Happy World Water Day!

It has been so long since I did an environmental rant. I hope you’re ready to take it.

If you want some poetry, here is the link to my earliest haikus.

As an environmentalist, it is my duty to inform all you people that every life form on this planet is interconnected with a life-giving form. Plants and animals need air and water and sunlight, and the first single-celled organism, it is believed, was formed out of a chemical reaction in water.

And because today is World Water Day, there is one thing that I’d like to break it to you: when we say “conserve water”, it doesn’t only mean “save water and don’t let it go to waste.” It also means that “use water wherever necessary” and that “prevent usage for unnecessary things”.

Let me illustrate this. I’m not good with facts, but I’ll tell you what I know and believe in.

Tetrapacked juices are bad. Not just for the health, but also for the environment. A small, 200 mL bottle of juice has 16 grams of sugar. Go look it up why its so harmful for your body.

What’s more my concern is the tetra pack itself. A friend of mine (we’re in the same class) is fond of guava juice that comes in a tetra pack. We’ve told him several times to not drink it; instead, drink fresh fruit juice for the same amount! But no, he refuses. He argues that just because he stops, the production won’t stop so it won’t matter whether he drinks it or not.

Let me break it down to you. Change cannot happen overnight and in the three years of my studying environmental science, I’ve learnt this the hard way. So, yes, change will take time, and it has to start with you. One person at a time, one step at a time can a make humongous difference. So, if one person in our college stops per day, and if word travels and ten colleges do this, the sales will be so down that they will stop getting it to college, then word will spread, and it will slowly stop in production.

So, why aren’t we taking that one small first step?

And what’s the connection to water? Tetra pack is basically water. A simple, waterproof paper cup takes three cups of water to make one such cup. Imagine six such layers. All waterproof, and millions of them, going to waste. Not even being recycled. How much of water is wasted? I don’t know the numbers but it is a big number.

Think about it. In that sense, all packed foods cause the same problem, if not more in a lot of cases.



ನಿಮ್ಮದೊಂದು ಉತ್ತರ


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