uninhabitable city in the next one decade, as predicted by some experts. There are a hundred things through the day that we can do to conserve water. Bathing from a bucket instead of shower. Using RO filter reject water for mopping, cleaning and flush. Immediately repairing tap leaks. Ask your apartment management to ensure perfect maintenance of the sewage treatement plant (STP), organic waste converter (OWC) and rainwater harvesting system. Also, working towards having a centralised RO plant for supplying drinking water to the whole apartment complex would result in thousands of litres of water being saved everyday.
Waste management. Our cities are drowning in filth. Choked drains. Overflowing landfills. Polluted lakes and rivers. Contaminated ground water. Much of this filth emerges from our homes. What can we do to stop contributing to this hellish affair? Following the well-known mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle is a good starting point. We should start segregating waste at its source, so that only the most unprocessable of domestic waste ends up in landfills. Avoid plastic use (e.g. carry your own bag to grocery shops). Use printing judiciously at office. Encourage your apartment complex management to spend resources in keeping their STP and OWC in working condition.
Cut Down on Consumption. There's a lot of stigma around the topic of leading a simple life, these days. Never have people shown such fierce unity in anything as in voicing their right to consume blindly. However, the arithmetic of consumption and pollution is a straightforward one. Binge shopping, eating or any type of consumption has an environmental cost which we are not paying, but somebody else surely is, or will. Our addiction to electronic devices, AC and other electrical appliances are feeding off the thermal power plants, which are major contributors to carbon emission. Our seers and visionaries have cautioned against a life of greed and consumption for thousands of years. Our generation has now enough evidences to know that our seers were never as correct in any other matter. Cutting down on blind consumerism is no more a moral stand in our age; realities of climate change have turned this into plain common sense.
Debates on how governments and leaders should play a central role in shaping an environmentally sustainable society will continue. But consider the following: every bill or law enforced by government bodies will have to be implemented on the ground by citizens through daily practices and processes, whether willingly or under the whip. With a bit of awareness, it's not difficult to understand what those practices should be. Why can't we not go ahead and do them ourselves? At our apartment complex, we have implemented waste segregation entirely as a voluntary initiative; and it has worked. At an individual level, I and my family have been following most, if not all, of the above practices. And I am there to testify that this hasn't dealt a blow on the quality of our lives. These are not sacrifices, but just the right things to do. That 'nobody understands' is honestly a very lame excuse to keep following the herd marching towards the precipice. Let's get rid of our resistance to change, and embrace sustainability as the way of life. Let's not just leave a liveable planet for our children; but also teach them how to leave one for their children in turn.
The article was published in Deccan Herald on April 21, 2017. Here's the link.
