Environment

Adults Try to Fit in while Children Learn to Stand Out

Linu — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 18:58:56 +0000

Hello my Dear Friends,

Here I am again after a lazy spell, pouring out my thoughts into the great wide internet teeming with ideas, innovation, stories and thoughts.

The world is bustling and bumbling, becoming busier by the day. We are in a constant rush to conquer and have learnt to become complacent in this mad rush to make a living, to be accepted and fit in. In all this, we have, however, started to overlook the little things. What do our actions lead to? In our struggle to save time, are we ignoring something more important? Or is it our way of saying we are just part of the crowd?

Where is this chain of thoughts heading? Well, to ourselves. To us who were younger, stronger and more courageous. To our younger selves who had ideals and who had plans to change the world, even through the smallest of actions. On Children’s Day, a lot of messages crowded our inboxes, asking us to look at the child within. The little people that we were more resilient, and more intolerant of the surrounding injustice. Looking back, it was easier to voice our thoughts. But as we grew older, the prying eyes and the judgmental thoughts all changed us into something we are not.

So, getting to the actual point, COP27, held from 6 November until 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. COP27 is the Conference of the Parties where the parties are the attending countries that signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992. The funny aspect, as highlighted by most climate activists, is that it is nothing but a façade to hide the enormous carbon footprint the countries are really responsible for.

This year there are younger participants joining from different parts of the globe than before. The fact that they are the ones fighting hard to save the planet that they have to live on leaves a definitive question. What have we been doing? Well, struggling to make ends meet, I guess, however, as vulnerable as we have been to the surroundings, the little people of today have a lot to deal with. While we can say that the digital natives have the world at their fingertips, enjoying nature and breathing easily is not.

According to a Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 Report, “Today, 1 billion of the world’s most vulnerable children are at extreme risk. If the world fails to act, tomorrow it will be all children. It is past time to put children at the center of climate action.”

Together we have seen the effects of a worldwide pandemic, the intense and destructive climate hazards, the heatwaves, droughts, cyclones, floods, and air pollution to top it off. Our childhoods weren’t this harsh, at least in terms of the climate, and that brings us back to the thought of what kind of Children’s Day is this, really?

We see activists like Greta Thunberg, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Nyombi Morris, Licypriya Kangujam and many more, raising awareness about climate change. The young voices have relentlessly been repeating how pertinent it is to take action. The world, however, is still to take heed. The COP27 is yet another platform where the little people are leading the way to change. Makes me often wonder what more I need to do. Zero waste, stopping single-use plastic, go-green and more. Would it suffice to get Earth back to its former glory? And just as we wonder, another bomb drops on a small city somewhere far away, destroying everything in its wake. Switch to another aspect that impacts children the most: conflicts, wars and displacement.

According to stats, “36.5 million children were displaced from their homes by the end of 2021”. The story repeats and tends to continue as people fight for vested interests. Children need safe places to grow in, food to provide nutrition, and a shelter where they don’t have to live in fear. Devoid of such basic requirements, millions of children are still struggling on a daily basis. Then comes education, which again cannot be guaranteed at all times owing to the tumultuous situations in many regions.

So, when we think of Children’s Day, we have to rethink again what we are really offering to the next generation. Change we must, in all ways, possibly slowly and gradually rectify the mistakes we and our previous generations have made directly or indirectly. We can choose to live recklessly, but we can also choose to live carefully. Together, the change can be real, but don’t leave it to the little people alone, for the world is as much ours as it is theirs.

Afraid of what others will say? Let’s do our thing, let the naysayers say whatever they want to say. Believe that you can drive change and set out to make a difference. People will definitely take an interest. Let’s stop being adults who try to fit in and join in with the children who choose to stand out. Let’s speak up when we see something wrong. Let us voice our concerns about wars. Let us not be shy about standing out in a crowd. Taking a bag to the grocery is good and so is taking a container for lentils and whole grains. The good old way of taking a container to buy oil would be great too, but sadly, buying it from the oil mills isn’t an easy option everywhere. Growing vegetables at home, cutting down on electricity usage, using environment-friendly washing agents, and composting food waste is all ways in which we can contribute to reversing climate change. There are tutorials for homemade enzyme cleaners, homemade natural shampoo, and moisturizers, all of which can otherwise add to the plastic pile that we create. Small assertive steps that we take as individuals can contribute towards global change. We might not move the mountain, but we can at least decrease the size.

