[dropcap]O[/dropcap]f late, celebrating World Environment Day every year on the 5th June is something that has become ‘just another event’ for many organizations and institutions across the world. Is that the way it should be? Should it be just a one-off event to show that one is environmentally conscious and that one cares for our Planet Earth? Doing that may be easy but what about personal commitments and actions in your daily life? It is time that we all care to learn more about such environmental issues and become a conscious and responsible global citizen. After all, we are all stewards for our one and only Planet Earth. We owe it not just to ourselves but to our future generation to ensure that the Earth they inherit is as wonderful as it is supposed to be.
This year’s World Environment Day theme is about Island Nation States. One might even think, “What has it got to do with someone like me living almost 1500 meters above mean sea level here in Nagaland?” The theme proclaims “Raise your Voice… Not the Sea Level”, does it strike anything in your mind? Let us try and make the connections. Imagine that your family, your house, school, church, locality, community, village, town, state or even you is an island. Now let us imagine that all the garbage, pollution and negative environmental activities around us are melting ice and glaciers threatening your very existence. They are all melting and we are about to drown because the sea level is rising.Isn’t that a scary scene, even in your imagination? What would you do? You can’t just jump off the island and swim away. That’s all you have because everywhere else is water or hostile lands where outsiders or ‘environmental refugees’ are not welcome.
Or worse still, imagine that our Planet Earth is an island about to be inundated by the rising sea level? Where else can we go? This is exactly what small island nations are faced with? Their very existence is being threatened not just because of their actions but due to the negative impacts of global warming which is being accelerated by unsustainable practices across nations. They are the victims of actions committed hundreds and thousands of miles away. Maybe each one of us, sitting pretty in Nagaland is also contributing to it. World Environment Day provides us that opportunity for us to reflect on our actions and commitments. It is a day of reckoning - to realise that our ‘mother’ is ill and we need to take care of her.
The solution lies in ‘collective action and responsibility’. What each one of does every day has a direct impact on our environment. The impacts can be negative or positive. Which would you choose? I’d rather that we all choose the ‘positive’ and one of the easiest and simplest positive action is to simply ‘raise your voice’.
1. Observe, learn and talk about your concerns with friends, relatives, colleagues, strangers or whoever.
2. Try and positively influence others for positive change and action.
3. See if there are others who share the same concerns and responsibilities and maybe, you can even start to collaborate.
4. If you have information, knowledge or skills that might facilitate or promote positive thinking and action, share it. Information they say is knowledge, and knowledge may be power; but what’s the use of all the power if you do not use it?
On the other hand, every time one commits a negative action it contributes to the garbage, pollution, destruction or unsustainable use of environmental resources. Such actions add to the ‘raising sea level’. We do not want that to happen. Let us stop it and realise that simple actions are all that is required to arrest the ‘raising the sea level’.
1. It begins with small things at home, school or even offices. Switching off unnecessary light/fan switches; closing dripping/running taps, reducing waste (for example, carry your own shopping bag to begin with and stop taking those polythene bags that not just clog up our drains but kill our rivers and streams);
2. Reusing stuff you just might have thrown away (of course, the first challenge is to even try and avoid buying things that are not really necessary);
3. Adopt simple principles like zero waste principles both at work and home;
4. Share available resources with friends and family (e.g., organise car pools to drop and pick-up kids from school or to go to offices or simply put – just learn to share, even knowledge);
5. Adopt good and sustainable practices to conserve resources (make use of water harvesting systems or build homes that make use of natural light and energy, adopt good farming practices).
We are just kids! We are too old! We don’t have the resources! Is it really that hopeless?
Isn’t that something we say or hear very often? It’s never too soon or too late for good things to happen. And good things don’t necessarily happen because resources are available. All that matters is interest, conviction and commitment. This will however happen only if one is aware – not necessarily educated. Do not confuse education with awareness. Educated people are necessarily people that are aware. To be aware, one must be willing to learn with a sense of discovery, empathy and curiosity. To be aware, one must use all of one’s senses so that one can learn, feel, sense, smell, see and even hear. One must also try and make the connections and see the larger picture.
Once you are aware and have garnered the courage, commitment and sense of responsibility, ‘Raise Your Voice’ and communicate what it is that you wish to do or say. Even if you do not have the resources, do not worry… people usually ‘buy’ good ideas and purposes. Problem with most people – young or old – is that too often we are too comfortable in our own spaces and in the process we allow the ‘water level to go above our heads’. Do not let your own thoughts drown you or your ideas. Often many battles in life are lost not because the opposition is strong or opportunities bad but because we refuse to believe that we can do it. Margaret Mead said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it is the only thing that ever does”
Let 2014 be the year that you do something positive not just for you, your future generation for also for your one and only planet. Research, Organise, Network and Activate your thoughts and ideas. Here are some activities that you might want to try:
1. Organise your family, friends or community to discuss and deliberate upon the issue of “Raise your voice and not the sea level”;
2. Write articles or stories for your local papers, church bulletins or organizational newsletters;
3. Raise awareness of people by organizing events such as community workshops, fairs, concerts or even street plays;
4. Take advantage of and participate in church programmes and highlight the issues of “Raising your voice and not the sea level”. It could be a sermon, a song, a drama or even a poster display;
5. Write to your politicians, public leaders, government officials ‘raising your voice’ against the ‘raising sea level’ – remember to make the local connections (issues);
6. Visit schools, colleges and universities to ‘raise your voice’ and get people on board to be responsible citizens;
7. Organise essay competitions, painting competitions, collage making competitions, photography exhibitions or competitions; or whatever you think is possible to highlight the issue of “Raise Your Voice, Not the Sea Level”;
8. Look for collaborators – government agencies, private entrepreneurs, willing sponsors, village councils or even Sunday school groups – to help put into action your ideas;
9. Apply the Zero Waste Principles in all that you do. [If you are not sure of this, just google it for the information]
10. Even if you cannot do anything with others, at least, make a personal commitment to be a responsible and committed citizen and become an example for others.
This world is our only island and unless each one of us contribute to the collective goodness and actions, nothing much can be achieved to save it. Let us be responsible and committed to a lifestyle that is sustainable and waste-free. After all, “in acting together…people can accomplish things that no individual alone can ever hope to accomplish” (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1822-1945). If you are in need of information or network support, connect with organizations like the Sustainable Development Forum Nagaland (SDFN) based in Kohima. www.sdfnagaland.org
Amba Jamir,
Founder Executive Secretary, SDFN
