A Simple Change in Our Attitude Can Save a Lot

I remember vaguely, there was a 'Science club' which ran for few months in my school. During a club meeting, my School teacher Jayabharathi m'm addressed us for a few minutes on 'Going Green and Saving the Nature'. It still amuses me to recall that she carried a steel glass in her bag to avoid using a paper glass and her firm decision not to use plastic papers. 

She said "My husband always tells me not to do these silly things. He says there are millions of fools out there who are just not worried about saving the environment. So why bother? For that I replied, 'I am happy, at least one fool out of millions is removed.'" 

This event didn't impact me profoundly but it tried convincing me to be socially responsible. A little. I felt there are several ways a person can attribute to save an environment without any social boycotts or embarrassments.

It irritates me to see a person who leaves a room lit with no purpose or a geyser switched 'on' for no reason or a person with a bundle of tissue papers as if he/she is going to wipe his/her whole body or a person who leaves the tap open while he/she is busy examining his/her face or the one who takes bike/car even to the bathroom but go to gym everyday to burn his/her fat ass. It annoys me to the core. I fight with my friends who do these kind of things and turn to be a bad guy. With others I resist, but I stare. Badly.

There are two groups in the society, the one who can afford and the other who can't. The people who can afford are the one's who are responsible for chaos in the balance of nature. They really don't care, because they CAN AFFORD. They don't care about the water which is being wasted in their tap while people outside are fighting and declaring 'bandhs' for water. They don't care for the light and fans being ON with no purpose though KPTCL buys electricity from Gujarat and TN, because they can afford. They don't care using excessive papers though there is a poster stuck above the holders asking them to 'Go Green', because they can afford. 

But the problem they really don't understand is, this attitude affects the one who can't afford. The farmers who commit suicide because of no rainfall. The villages who encounter whole day power-cut. The people who skip taking bath because they can't afford purchasing water. The people who walk miles together to save an expensive travel. And more. But we fight with the Government for the petrol and diesel price hike, for reduction in the LPG availabilities or a simple power cut at home. There is contribution from the non-affordable too in this crisis by using inefficient things like bulbs, but they can't help it because they are not monetarily strong enough to afford a better one. I don't blame all or claim that I follow all these things. But we all can give it a shot.

The reason for these immature acts is that the affordable think that the world is full of people and not human beings. This attitude surely bites everyone, someday. It doesn't take time and effort to raise a finger to switch off the light while one goes out of a room. It is not painful to close the tap and ponder over your face then open it again. It doesn't reduce your productivity by using a few extra seconds to use a tissue paper effectively to wipe your hand. Still we don't. Because we believe that we can Afford. In reality, none of us can afford. This beautiful earth, soon will perish. But a small change with your attitude can make this place sustainable a little longer for our posterity.