CO2: Kick the habit

June 5, 2008 


            Striving for a carbon free lifestyle this World Environment Day

 

World Environment Day (WED), commemorated on 5 June, is hosted by a different city every year. First established in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly, WED is used by the United Nations Environment Program to create awareness the world over relating to the environment issues affecting us. The day is celebrated in many ways including street rallies, parades, exhibitions, and competitions to make it more interactive, empower people to act on issues affecting all of us and change the attitude towards adopting a healthier lifestyle.

 

The slogan for the World Environment Day 2008 is Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. It will be hosted by New Zealand with the main celebrations scheduled to take place at Wellington on June 5, 2008. The Chicago Botanic Garden will play the North American host this year. New Zealand, among the first few nations striving to be carbon free, is focused on controlling deforestation and promoting forestation as a means to curb the release of greenhouse gases. It may be recalled the greenhouse gases such as CO2 is one of the main reasons for global warming.

 

The World Environment Day 2007 held in Tromse, Norway concentrated on the impact of climate change on life ecosystems in colder regions such as Arctic with the theme “Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?” If 2007 was about the colder regions of the planet, then 2006 laid emphasis on the hotter ones with the theme “Deserts and Desertification”. What could have been a better place to host the event than Algeria.

 

June 5, 2008 will mark a milestone in the celebrations of World Environment Day - the 35th year since it was first observed in 1974. What is sadly worth mentioning here is that, in all these years India has never been a host even once. India, the seventh largest country in the world area wise (3,287,590 sq km) and second population wise with a burgeoning population of over 1.1 billion, we use a significant amount of the planet’s natural resources and cause a greater impact on its environment if not more than the developed nations.

 

One of the topics that has repeated as the theme several times is climate change manifesting itself in different forms – global warming, greenhouse gases, ozone layer depletion, melting ice, green cities to name a few. It was not without reason that Al Gore (jointly with UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 in recognition of his efforts to create awareness across the world about global warming through his much acclaimed documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”.

 

It’s not surprising that this year’s theme focuses again on climate change. What is commendable is the focus has narrowed down to a specific cause of global warming – emission of carbon gases which makes it easier to educate people how to kick the CO2 habit. If each of us does our bit, it will go a long way in controlling the emission of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide comprises about 9-26% of the greenhouse gases, the others being water vapour, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and CFCs.

 

Puneites are becoming increasingly aware of the green revolution, thanks to the exhibitions, seminars and talks about it in the mainstream media. The “go-green” campaign is gaining momentum like never before. Despite this, feeling down of trees continues in most parts of the city. Recently, one witnessed a beautiful cotton tree being cut down for no apparent reason. Every individual has a carbon footprint that depends on their lifestyle. Research by Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows an average Indian in 2003 emitted about 0.96 tons of C02 annually while an American’s emission was about 20 tons annually – about 20 times more than that of an Indian. The next EIA report is due in May-July 2008.

 

Here are some of the changes that we can bring about in our daily life which will go a long way in reducing the emission of CO2:

Conserve Energy: Switch off fans and lights as you leave a room. Turn off the electrical appliances such as washing machine, mixer-grinder, TV, music system when not in use. Reduce the usage of water motor to pump the municipality water to the overhead tank. Finish off your chores as much as possible when the direct water supply is on. Use solar heater as much as possible. This will reduce your energy bills drastically.

 

Conserve Water: Make provisions for rainwater harvesting at your home. The collected and stored rain after the first few showers of the monsoon can be used for future use. Ensure the place where the rain water is stored is kept clean.

 

Plant trees: If you have a backyard full of wild grass or a lawn that is not mowed, clean it and have it planted with trees such as mango, papaya and some flowery plants or simple have a vegetable garden. It will not only lighten the atmosphere of your home, it is also good for the environment. The pleasure of cooking vegetables plucked from the backyard is to be experienced. With the monsoon a few weeks away, now is the time to get started.

 

Fresh vegetables from the local vendor: The lure of modern retail stores is hard to resist and people are increasingly turning to More, Spencers’ and such for buying vegetables. These vegetables are presented and packaged well which is appealing to the buyer but think of the energy consumed in processing and storing to keep them fresh. So, buy fresh vegetables from the local vendor in your street corner.

 

Use CFL bulbs: CFL bulbs are becoming increasingly popular such as the ones from Philips or Wipro. Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL to save power.

 

Say “No” to packaged products: No Tropicana or Real can beat the taste of freshly squeezed oranges or mango shake. Fresh juices are healthy with no added preservatives. Sure, it’s a little effort but one that’s worthy and healthy!

 

As Al Gore rightly said in An Inconvenient Truth, “Future generations may well have occasion to ask themselves, “What were our parents thinking? Why didn’t they wake up when they had a chance?” We have to hear that question from them, now!” Let’s make the right choices now to save the planet for our future generations. And, there is no one giant step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps like you and I.

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