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Hints Of Life Guest Columns

Sunday reads

Written and Edited

By Simer Dhume

World Conservation day, July 28, 2021

Our earth is our home. It’s where our ancestors lived and it’s where our children and their children would live. They will inherit the planet we leave behind. Therefore, it’s our utmost responsibility to conserve, nurture and nourish our home, our earth, our oasis and leave behind a livable, habitable planet for the present and future generations.

World Conservation day, celebrated on July 28 each year, acknowledges that a healthy environment is the foundation for a stable and healthy society. We as responsible human beings must participate in protecting and conserving our nature. 

Hints Of Life shares some simple habits to implement in your daily life to help make a huge difference in conserving the environment

1.) Home vegetable garden

Starting a home vegetable garden is a great step towards conservation and comes with many benefits. Not only does it help you save money but it also ensures you consume healthy, unadulterated vegetables and fruits. Don’t have space? Grow organic fruits and vegetables in your kitchen or balcony and cook delicious meals everyday.

2.) Go plastic free

Live smart. Act smart. When you go grocery shopping, choose a cloth or paper bag over plastic. They are reusable and help a great deal in saving the planet. If you feel it’s a chore, close your eyes and think about our oceans and millions of animals whose wellbeing depends on our actions.

3.) Choose to reuse

Instead of tossing food containers and peanut butter jars into the bin, you could reuse them for other purposes, like storing other goods in them or get crafty and make showpieces out of them.

4.) Treasure the trees

Not just planting trees, it is important to treasure them as well. Plant a tree every month, encourage your friends and family to join you in this amazing initiative.

5.) Plant love for the outdoors in your children

There’s nothing more important than to inculcate in your kids the love for the outdoors. To show them they can find refuge in the company of nature. It doesn’t have to be a trip to the Grand Cannyon, but simple activities like a walk in your local park or spending time in your garden. The key is to make it fun, interactive and personal. Like watching tadpoles in a pond, or giving nicknames to birds in your garden.

By doing so you create opportunities for wonder for your children. This would help reduce screen time and encourage outdoor play, and extended time outside has many benefits. But even a single, seemingly ordinary moment can inspire a lifelong conservation ethic, reports New York Times.

6.) Quit smoking

Smoking doesn’t just harm your body but the environment as well. It releases toxic air pollutants into the atmosphere. Also, the cigarette butts that are mostly left on the ground rather than the dustbin litter the place. The toxic chemicals in the remains seep into soil and waterways, causing soil and water pollution.

7.) Choose public transport over a car

Driving is one of the biggest causes of pollution and yet there seems to be no control over it. Whenever, possible consider taking public transport over a car ride to work. If you like being active walking or biking to work are great ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle that in turn benefits the environment.

Hints Of Life, shares ‘Save our earth’ a poem written by Jessica Roberts. It’s rightly befitting on the occasion of World Conservation Day.

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Today, Vijayalakshmi Abhishek writes a thought provoking piece, asking “Are we doing enough to conserve our environment?”

Are we doing enough to conserve our environment?

By Vijayalakshmi Abhishek

A simple habbit can make a huge impact on our environment. Have you ever thought about adopting simple habbits in your daily life whilst your busy routine? Or have you paused for a minute to think and understand what ‘conservation’ really means? In simple words it means prevention of wasteful use of a resource. Our resources aren’t just limited to the pristine forests, infinite oceans, or the vast mountains but for me conservation of nature is to safeguard our inherent or fundamental essence, the air we breath, the food we eat, the clothes we wear.

In my neighborhood, the house next door has nine air conditioning installed. Often times, I have wondered what if they run all their air conditioning at the same time. The amount of heat produced by all the ac’s together would be enormous. Does a two story house need these amount of cooling systems?

These unanswered questions must be thought through. Because when it comes to consumption, we hardly think but when nature reacts with unprecedented high temperatures, outlandish heat waves and severe drought, we have so much to say. On my visits to restaurants I have often noticed electric bulbs lit in daytime in spite the sunlight peeping through the windows but who cares? To every action there is an equal reaction. If we are not ready to take the responsibility of our actions, we better be prepared for nature’s retaliation.

Wastage of food is another area of concern as we talk about conservation of our resources. Whether, it’s at home or in enormous scale at restaurants. It’s an issue mostly overlooked. The best we can do is order wisely keeping in mind the amount of food we can consume and try not wasting.

In addition, the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. According to the studies, an average consumer throws away 70 pounds of clothing per year. I am not saying that we must stop buying clothes but yes our buying must be more need based, rather than following fashion trends. As compulsive buyers we keep buying more and more and keep throwing the unused which end up into landfills. Buying new clothes isn’t bad but we must have some reliable solution for the unused clothes. We can recycle, exchange or provide them to the underprivileged.

Conservation can be done on daily basis, it depends on the choices we make. Small steps, simple changes can bring about huge impact on our environment. By simply cutting down on extented use of air conditions, switching to solar panels for electricity, not wasting food we comsume and reusing and recycling as much as we can are effective ways of conservation.

Are you ready to use your resources prudently? Take a step towards conservation. Be the change you want to see in others.

Vijayalakshmi Abhishek is a mother. She writes heartfelt and compelling stories for us from Queens, New York. Follow her on instagram @vijayalakshmi_Abhishek.

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