Earth Day: Planet VS Plastic

 

Recently we all came to know about some unprecedented news about UAE as some parts of it like Dubai, Sharjahan and the northern Emirates saw more than 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain between on 16^th April— a 75-year record since the country started recording rainfall, according to its National Centre of Meteorology. The government on Tuesday closed the offices, school and banks, as it was declared National Emergency Crisis. On the other hand there are continuous news about Taiwan in which it was told that it was hit by dozens of strong after effects of deadly earthquakes especially on 3^rd April and 22^nd April, the day when the whole world was celebrating Earth Day. Since 22 April up to 45 earthquakes with magnitudes up to 6.1 M had occurred in the area of Hualien County lies at eastern Taiwan. There are many incidents and phenomenon we observe on our earth that we never expected to see, like extreme cold in this year and then sudden transition from the cold of February to extreme hot March. Changing of weather patterns, flood in desert area, heat waves in cold countries like Canada, water crisis in Bangalore and many parts of Maharashtra, food insecurity, diseases, extinction of many species such kinds of news are grabbing the attention. These problems are actually giving red signals to the entire world that now the alarming situation has come and without any further delay we all need to take big and small steps to protect the MOTHER EARTH.

On every April 22 we celebrate this as World Earth Day and this year, we decided its theme “Planet vs. Plastics”. Every year we select new and interesting theme like “Invest in our Planet”, “Restore our Earth” and so on, but instead of ending the problems they are increasing day by day. This year theme aims to bring attention to the serious issue of plastic pollution and how it harms nature. For a healthy planet many organizations are working and plea to end plastic for example EARTHDAY.ORG aims to end plastic for planetary health and demands a 60 per cent reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040. We all know this is an ethical and healthy practice of not using plastic but how many of us have adopted this practice in our life. We all are bound to our careless nature and irresponsible behavior and think that what would happen if we save little water, or switch off the engines in traffic, save electricity, carrying our shopping bags, hunting animals for our pleasures like Great Indian Bustard ( Critically Endangered) and many more. One day while driving in the lane, I was in deep shock and anger when I noticed two neighbors washing their cars and wasting liters of water in one go, using a pipe and that reminded me Bangalore’s water crisis and the other was when I came across the article in the newspaper talking about few Pakistani people killing GIB, holding that dead bird in their hands and boasting of in the pictures.

The origin of Earth Day can be traced back to 1970 and Gaylord Nelson, a US senator, and Denis Hayes, a Harvard student. Deeply disturbed by the environmental impacts, they wanted to infuse the energy of student protests into an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution. They started an event and its immediate success was evident with a massive turnout of 20 million people across the US. By 1990, Earth Day became a global event transcending national borders. The day holds significance as it shifts our perspective, prompting us to see ourselves not separate from nature but intricately connected. It encourages humans to make small changes in our daily lives, supporting environmental causes and contributing to a more sustainable future. Remembering their contributions and significance of Earth Day, we can engage ourselves in various environment-related activities to make the day special. We can pledge to avoid using plastics in your home, go on nature walks, make lifestyle changes that reduce your carbon footprint, educate your family and friends on ways to save the environment, and more. We can also learn the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle and practice them in our lifestyle and keep the lesson given in our Atharva Veda ( 12.1.12):

“Maata bhumi putro aham prithviya”

(This Mother Earth is our common Mother and we all are sons and daughters of this Mother.)