Our environment depends on each one of us

What can you and I do?

I have been a keen student of sustainability sciences. Partly due to my own legacy and a lot due to my experiences at work and life.

Lately, the media has been drowning with rhetoric across #Davos and other forums where credible leaders and executives have debated on what needs to be done. There’s abundance of data on the web on climate change, environmental degradation, and their impact on all sentient life on this planet.

This debate needs to happen to influence collective actions that address the already vitiated state of our planet.

But these debates also call for actions at individual and collective (community) levels. In every household, in every society radiating to every state and the nation at large

Lessons from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People- Stephen Covey

I wanted to reflect on Stephen Covey’s principles of Circles of Concern and Influence.

The model is based on two circles. The first is our circle of concern. This includes a full range of things – global warming, the state of the economy, the way people drive their cars etc. The actual list will depend on the individual, but the important thing to understand is that there may be little we as individual can do about many of these things since they are outside our influence. Devoting energy on them may be a waste of time – the equivalent of shouting at the television. Our circle of influence will be much smaller. It includes the things we can do something about. The extent of this will obviously be related to our individual power – whereas the business or national leaders in currency may have far more influence than any one of us.

The important principle here is to start with our own sphere of influence and then ally with people in our network who can start to expand our own sphere of influence to those that concern us at the edge. It is for each one of us to do what we can do.

The State of India’s Environment

I was fortunate to attend a recent online seminar on the state of India’s environment organized by Centre for Sustainable Environment (Centre for Science and Environment (cseindia.org) and a very pointed publication “Down to Earth” - State Of India’s Environment 2022: In Figures (cseindia.org)

I wanted to bring forth a few charts from their presentation for every one of us to reflect upon and explore what we can do. These charts show us the alarming statistics of environmental erosion on some vital indicators

1.    River Pollution - 74% of river monitoring stations in India have alarming levels of heavy toxic metals. 40% of the stations have elevated levels of total coliform, and 15% have biochemical oxygen demand beyond permissible limits, which indicate poor wastewater treatment from industry, agriculture, and domestic household 

 2. Forest Cover - India's total forest cover has registered a little more than 0.5% increase between 2017 and 2021. But this good news has a caveat. The bulk of the increase has taken place in the open forest category, which includes commercial plantations. This has happened at the cost of moderately dense forest, which is normally the area closest to human habitations. Forest cover in 244 out of 638 assessed districts across 27 states and five UTs has shrunk. The districts have a combined forest cover of 325,274 km2, which is almost 46% of India's forests

3.    Unhealthy Food System - Despite some progress, diets are not getting healthier and make increasing demands on the environment, while unacceptable levels of malnutrition persist. The high human, environmental and economic costs of continuing our current trajectory are so significant that we will pay a far higher price if we fail to act. India’s food system falls far short of achieving its goals for both health and the environment. India has already exceeded the safe levels of planetary boundaries in terms of cropland use and nitrogen application.

4.    Rapid Urbanisation- Down to Earth's analysis of 14 key indicators under NITI Aayog's Urban Index reveals that waste management, tree cover, health insurance, access to clean fuel, and air quality remain the key challenges for the 56 million‐plus and capital cities in the country. In 14 cities, more than 20% households continue to use unclean fuel for cooking. This includes seven capital cities

Environment and Sustainability begin at home

If those data sets wake us up, then it must trigger actions at individual and community levels. Many of these parameters are out of our circle of influence but certainly within our circle of concern.

In our own society in Pune, the builder has been involved in cutting of evergreen trees and mowing down gardens which originally was part of the landscape. A few of our committee got together and registered a criminal complaint as well. The community known as Manikchand Malabar Hill is currently run by Manikchand Giriraj Group 595/2, Munjeri, Lullanagar Chowk, Pune, Maharashtra – 411040. GST No. 27AAAAM2902N2Z

We are now waiting for the long hand of law and administration to wake up and do something.

Here are a few things we do

1. Practicing urban agriculture at home - I am fortunate to live in an apartment which houses more than one hundred plants which surround our terrace spaces. They bring a lot of migratory birds from the nearby forest who build nests. I would not shy away from saying that it’s a mini forest. A lot of oxygenating plants like the snake plant, aloe vera and peace lily are tended to with care apart from creepers that provide us green cover of our own. It also provides a natural cooling effect during hot seasons which we are experiencing now.
2. Saving Water - By fixing leaking pipes and being conscious about tap water consumption for washing and bathing we do our part in reducing wasteful consumption significantly
3. Saving electricity - We do that by limiting the use of air conditioners and other electrical appliances. It’s very habit forming when done with consistency and mindfulness
4. Cooking for consumption - We cook what we can consume. Waste not. Want not.
5. Buying Organic - It’s a commitment that reflects on our purchases - these range from food items, cleaning liquids and toiletries
6. Saying No to Single Use Plastic

Sustainability of our environment begin with our own sustainable behaviours, attitudes, and actions because they are within our circle of influence

What are your circles of influence and concern?

P.S. For your own library you may wish to buy “Down to Earth” - State of India’s Environment 2022: In Figures (cseindia.org) as well as bookmark the CSE website at www.cseindia.org