7 Billion Dreams, 1 Planet, Consume with Care
You might have heard saying One Women 100 Suitor or in Hindi एक अनार सौ बीमार, that fits well with present condition of our planet earth. 7 billion people (dreams) and just one Mother Earth is supposed to fulfill the dreams of all by providing resources to each and every one.
f we spiritually look in to the situation, one will find that Mother Earth is least bothered about the weirdness of human dreams. Mother Earth has given 5 elements – Air, Water, Matter, Fire and Space and the overall quantity is fixed. Human can just change the composition, shape and color but in reality the total resources remains same. Mother Earth does not have worry about the rise or drop of temperatures, earthquakes or volcanoes, storms or tsunami. It is the human being who is getting affected by abusing the nature. Survival of human being is at stake and billions of other animals suffer without any fault. In the context of nature protection, animals are more intelligent species than human because they probably understand the balance needed on earth and hence they live in complete harmony with nature. But human being, who is continuously evolving and striving for the best resources, does not live or act according to nature’s will. In this process humans are destroying their own dwellings by acting against nature.
I go back to 1960s and recall my life as a child in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. We used to follow 3 principles (reduce, reuse and recycle) without any formal education or understanding their impact on environment. First R is Reduce our electric and water consumption to a bare minimum. We were not allowed to waste food and used to get new set of clothes only once in a year on diwali. Thus, Consumption was less even though people had enough money.
Reuse was the way of life. Like, using leftover food for breakfast on the next day morning by re-cooking it or using discarded cloth bags for buying vegetables and other shopping, making paper bags from used note books and old newspapers etc. I have gone through excellent example of water recycling. In Rajasthan there was an acute shortage of water. My mother use to give me bath in tub, reuse that water for washing the clothes in tub, again reuse the same water for mopping the floor and finally use the same water for flushing in the toilet. Now-a-days, this 3R concept is heard in corporate/environment conclaves but very little is known and practiced in modern urban homes.
5 tips for making WED meaningful:
1. Apply 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) in a day to day life in true sense.
2. Do not miss an opportunity to plant a tree and taking care of the same.
3. As far as possible, use renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, organic food and fertilizers etc.
4. Implement rain water harvesting in your premises.
5. Educate your children, friends and family about “Consume with Care” and forward this message in your groups.
दोहा by अविनाश बागड़े
जल थल अग्नि वायु व्योम, मिले नही हैं दान।
सोच समझ वापर करें, धरा मिली वरदान।
दोहा by कबीर दास जी
माटी कहे कुम्हार से, तु क्या रौंदे मोय।
एक दिन ऐसा आएगा, मैं रौंदूगी तोय॥