World Environment Day 2019 - Let's Do Something, It's Already Late!

Today the world will celebrate World Environment Day. It was initiated by the United Nations in 1974 with a hope that it will help to create awareness among masses of various countries including the governments to take steps and actions to protect the environment. Every year, a new theme is chosen to create awareness around that particular theme in the whole world. A country is given responsibility each year to host the day with the respective theme. This ensures the spreading of awareness regarding various environmental themes in every corner of the planet. Such a day also helps people to realize the importance of the environment, this planet and the resources. The people around the globe realize that they are the stakeholders of this precious environment and they must do something before it’s too late.

But the question is, has it helped anyhow in preserving the environment? Pollution is at an all-time high. No medium is devoid of pollution at this point – we’ve discussed some of the prominent sources earlier. From selfish businessmen to careless citizens, everyone contributes their bit towards it. Millions of people die because of it. Global warming due to our massive release of greenhouse gases is leading to a worldwide climate change. Rising sea levels and natural disasters are inevitable. Plastic, our staple companion is also our biggest foe. 300 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year most of which either ends up in landfills or the oceans. It isn't just toxic to the environment but also to our own lives.

Resource depletion is a major concern today as it is a victim of our ever-increasing greed for energy. A serious shift towards sustainable energy needs to be developed. Deforestation is bringing us closer to doomsday. A human needs about 20 trees a year for their survival. To put things in perspective, Delhi has a population of about 20 million people. Do we have 400 million trees in Delhi?

Species extinction rate has become 1000 times faster. Today we are losing 10,000-100,000 species each year with about a million facing the risk of extinction. From the destruction of forests – their habitats – to climate change, human intervention has left no species alone. 

Forests. They are not just a large cluster of trees. A forest follows a three-tier system to curb the pollution problem. They are a natural carbon sink. Trees absorb most of the pollution, the remaining pollution is absorbed by shrubs and if still something is left then herbs do their part. We have to understand that the time is gone when we say that we need trees, as now the time has come when we should say that we need forests. One should also understand that planting any tree will not help. Only native trees will ensure complete preservation of the environment by bringing a balance in the environment.

We Mean To Clean has been planting native trees in Delhi NCR since 2017. We have planted trees such as neem, peepal, banyan, amaltas, goolar, jamun, mango, jaadi, marodphali etc. Our volunteers have also been regularly watering them to ensure their survival and growth. The best part – we utilize compost made from kitchen waste as organic manure for these trees.

Talking about waste, a recent report suggests that Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill site is now going to dwarf the Taj Mahal in height. Earlier the contender was Delhi’s own Qutub Minar. Apart from this there are two more garbage mountains in Delhi that release heavy amounts of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. It’s not only polluting the air but also groundwater. Residents of nearby areas have been adversely affected with diseases like asthma.

The single point cause to the whole issue is unsegregated waste from source. We Mean To Clean has also been actively conducting workshops on waste segregation at source. We were happy to receive a positive response from the attendees. The one thing that everyone understood clearly was that it’s not just the government’s problem alone. We citizens too have a role to play in this battle against air pollution menace.

On a broader scale, apart from waste management, environment preservation involves quite a vast domain such as battling deforestation, ensuring afforestation, biodiversity preservation etc. The stakeholder of the environment is every creature present on this planet. But since only we humans are responsible for its deterioration, it becomes our responsibility to ensure its preservation.

To ensure better implementation of every action, the governments around the globe should begin with a strict compliance of various environment-related agreements that are already being signed between various countries and also to come up with new and better world level policies to battle climate change collectively. Each country’s governments should ensure the following of various international policies in their respective countries. Apart from global policies, every county’s government should come up with country-based policies and ensure a strict compliance to those policies. Government duties lie in setting sustainable as well as realistic targets as well as regulations for industries to follow with regards to pollution. Proper implementation as well as monitoring must be in place for any environment-related policy followed by serious consequences for those who fail to oblige. Incentives can also be provided to various citizens showing exemplary ways to fight climate change. 

Every policy and awareness campaign will be useless if the end user is not involved. Hence, it is very important to involve citizens, so that every policy and action taken by the government get enacted on the ground. As a citizen, every one of us has to take the responsibility to change our habits and lifestyle and start living a sustainable life. When it comes to us, small tasks can lead to big changes. Instead of occasional enthusiastic bursts of concern towards the environment, we must learn to make small lifestyle changes that make a huge difference in the end. 

Any energy used goes back to coal being burnt so minimize your energy usage as much as possible. Use public transport whenever you can. Plant at least 10 native trees a year and take care of them. Do it every year on your birthday, your wedding anniversary, your child’s birthday etc. as a gift to yourself and your loved ones! Avoid plastic as much as you can. Always carry a reusable bag with you. Use solar energy if you can. Start segregating your waste at home and converting your wet waste into compost. Some of these have been discussed earlier as well. Further, educate those around you and try and inculcate these habits within them as well. This will ensure equal importance is given to every creature on this planet and our beloved environment on which our survival depends.

We have to acknowledge that all the damage to the environment has now reached humans and is gradually becoming lethal. We have to understand that the sustenance of human life is in a balanced co-existence with all creatures on the earth.