This is Satrangee Parachute triggering thoughts for change.

Sharing some links for extra reading if it interests you all.

https://www.unicef.org/stories/young-climate-activists-demand-action-inspire-hope

https://unfccc.int/

https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/today-1-billion-worlds-most-vulnerable-children-are-extreme-risk-if-world-fails-act

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/climate-change-affecting-children-even-before-birth

https://www.unicef.org/migrant-refugee-internally-displaced-children

https://conflictandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13031-022-00486-6

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/10-ways-you-can-help-fight-climate-crisis

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A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with A Single Step

Linu — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 20:15:53 +0000

Hello, My dear Fellow Earthians,

“A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with A Single Step”. Not my words, but the words of an ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. So, where am I heading for exactly? Well, for starters to a sustainable Earth, coz, I am sure as an average citizen in a country that equivocates between empathy and indifference, I will never be on the list of Earthians being transmigrated to Mars. I need the Earth while the Earth doesn’t, I am just a speck of dust, just another human life waiting to turn to dust. But this isn’t just about me, right? We all belong here, but soon it may not be the case.

The Earth has and is constantly suffering at our hands. We name our actions as development, depict it in terms of growth financial, infrastructural, etc. So, development is necessary, but for how long and how much? It’s time we considered the alternatives. Earth with buildings and industries all around with people walking around in oxygen masks? Is that what we are aiming for? The situation has not been in our favour for quite some time now, but the current scenario calls for immediate action. Come on, the Antarctic is turning green [1], and that’s definitely not normal.

What exactly can we do right? I stay in an apartment, can’t plant trees, Can I? Okay let’s blame the government instead, after all the cutting of forest is a crime that is being sanctioned by the higher-ups, right? And, yes this isn’t just about my country! [2, 3, 4, 5] Deforestation, is a real threat to global sustainability. This however requires us to stand up for the cause, become a whistle-blower, a vigilante [6], and alert likeminded people to join in. Individually our voices may not fall on the deaf ears, but as a collective, we can at least create vibrations enough to be noticed. After all, “united we stand, divided we fall.”

The world has become cleaner, healthier they say. The decrease in pollution level and average Carbon emissions is something that we can be proud of, but will that last? What happens when the effects of the pandemic wane away? Are we going to abandon our vehicles, will we genuinely grab on to the concept of car-pooling or is cycling going to be the next big trend? These are the things that we necessarily must ponder upon.

The problem doesn’t end there. The ecological balance has been disrupted. There are oil spills [7], massive plastic piles all across the globe [8, 9], polluting water, blocking earth’s vitality, and affecting wildlife. While we have witnessed the hints in the form of animals wreaking havoc, it is just the tip of the iceberg as they say. Each year hundreds of animals are displaced by the so-called urbanization and industrialization, and where do they go? While a huge majority in the country today empathizes the death of an Elephant, this is yet one of the many in the list of cruelty we all knowingly or unknowingly set in motion. The ways in which we do so does not need much elaboration, or does it? It only happened so, that the media decided to hype this incident over the others. Did you know that the Visakhapatnam gas leak killed 32 animals? [10] The increase in poaching during the lockdown has been alarming [11, 12, 13], and this is not because of the unavailability of food or as a necessity.

So, what must we do?

Actionable Solutions!

As individuals with limited social outreach, we may not be able to change policies or overthrow miscreant groups, but there are actions that we can take. The ‘R’s being ever so powerful if put to use.

REFUSE. REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE.

Start from our homes. Carrying a shopping bag is the smallest step that any of us can take, gradually analyse the need for packaged products. While carrying jars or containers may not work always, try to use reusable bags for dry components. Dispose of vegetable waste less frequently and reduce the numbers of black bags as it may not necessarily be of the recyclable standard. The best way would be to compost if you are into gardening. Say no to bottles, try to reduce the consumption of commodities sold in plastic bottles, while this may seem tough, it isn’t impossible. Use reusable bottles, spoons, forks, straws instead of those made of single-use plastic. Plastic is a huge threat and the sooner we act, the sooner we may be able to find a permanent solution. Energy consumption, use of renewable alternatives, and solutions like car-pooling or use of public transportation, etc. are steps that every individual can take.

It may be a journey of a thousand miles, but sustainability begins with a small step. This World Environment Day lets pledge to do our part before participating in the blame game.

This is Satrangee Parachute, wishing on a star for a better world, a better tomorrow.

References:

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