While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great irreparable loss to humans and completely disrupted the way they lived, the subsequent lockdowns across the world have tremendously helped the earth to heal.
Years of human interference in nature's functioning had caused considerable damage to the earth. With total disregard to the needs of other living beings, we humans had encroached upon their territories, pushing some species of plants and animals to extinction. But now that we are caged inside our homes, air and noise pollution is minimal. As a result, there is more bird and animal movement, even in urban areas. The air quality in many polluted cities has drastically improved.
The calamity has given the earth a chance to recover. But even before this, a few earth warriors were fighting to protect the environment and spreading the message via different platforms.
Sakal Times speaks to a few of them.
EDUCATING THE FUTURE GENERATION
Parthsarthi Singh, a young volunteer from Thane, is doing his bit in the nearby areas of the district. The 23-year-old boy came up with the organisation HOPE - Healing Our Planet Earth with the vision to have a sustainable and zero waste future.
HOPE conducts rural awareness campaigns, weekend and marathon clean-up drives, upcycling methodologies, etc. to educate citizens about a plastic waste-free future.
"I practise environment conservation and upcycling. I accumulate littered plastic from the streets, landfills, beaches and rural areas. We reprocess it into granules in a unit in Thane and use it to make different products. HOPE is not an NGO, hence, we ask volunteers to join in whenever we conduct a movement. We also do workshops about waste management and environmental conservation to teach rural kids," tells Singh.
The maximum amount of waste is generated in urban areas; however, Singh is focusing on spreading awareness among the kids in both rural and urban settings. He believes that kids are the future of our count; hence children from both backgrounds should grow as responsible citizens of the nation.
CARBON NEUTRAL INDIA
In a new initiative, this Earth Day, Singh asks people to switch off their lights for 15 minutes. "On the occasion of Global Earth Day, requesting everyone to switch off their house electricity for 15 minutes from 6.15 to 6.30 pm to develop a carbon-neutral environment around our atmosphere which will indirectly support our economy, environment and the government. An average Indian house consumes 4 kWh (Kilowatt/hour) electricity per day. If we all sustain our house electricity for 15 minutes, we will be generating carbon neutrality up to 2.9 per cent in our atmosphere, helping our earth," he says.
He appeals all to support the initiative by posting a picture on Instagram with #carbonneutralindia.
THE PRACTICAL SOLUTION
One of India's largest manufacturers of corrugated boxes, corrugated rolls, bubble rolls, bubble pouches, courier bags, POD jackets, duct tapes, e-commerce shipping bags and more, Packman Packaging, is taking conscious steps to fight environmental issues.
Its founder-director Gaurav Jalan made the wise decision to launch a bio-degradable corn bag as an alternative to the hazardous plastic bags.
"Wherever you look, there are products like mobile phones, television, glasses, and clothes wrapped in some plastic wrapper. I always knew that it would become big someday; therefore, I came up with corn bags with the vision to cater to every type of industry with a better option," Jain says adding none of the industries can survive without packaging.
But many corporates are also shifting away from plastic packaging. Giving more information about corn bags, Jain details, "It is made of corn starch waste material which has a plastic-like property but is not as strong as plastic. The corn bags being disposable unlike plastic are of great use. For instance, if someone intentionally or unintentionally throws the bag on the road, ocean or anywhere else, it will get dissolved after nine months. There will not be a mark of its existence."
These bags are not as durable as plastic bags but can be used for daily purposes like buying groceries. Apart from the corn bag, he suggests opting for paper bags.
Packman practices what it preaches. Every month they conduct sessions for their regular corporate clients and try educating them on how they can make a difference to the environment by changing the material of the packaging.
APPRECIATE THE NATURE
An enthusiastic leader, Vikas Patil, 62, chairman, Environment Conservation Association (ECA), aims to help every individual understand the need to start thinking about the environment.
"We already have interfered too much in the nature harming it at a large scale. For instance, if we see, we have disturbed the reproduction cycle of many birds and animals by going into their area.
"We keep the street lights on, garden lights on which disturbs these beings. Secondly, we are number one when it comes to pollution. We need to promise ourselves that we will think about the consequences and take steps," Patil says.
On the occasion of Earth Day, he, via social media like mail and WhatsApp, will share a message to take care of the environment, especially to the kids.
Patil wants people to use their own consciousness and come up with thoughts and ideas on how they can help protect the environment on an individual level. He urges people to do whatever they can before telling others to protect the environment.
He also believes that nature knows how to protect itself. "It's 40 days (of lockdown) this time, next time; it could be more. But see, how our environment has improved drastically due to the lockdown," he says.
When asked what measures can we and the government take, he says, "We have this terrible habit. We do not appreciate, follow, and agree with what the government says. We are courageous enough to beat up our police officers who try to discipline us. We must follow the same rules that we are following now. Do not use a vehicle unless it is necessary, do not litter, keep your surroundings clean to avoid other diseases, help others, do not rush for buses, auto, etc., move in a queue."
