Friday, June 5, 2009

World Environment Day

“Geez! Not another ‘world something-or-the-other day’”. “Not another publicity-gimmick-day”. “Another “change the world by switching off television sets and computers day" you’d think.
But I prefer to claim this as a commitment day. Can I request you all to take some time off and think about climate change? No no I am not asking you to become an environmental activist or go around the city, shout slogans and hold “stop polluting start protecting” kinda demonstration. All I am asking is to do your bit. Commit yourself for your future. *too heavy eh?*

Well let me start again. Why can’t we commit ourselves to the environment? We could start by committing ourselves at home or office or when shopping. I am sure we can do little things such as using coffee mugs instead of disposable plastic cups or printing less or switching off the ignition while waiting for the lights to turn green or switching off fans/lights when you know you wouldn’t need them. You know things such as these (though not grand) do matter.
I don’t want to sound preachy but I do think we can bring about change in our lives by doing such simple stuff.

Just a thought. So what do you say? Can we start a movement? :)

Please send in your suggestions and share your thoughts about it. Do make use of the comments section. Maybe we can come up with better ways to tackle this issue.

Here is an excellent way to begin (an initiative by UNEP).

11 plate meals:

Unknown said...

Nice blog Shru, i believe every step counts

some things we have taken up

1) use/ take your own paper bags when going shopping. Say no to plastic as much as possible

2) At offce , shut down the pc during weekend

3) when you take print outs and after a week you realise its not needed, give them for recycling

4) No throw away cups are provided for employees in our office. Only visitors get throw away cups if tehy want. Else its Steel mugs

Anonymous said...

I have to say the article is a stereotype and at best a de-ja-vu. I tell you what if you seek a change your contribution cannot be limited to the self. It has to be to the system. Romanticising the power of the self would fit better on celluloid. Think about it .. Systemic changes are always more effective than individual pursuits.

Ideally you would want to make changes to the system around you. Start with the office. Throw out the plastic.Use crockery. If your office prints a lot put a ceiling on the number of pages per month per printer. Dont xerox (scan). No paper cups either. If you can harvest rain water. http://www.rainwaterclub.org/. Organize tree plantation drives .
http://treesforfree.blogspot.com/.

Be green !

Shruthi said...

@Ranj, good points. and yes corporates should work towards it and glad to know your firm has taken few steps. And thanks for the mail you sent. will forward it to my other friends :)

Shruthi said...

@Adi, the system needs to change, yes, but it has to begin from us innit? and as I have already mentioned doing things at work and home is the best way to initiate awareness.
definitely agree with tree plantation and other suggestions that you have given. thanks :)

Maanasi said...

Hmmm..Start from office is a nice thing to say but most of the times, the decision making in not in our hands.
I agree with shuthi when it says begins with us. Why dont we carry a mug to work, instead of waiting for office to provide it. Why dont we make sure the print preview is right before taking a printout. This helps save paper. We should all shut down our PC's. even the monitor. And all printouts can be reused.
It's a cycle. You start, others will too..preaching can help only to a certain extent. The rest can be by setting an example.

Shruthi said...

@Maanu, yep printouts do make a difference. re-using them is a good idea.

Swaram said...

I wanted to write a post on this today and even clicked a few relative pics and here u have already done it. Very well written Shruthi. I hope people atleast learn to switch off monitors, let alone the CPU. When I leave office daily,one thing I do is check and switch off all those monitors around mine :)

Water is one critical resource I think which has to be concentrated on. After being a witness to the drinking water crisis in Hyd recently which took so many lives, we have to be careful while using each n every drop of water.

zzzzzzz said...

Everybody has steps.... does anyone use them ?

Is your phone charger still plugged into the socket when your phone is not charging ? How many appliances are still "on" when not used :)

i rest my case

Shruthi said...

@Swaram, yes I did read about water crisis that you had written couple of weeks back. its a shame we still have cases such as these. and you must be one of those very few people who switch off other people's systems. keep that up and hopefully people will learn to do it themselves :)

@Prax, yeah executing requires effort from all of us. But hey there are a few of us who practice what we preach. really :)and thanks for dropping by busy man :p

Adarsh said...

i ve stopped using plastic bags & thats my commitment past couple of months :)
maybe i can improvise :)

Shruthi said...

@Adarsh, definitely you can improvise but glad to know you have stopped using plastic. Keep it goin my friend :D