Celebs talk about World Environment Day. They open up on how people can try to preserve nature and help in protecting the environment. Also, they share their tips on staying pollution-free.
World Environment Day observed on June 5 worldwide creates awareness around how to conserve nature and save the environment. It also highlights people’s responsibilities towards the planet. Celebrities talk about how one can keep the environment clean and pollution-free and what they have been doing on a regular basis for the same.
Climate change, air pollution, water scarcity are among the most burning issues globally. Practising sustainable living and doing our bit for the environment is something we all can do. Our small efforts can make a big difference. The simplest thing one can do is reduce energy consumption. Your electrical appliances consume resources when produced and energy during use. Always switch off and do not keep them on standby mode when not in use, and the same applies to your fans, lights and other pieces of equipment. Always look at energy labels before purchasing any appliance. It can go a long way in reducing your carbon footprint. One can also replace incandescent lamps and energy-saving lamps with LEDs - this will save you electricity and money in the long run. Also, to reduce waste, attempt to reuse products and items as many times as possible before discarding them.
To be honest, I feel that transformative sustainability solutions must be accessible, inexpensive, and appealing for people to make better daily decisions. At home, I believe in growing my fruits and veggies. It lets one verify that I am not applying or inhaling any pesticides that pollute the water and air. It also helps to eliminate negativity in your home, and you will be able to converse with plants when you are alone. Growing and planting in the house bring me joy and satisfaction. I treat my plants as if they were my children, and I treat them as such. Similarly, I encourage everyone to plant a tree and adore it at home, work, or wherever else; you will feel great.
Many of us are ignorant of how fortunate we are to have water available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Water scarcity is becoming a problem in many world regions, especially in landlocked countries. Imagine waiting for hours in a big line to fill a single bucket with water. Water conservation is a big challenge, particularly in a country as densely populated as ours. Let us not take the monsoon for granted now that it has here. Conserve as much water as possible. You can save water by irrigating your plants with the same water to wash your vegetables. Water can be conserved in a variety of ways. So that everyone benefits, because we all know that the world exists to meet everyone's needs, not satisfy everyone's greed.
This World Environment Day, we must shift from harming the planet to healing it, and charity begins at home. Electricity consumption without thought is harmful to the environment in more ways than one! Whenever I am in my hometown, Uttar Pradesh, my family and I make sure that we utilize the least power possible. Simple efforts such as unplugging electronics when not in use, using natural light throughout the day, and using air conditioning rationally and intelligently could go a long way toward energy conservation and an effective cooling system. The good news is that the solutions and the technology exist and are increasingly affordable”.
The earth is our home, and our environment needs lots of care and love. Replacing plastic bags, and containers, planting trees, and insisting on a system of dry and wet garbage segregation at the residential complex where I live are some of the things I've done and turned into a lifestyle. So the sooner we realise it, the better, because it impacts us both directly and indirectly. Kudos to everyone who is determined to do their bit.
I’m very pollution conscious as I have a small child and old parents, so I want everything around me clean. My parents taught me since I was kid to not drop garbage on the road, we do not mix wet garbage and dry ones. We do not use plastic bags, we don't get vegetables and fruit and groceries in plastic bags, but cotton or jute bags. We don’t waste water at all. My child is learning from me. I want the surrounding pollution free for her. That’s all an individual can do and take responsibility for.
I am going to buy an electric vehicle, its pollution free mode of transportation. This is one more contribution that I want to make towards this cause. As an individual, I do many things on a regular basis like I always switch off the lights when not required and put wet and dry garbage separately. My PUC (Pollution under Control Certificate) is also up to date all the time. I also try not to honk because honking creates noise pollution. People unnecessarily honk which is not good and it creates a lot of noise pollution. I think those big luxurious diesel SUVs should be banned completely and we all must switch to electric vehicles. Ban on plastic is important. In fact, the use of one-time plastic bags and bottles should be banned.
I am very much into saving electricity. During the day, I don’t switch on the lights even at the office. In fact, my boss, Vibhu ji, jokes that at times he wonders whether we are in the office or not (laughs). I am not somebody who switches on lights, fans for no reason. I also don’t keep the tap open while brushing my teeth. I know somehow in my heart that fear is there that there is going to be a calamity of our natural resources and our basics, so even saving it for one person's resources will help us in the longer run. Fortunately in our building, it has become a rule to separate wet and dry garbage. Planting trees is the best in Mumbai. We do not get the chance, but our Kerala home has greenery all around. In fact there we don’t need the Ac so much and the cool breeze is soothing.
Actually I just did a short film promoting the environment called Hawa Badlo. Also BBC Media Action’s Web series for YouTube Life Navrangi deals with environmental issues. As a civilian, I do all the things which most of the people are already doing, like avoid using plastic, keep water in the glass bottle rather than plastic bottles, switch off fans and lights when not in the room or do not waste water. These have been part of my lifestyle for a long time.
This is a very big issue which is very close to my heart. I come from the interiors, places where you have trees all around. Not a concrete jungle like the way we have in Mumbai. So in Mumbai too I have planted many trees, in fact wherever I have been, this is something that I always do along with keeping the environment absolutely neat and clean. It makes me angry when I see people travelling to hills or beaches, throwing bottles and plastic wrappers all over. This is so wrong. I make sure even when I am travelling, I carry my own bottle instead of buying water and also make sure even in my house I switch off the lights when not in use. Taps are not kept open in our house for no reason. I also tell others the same. Many laugh at me but they are not realising that this is not a small thing. Water crisis is looming large on us. I have recently travelled to places close to Nashik, and there are areas where there is an acute shortage of water. Some of us are wasting water and not realising that we really need to save it instead.
