By
Marzin Shroff
There is no denying that the environment around us is constantly changing. However, with a massive increase in the influx of disasters – natural and man-made, there is an urgent need to become increasingly aware, attentive and conscious of the types of environmental problems our planet is facing and take measures to combat them on an urgent basis. People are facing a wealth of new-age environmental problems every day, some of them are small and affect a few ecosystems, while others are drastically transmuting into severe environmental crises.
Across India, concern is mounting over an ever growing list of environmental problems. Evidence suggests that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably offer. The wellbeing of humanity, environment and economies ultimately depends on the judicious use of resources. Hence, one needs to work out on a promising strategy, within planetary boundaries, to ensure a brighter and safe tomorrow.
Among the uncountable environmental problems that exist, water and air pollution are the gravest of them all. Every year many states in India like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat etc. reel under acute water scarcity. The problem becomes worst in summer when the city faces severe water cuts. This situation gets aggravated as monsoons are becoming less dependent, putting stress on available water resources, which again is highly contaminated. India’s struggle with air pollution too is not alien to us. According to WHO, there have been 8 million premature deaths in 2012 because of poor air quality, making air pollution one of the world’s single largest environmental health risk. Out of which, 4.3 million deaths could be directly attributed to indoor air pollution.
On this World Environment Day, let’s begin to take small but impactful steps to make this world a better place for ourselves, our children and for generations to come:
1. Conserve energy! Turn off the lights and appliances when not in use
2. Say no to plastic bags when you shop. Use cloth bags instead
3. Don’t keep the tap running while brushing your teeth. This can save you as much as 11 litres every time!
4. Check for tap leakages. It can save 24 litres of water
5. Did you know your water purifier could be responsible for wastage of water? For 1 glass of drinking water, RO technology uses 7 glasses of water.Using incorrect purification techniques like RO in places where TDS is below 200ppm could result in the consumption of distilled water which is detrimental to health. Thus it is of prime importance to use the right technology for purification so that all the essential minerals present in water are retained
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. Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.Collect the water you use for rinsing fruits and vegetables, and then reuse it to water plants
7. In order to keep the air fresh within the confines of your house, try installing a good quality air purifier with a high efficiency particulate air filtration (HEPA) filter. This will trap small particles and pollutants, thereby significantly improving the air and therefore the environment
8. Club your work – hit the post office, grocery store and shopping place in one trip. It will save you gas, time and effort
9. We often tend to wash our clothes in machines when there are only handful of dirty laundry. Instead run a machine once you collect a bag full of clothe
10. Most importantly, plant a tree with friends or family on this World Environment Day!
[Author Marzin Shroff is the CEO – Direct Sales & Sr. Vice President – Marketing at Eureka Forbes Limited]
