Lets Go Green

Every mood of her's or his can be related to a natural surrounding or a season in this world . Many would love to dance in rain, many would love to be in a natural, greener surrounding, or take a drive on a pleasant and sunny day. We like to associate many things with nature. But do we have any clue of what Mother Nature is going through because of these? Yes. Many would know. But we are reluctant about these happenings and dont want to try and rectify it. Unfortunately, the life of the future generations is at stake. Not to forget the fact that there are many natural disasters like the tsunami, earth quakes, etc which we are already facing. When we analyse the facts, many questions arise. Aren’t we the ones who are spoiling the nature. Aren't we, the so called superior beings, “THE HUMAN BEINGS" the reason for many of the natural disasters? The answer to these questions is YES. We are the reason for these. But it is better late than never.

As many are aware, some of the major reasons for the depletion of the earth are deforestation and extensive use of plastics.

Deforestation in general terms is the mass destruction of forests. It occurs when efforts are taken to turn them to non-forest areas for the sake of urbanization and other reasons without reforestation. The process of deforestation is often a complex pattern of progressive fragmentation of the forests. This might even lead to the forest destruction. The effects of it being extinction of many species, extensive soil erosion, green house effect, flooding, landslides, degraded watershed, denuded upland, destruction of corals along the coasts, silting of rivers and dams.

1. Greenhouse effect: One of the major effects is the greenhouse effect. When the forests become less, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increases. This leads to global warming as the plants and trees that take in CO2 for photosynthesis are gone. This causes the ozone layer depletion which in turn allows harmful radiation from the sun to enter the earth.
2. Extensive soil erosion: The roots of the trees or the plants hold the soil in place. The fertile layer of the soil is held in place with the help of the trees. When trees are cut, soil is vulnerable to erosion and the felling of trees also leads to landslides
3. Extinction of species: Millions of species get extinct when forests are destroyed which leads to the loss of biodiversity.

The other fatal reason is the usage of plastics. Plastics are a general name given to wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic amorphous materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly, the molecular bonds that make plastic so durable make it equally resistant to natural processes of degradation. Since 1950's, a large amount of plastics has been discarded. This may not get destroyed in the near future and burning plastics also leads to release of toxic gases. The manufacturing of plastics also produces a lot of pollutants. Except for a few plastics, the recycling of plastics has proven to be far from reality as of now. The decomposition of plastics take millions of years and therefore, when they are thrown away, they tend to go under the soil. This leads to soil pollution. When it rains, the soil is not in a position to take in the rain water as the plastic retards it seepage.

The above mentioned reasons can lead to a lot of complications for the future. In order to avoid this, we can adopt simple methods at the lower levels. Following these can help us save our planet from some environmental hazards at least for time being.

Save Power/Electricity:

• Unplug appliances when they are not in use.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Save Water:

• Use minimal amount of water for washing utensils and cloths
• Take shorter showers
• Open the taps with conscious decision to use little water.

Save Gas/Petroleum:

• Go for eco-friendly bikes.
• Use public transport to reach destinations
• Walk to near by shops or take bi-cycle

Use of eco-friendly carry bags:

• We can carry recyclable carry bags or cloth bags to buy from the market instead of using plastics

Avoid wastage of paper: Instead of buying new books, we can borrow books from friends or libraries as they save a lot of paper being wasted and also the ink that has gone into printing these materials.

E-wastes: Avoid throwing electonic goods into the trash as e-wastes contain mercury and other toxic items that are already posing a big problem.

Buy Dresses: Avoid buying dresses that need dry-cleaning. This helps in avoiding a lot of chemicals from being used and discharged.

We shall also make it a point to grow plants in and around the surrounding areas which would extensively help us and the environment we live in. Probably, we can present a better environment to our future generation as gift. :)

Am gonna go green. Are you?