Whenever I go to my home town Chandigarh, I always do gardening. I have a small garden area there and enjoy tending my plants. Apart from that I use less electricity as much as I can. There are lots of little things I do like wet and dry garbage that are kept separate in my house, we also don’t waste water.
The beauty of the movement is that even if you're not a millionaire, you can make small changes in your everyday routine to make a difference. We are all in this together and the only way to survive is to make this a priority for us all. I try my best to be a responsible resident of this planet. I have plants at our home to be honest. I even gift plants to my friends on various occasions, as we feel these would be more valued than things like sweets etc. Ever since the ban of plastic materials was implemented, I have avoided using the material in any form. Plastic bags, straws and even plates have been substituted for cloth or paper ones. Also, another cause that I deeply care for is water conservation and at my level, I try my best and request everyone to preserve water during any household or personal work.
Recycle! Recycle! and Recycle! Educate your friends in a non condescending manner to care about our environment before it is completely destroyed. Which is the direction it's heading in if all of us globally don't step up and make some radical changes. Something as small as separating glass from plastic or using LED bulbs. It's not rocket science really. Small changes add up to saving our planet. All of the above actually. I drive a hybrid car and never have the water running while brushing my teeth. I am majorly into gardening and have a balcony filled with plants as well as with indoor plants. I recycle and in my spare time I team up with friends and we go clean up the beaches around our neighborhoods to get rid of the litter. We then recycle it and encourage bystanders to join us. It takes a village and education. We can all do our part and make our environment better for generations to come.
Well, to keep our environment clean and pollution free we have to always make efforts as individuals like yourself or individuals from family may be your kids, parents, wife, brother, sister, whoever, everybody needs to be conscious of the fact that we all need to personally make efforts to keep our environment clean. We must ensure that when we put our garbage outside our house, we put wet and dry garbage separately. Whenever we get a chance we must plant trees. Even if you plant one tree that is your contribution towards the environment and other than this we make a constant effort to minimise the consumption of electricity. In spite of the fact that my house is pretty large in size and there’s a lot of consumption that is required, we try to minimize the consumption. We switch on lights and fans only when it is required. Also as far as water usage is concerned, we make sure while we are taking shower, we switch on the showers when we really require it and not keep it open the whole time. Same rule applies when we are washing our hands or brushing our teeth. These little contributions make a lot of difference.
I have brought my usage of plastic to a minimum and now I have started using brass and copper bottles wherever I go, including shoots. I believe they are one of the easiest, durable and are environmentally-friendly alternatives one can turn to in order to help preserve the environment. The basic things like switching off lights and not wasting even a single drop of water have become my daily habits now. I have understood that until and unless we don’t make them our daily habits we won’t be able to do our bit for the environment. It takes time, but once it happens it is oddly satisfying. I don't use the AC often but when I do I keep it at a lower temperature. It's a habit I have developed. While I am doing my bit to preserve nature’s resources, I believe it is imperative for each individual to also contribute to making this planet a better, safer and healthier place for each living being to exist.
I do not throw garbage on the road or outside. I feel every citizen in India does not throw garbage outside then 80% our problem will be solved. Water wastage is severely prohibited in my home, even the remaining waste water from RO used. Saving water is a must. We are anyway looking at a severe water crisis, so if we don’t mend our ways now, we are in grave danger.
Mother Nature has given us so much beauty, purity and positivity. It’s sad how we have been abusing these gifts. I like to think of myself as nature’s child. I call myself that always because I feel most alive when I’m in the bare arms of the beauty and serenity of nature that God has given us for free. I try my best not to waste water. During Covid the only 2 things I did was plant saplings and cook. I learned how different seeds need to be nurtured and watered. I have a cute little garden now on my balcony and every day when I need positivity I go there and just breathe. We make it a point to make sure our garbage is hygienically disposed of at home and even from my restaurant every day. I have climbed mountains and glaciers all along and trust me there is nothing that fills my heart with so much joy like nature does. I do my best to preserve what I have and value it.
We try to minimize the consumption of electricity. We switch on fans and lights only when it is required. My balcony is now covered with lovely little plants, beautiful flowers. Also usage of water is controlled. We make sure we are not wasting it, because water is very precious for all of us. I know the value of water since I come from Rajasthan.
We don’t throw garbage on the roads, cut trees, get our car’s PUC checked all the time and have been planting more trees. Spitting on the road should be prohibited. We also save energy by avoiding unnecessary usage of electricity and water. We have also limited the use of plastic and plastic products, reduced usage of chemicals and pesticides, and have also been recycling waste products. I do save energy by switching off the lights when it’s not required, avoiding unnecessary wastage of water. Everyday garbage is dumped in a proper place. My car’s PUC is checked all the time.
In Mumbai we cannot plant trees because it's a concrete jungle, there is no place but whenever it's possible in my hometown I try to plant trees there. And I make sure that we do not waste water and save it because every drop is precious. Also, we switch off the lights at our place if it is not required. So I make sure we minimize the consumption of electricity. I always drive petrol cars because I think diesel cars spread more pollution. I also make sure PUC is checked. We should reduce the consumption of AC because it produces heat and is not good for us or the environment.
As a citizen, you can play the right role to control maximum pollution by following a few easy steps that start from your home. A few practical ways could be reducing the use of electricity, the usage of chemicals and pesticides, recycling the waste products, stop burning wood, consuming locally grown food, not waste water etc. It is necessary to dispose of bad household chemicals and pesticides that directly pollute the green climate. Instead you can make your own homemade solutions for cleaning purposes. There are many ‘green’ cleaning items accessible in the market that are harmless to the ecosystem.