Is it too late to save the planet?

Today is World Environment Day. It was first held in 1973, and it has been a global platform with over 143 countries organising various programmes to make us aware of environmental problems.

But for all the noise that has been generated over the past 52 years celebrating World Environment day on 5th June and marking World Earth Day on April 22nd ( first celebrated in 1970), nothing really seems to have changed.

My visit to Meghalaya in October 2021 was disappointing, with mountains shorn to make way for roads and also to exploit natural resources like Limestone and believe it or not sand!

The famed waterfalls were mere trickles.

In Mumbai itself, we’ve had a major landslide down the road, flash floods and this year, unseasonal rains that brought the city to a standstill.

Once known for its even temperature year round, last year we needed a fan and air conditioning even in our so-called Mumbai winter.

This year, the summer temperatures shot up to the 40s, something we had never ever heard of.

People still use plastic, and thermocol is still used in packaging. In fact, the Municipality has refused to collect thermacol waste and non-biodegradable waste from building sites and societies without providing an alternate way of getting rid of this waste.

Electric cars may save fossil fuel, but what about the other waste they create??

Thanks to social media and the increase in people’s aspirations, more people are travelling than they ever did before. With plane routes making formerly inaccessible places accessible, anyone can go to Finland to see the Northern Lights or sail to the Galapagos Islands to see the exotic flora and fauna.

What do all these conferences do?

This year WED is being hosted by South Korea. Over 1300 delegates from 20 countries will participate. The theme is to stop plastic pollution.

But consider how many people will be flying around to and from Jeju Island? What about all the waste that the conference will generate? Traffic? Food and water wastage? Badges and lanyards for the attendees?

And, at the end of it all, we will still use plastic to pack our goods, we will still carry disposable bottles and still generate more harmful waste.