….Because You And I Can Make A Difference Too
Hurricane, floods, forest fires, storms, drought, heat waves, rains… and many such happenings in the world around us. Switch on any news channel and chances are these words will greet you more often than expected. Pick any newspaper and disturbing environmental disasters will pop right in front of you, or browse any trending topics on the internet and one of them shall definitely revolve around natural imbalance of the environment. While one can sit and blame numerous factors for such kind of troubles, it is impossible to reach any reasonable conclusion. Blame it on your own home country, politicians, government, international bodies, industries, society, or even your next door neighbor- options are endless. But will it help us in any way? While pointing figures is the easiest job to do, will it ease the pain in any form? And expressing sympathy over such destruction through our words and heartfelt regrets will not do any good either.
Then what can we do to make a little difference? Or can we actually make any difference at all? When we read articles that talk about preventive measures or conscious eco-friendly practices, we immediately push them off under the pretext of ‘being impossible’. We often wonder how can our little efforts within four walls of the house or around our neighborhood, school, office or community make any change to the bigger challenge of ‘global warming’.
While it is true that these little efforts are truly ‘little’ in every sense, there is no harm in making an attempt. In some or the other way as we make efforts to help the environment, it will definitely amplify to make a bigger impact. Whether it actually helps or makes no difference is not for us to decide. While we cannot erase the dark cloud of ‘global warming’ completely by reducing waste generation or lowering the usage of plastic at a household level, it will at least add up to something good for the nature.
You and I can only make a small contribution, but won’t it add to the bigger picture in due course of time? We cannot transform the thought process of every person in our city or start imposing restrictions on people around us, but the least we can do is improve ourselves. Commenting on others or forcing good practices over others may seem a noble cause, but that is not for us to control. As far as we make conscious attempts to save the environment on our end, we can be sure of a positive impact sooner or later. And forget about the bigger picture or positive impact, can’t we try something for the environment in our own little way? And even if it does not help, at least it won’t harm either.
This transformation of our thoughts cannot happen overnight. And there is no right or wrong way to do it. You can inculcate any habit in your system and customize it around your needs. You may succeed or fail in the efforts. You can switch to some other means as per your convenience. There is no judgement; as long as you make efforts to help the environment in some way or the other, the overall effort will definitely bring pleasure and joy. Another important aspect to remember is that such efforts are not guaranteed measures for the environment. But then again, spotting flaws is easy, while making an attempt is not. Unless you experience it, you cannot sit and analyze. Make little attempts and see the difference.
Reduction in usage of paper, discarding plastic in recyclable bins, reducing wastage of water, planting saplings at home are some of the ways by which we can contribute to the environment. Because at the end, global warming is not some alien matter of a far-away planet. It is impacting you and me on this very planet, we call home.
-Lavanya
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