So today, we mark yet another World Environment Day where we talk about saving the world before we become extinct. Once again we have programs organised to make people aware of the environmental damage that we are creating intentionally or otherwise.

Once again there will be WhatsApp messages like the ones I received below beseeching people to save the world before it is too late.

Considering the fact that this movement has been active since 1972, and the climate is still changing, and the earth is still warming, and the fish are still dying in oceans where plastic is indiscriminately being dumped, I seriously feel that this is another drum beating exercise in futility.

Don’t use Plastic – Mix up the beans

When we go shopping for simple household items like vegetables, the vendors automatically bring out plastic carry bags. Why just last week, when I asked the vegetable vendor to dump all my vegetables in my cloth bag, he was aghast

“What? The beans will all get mixed up?

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I didn’t really care and I told him so. After all, I was buying manageable quantities ( 250 g per vegetable) and it would just take a few minutes more to sort them out.

He still didn’t buy that explanation and only after we gathered a few bystanders to witness this drama, did he reluctantly put them in the bag whilst the lookers-on shook their heads in amazement.

Equally responsible for cutting down trees are those vendors who believe in packing goods in cardboard. The biggest culprit of all is AMAZON, with its humungous packages for the tiniest item. Possibly Amazon uses recycled paper and resources to package items. After all, when online purchase replace actual buying, how else can consumers receive goods they’ve paid for without being packaged properly?

On line shopping is the preferred way to acquire stuff simply because travelling to get them has become a trek. In a city like Mumbai especially, traffic snarls are common and it often takes up to a half hour just to cross the street! Besides staying home to shop reduces one’s carbon footprint as no form of transport is used to shop with ( neither public nor private)

So ultimately, what can we do but lament at the degradation of nature and at the advance of technology?

Perhaps being more mindful of our wasteful consumption will help protect the earth. Being happy with less. Being happy with upcycling/recycling.

So till the next world environment day, I wish all my readers a Happy Earth Day!

Use less plastic. Buy less stuff.

Ciao