The ‘WE’ Day

“Time to act”. This was the caption for an article I read, recently in a news paper that talked about the bond between us and our environment. It started with a very clear message that there had been enough awareness programmes done and at least now, WE the people have to really start doing something for making ourselves and the next generations live.

So many decades passed by!
So many leaders the world has witnessed!
So many ‘varieties ‘of human beings the universe has supported!
So many bills, laws and rules have been executed!
Nonetheless, the individual contribution is very negligible comparatively.

I think for the past nearly half a century, the tide of eco-consciousness has struck the human brains gradually, so are the awareness programmes and are the growth of activists. But to a parallel, WE can see the growth of human population. It is obviously an individual’s effort on how to make things that cause harm to the environment, subtle down from its intensity or even to stop using or consuming them. I believe the extent of awareness, the severity of consciousness and integrity towards surroundings are still beyond what is required to ultimately say a very big bye to the damaging hazardous happenings.

Let me put it in this way.
On account of completion of 37 years after UN has decided to celebrate something for earth and environment on 5th June 1972 at Stockholm conference, I was thinking of this:
According to me, few things when WE consider, may probably lead to a better tomorrow, hmmm, sequencing some, which may make the nature, extinct soon.

‘the thing’ number one: cranky plastics
I saw it in a newspaper. An image of a group of activists, holding placards and badges to say ‘No to Plastics’ in the name of environment awareness. Ironically, the badges laminated in plastic pouches and the banners in acrylic or plastic sheets.
Another incident made me feel ashamed but with a humor. A scene from a tamil movie: A guy gets ‘prasadam’ from a temple entrance. The second guy who accompanies him finds the prasadam in a small plastic cup, sighs and says ‘garpappaiya thavira maththa ellam plasticthaan…’ (“except the uterus (bag) all other bags are plastic”) Very much to think, in that simple sentence.
At this early 30s, when I look back my childhood days, I could compare the containers available by then, from petty shops to all ‘shopkadai’s (big provisional / departmental stores). They actually have had paper folds to contain the anything you buy. If it’s some sticky stuff – like sweet halwa, go for banana leaves. Wow, the good olden days had really amazing and wonderful options. But the future of my childhood had - has these pathetic situations.

‘the thing’ number two: creepy temperature changes
Every year, for almost last fifteen years, there has been a very damn gradual noticeable change in the way the nature treats us. Sometimes it freezes us and sometimes it fries us. Living beings are dying. Oh my, do the people regret for what they have done to the Mother Nature. Water and Fire. Deer and Lion. Alaska and Sahara. X and Y. Everything were in a consummate balance in which the Homo sapiens were in and that is it!
Massive massacres executed by the so called intelligent intellectual beings that possess six senses, as WE proudly refer to. But today a bountiful of awareness from somewhere intruded(?) the sixth sense(s) after making very creative advents to the nature, which has already been made fragile, cracked and even shattered. Alas, go; do good, for something bad that have been done.

‘the thing’ number three: filthy garbage disposals
It is waste. But how good are WE, as care takers in terms of disposing them. A statistics of UN says that 75% of everyday solid waste of an average family can be recycled but actually it happens only for 25%. This 25% is only for countries those have an all-time; full-fledged recycling system for almost all sorts of materials WE use every day. That means, imagine the quantity that is actually becoming mass pile somewhere to pollute the land primarily and move on to more. Coming back to the same, WE need to have more worries on this as well, unlike how WE skip like anything else.
WE go out in a bus or train, WE do think that outside the window is a whole large big open trash where, whatever WE want to throw WE can and make it untidy. WE walk on the road, have some toffee and throw the wrapper on the road, because WE have a large open dust bin waiting for us everywhere. WE spit. WE piss. WE shit and what not WE do in our environment. End of the day, pay for MBBS / MS / MD / blah blah because WE now contain RNA or even H1N1.

‘the thing’ number four: freaky animal slaughters
The more the carbon emitted to the environment, the more the ozone depletion so is for more UV rays which, WE know, causes so many health disorders for WE who least bothered and have a ‘whatever happens to next door’ attitude. Animal slaughter houses not only grow the cruelty but also aggravate global warming by supplying the cadavers(?!!?) to animal food industries, which emit alarming amount of carbon. Highly cautious and of course perilous occurrences. How efficient if WE go for veg? Really WE can contribute a lot for eco. There is always a debate between the v’s and n.v’s when former saying I hate killing animals to eat and latter saying even you kill plants to eat. I usually wonder, what do WE really feel, when WE eat those carcasses? Again some recent researches have found that some vegetables like tomatoes really suffer a lot when WE cut them for cooking. But definitely not like what happens to poor KFC Chickens. Some report says there is little more than six percentage are vegetarians in the whole world. That means approx. 400 million are vegetarians. The remaining 6 billion are Non’s, who make the industry running for carbon hike and ozone dip.

‘the thing’ number five: stinky Pollutions
Being part of above four, still it plays its own dignified roles in various forms. WE raise our accelerator of our vehicles or enjoy loud music or WE dig and dump something as unwanted, WE show a very exclusive contribution from us to this. When WE wash our hands with soap or clean our clothes or utensils, the water goes unnoticed – I mean unrecycled.
If WE can’t find innovative ideas that help us in implementing whatever WE learnt about pollution, still, with what WE have, WE can eventually bring ourselves to some point where WE can actually contribute a lot good towards this. Some examples: Vehicle pooling, replacing unnoticed leaky water taps, reduce / avoid the use of CFC refrigerators, replacing tungsten with CFLs and more. Failing with which WE see resulting in contaminated water, toxicated breathing air, untidy garbage crowded path to walk, sound surround to live with, unbearable atmosphere.

What I mentioned above are just a little sampled thoughts of whatever has been prevailing around my mind which am very sure that is there with every individual who may not be giving priority to so many things that really cause our present world sinking and a future world, hoping to exist, to witness a banana or a cow, only as extinct creations by nature or by 'god' for the believers.

LET US GIVE OUR NEXT GENERATIONS A LIFE WITHOUT THIRST AND SUFFOCATION, AFTER ALL IT IS WE WHO CAN GIVE THEM THAT.
A VERY HAPPY WE DAY – WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY!!