Everyday is Earth day. If it’s cold or wet or hot, pitch in to save the planet, it’s the only one we’ve got”
In this article Rommel Castellino, student at St. Mary’s ICSE school in Mumbai, India, shares his ideas on how to care for our environment and make a change for our future.
I Rommel Castellino studying in St. Mary’s ICSE, Mumbai, standard 9, would like to share new ways of saving our earth.
A dinner with my dad was fruitful, when we began talking about a corporate social responsibility his company has undertaken. As a community engagement we see the importance to reduce carbon footprints, begin green initiatives and stress on sustainability in everyday living.
I have learnt from real life examples where recycled plastic bottles are used in multiple ways like, for paving roads in Jamshedpur, for crafting synthetic fibre which is thereafter used to make furniture and textiles in Karnataka and in social housing projects it has replaced bricks which have a high carbon foot print in Rajasthan.
New initiatives of water recycling, rain water harvesting, water table conservation desalination projects are helping in ensuring adequate water to vulnerable and arid areas. Experiments being conducted for reducing landfills by segregating fruit and vegetable waste into fodder for cattle, introducing vermiculture at a micro level to convert organic waste into fertilizer.
Sustainable projects generally take a longer time to break even and require special policies and programs to be available a significant step in this direction can be seen in the renewable energy sector where solar wind and tidal power projects are being undertaken on a large scale. Encouraging use of electric vehicles, bicycles by arranging dedicated lanes for ensuring safety.
The need of the hour is to make people eco-conscious so that every decision is evaluated in terms of the eco footprint that is left. I am sharing the idea of an Indian film star and ecologist Dia Mirza who planned her wedding to ensure that there was no carbon footprint. The wedding invitations were made of straw. The decorations were of local flowers, leaves and twigs, single use garments were not purchased, there was no wastage of food and even water was served in reusable glass tumblers.
My small contribution in saving the earth is where I use recycled water used for washing rice fruits and vegetables for growing plants at home which provide them nutrition. I encourage each one of you to come up with your own ideas so that you can do your bit to make a change for our future.
