If the planet stays healthy, you stay healthy. Which makes World
Environment Day on June 5 more significant than a reminder that each
passing moment is adding to the irreversible damage inflicted to the
earth, water and air around us. Increasing consumption has led to an
11-fold growth to our collective carbon footprint -- define as the
greenhouse gases generated by how we live our life -- since 1961, which
now accounts for 54% of humanity’s overall ecological footprint.
Sure, governments need to adopt green policies to cap emissions
produced by the expanding need and greed of increasing populations, but
till polity gets it right, each of us can do our bit to lower our own
carbon footprint to give life on Earth a breather.
In a run-up to World Environment Day, here are five easy ways to go
green without actively changing your lifestyle. If the planet stays
healthy, you stay healthy.
Eat fresh food
Imported and packaged foods that have become symbols of globalisation add more than half of the 100,000 tonnes of
plastic waste dumped
in oceans each year. Apart from the fuel spent in transporting foods
from one end of the world to another, chemicals in polythene, packaging
and wraps for imported fruit and foods such as chips and biscuits, not
only kill marine life but also disrupt the human endocrine system to
trigger hormone-related diseases, including cancers. Eating fresh,
unpackaged food that is locally produced improves health while lowering
your carbon footprint .
Use phones, laptop efficiently
Postpone upgrading your smartphone. On an average, people replace
their phones every two years. Greenhouse gas emissions from charging
smartphones are expected to double from the current 6.4 megatons to 13
megatons -- equivalent to emissions of 1.1 million cars -- by 2020,
estimates a study by
Juniper Research.
Add to this mobile phone battery contamination -- each discarded
mobile battery contains enough cadmium to contaminate 600,000 litres of
water -- and non-degradable plastic covers filling landfills and each
discarded phone becomes an ecological nightmare. Till manufacturers make
their phones more energy efficient, delay swapping your phone for a
newer model.
Turn off the computer or laptop monitor when you have finished
working. You can laser print 800 pages with the energy you waste by
leaving on a computer monitor overnight. The money saved on electricity
bills will be a bonus.
Commute smartly
There are over one billion vehicles on the world’s roads today, of
which close to 200 million are registered for use in India. Of these,
24.9 million are cars, t
axis and jeeps used by people like us to commute.
Smooth and efficient driving, where you don’t speed, accelerate
rapidly, brake hard and switch off the engine at a red light, can raise
mileage by up to 33%. Idling at a light alone can use up roughly half a
litre of petrol an hour, spending on your engine size and
air-conditioner use.
Since public transport is mostly unreliable -- Delhi and Kolkata are
the only two of India’s 53 cities with a population of more one million
to have metro tracks of more than 100 km and 28 km respectively,
compared to Shanghai’s over 500 km of rail network -- opt for bikes and
shared transport, whenever possible.
Work efficiently
Each year, most of us throw away two trees worth of paper. Reduce the
amount of paper you use by avoiding unnecessary printing, using both
sides of a paper while printing a document and using recycled paper.
Although paper is biodegradable, waster paper releases the greenhouse
gas methane during decomposition. Each tonne of recycled paper helps
save 17 trees, more than 4,000 kilowatt of energy, 26,000 litres of
water, and lower air pollution by 74% compared to paper made from
virgin pulp.
Replace burned-out bulbs with compact florescent lamps (CFLS) and
light-emitting diodes (LEDS) that use less power per unit of light
generated to use less electricity. LEDs also help reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from power plants.
Save water, go natural
A dripping tap can waste up to 10 litres of water a day and a running
tap five litres per minute. Get dripping taps fixed and don’t leave the
tap running when brushing your teeth or shaving. When you have the
option, don’t use piped, drinking water to clean your home, hose cars or
water the garden.
Avoid synthetic chemical cleaning products, use hot water instead.
Triclosan, the antimicrobial and anti-fungal agent found in many
shampoos, soaps, deodorants, toothpaste, and toys, among others,
contaminates 58% freshwater
streams in the US
from where it can get absorbed through the skin to disrupt hormone
function and colonies of healthy bacteria in the gut that aid digestion.
Source : Hindhusthan Times
