When most people think of the massive environmental problems ahead of us, they wonder how anything they could do can possibly help the environmental movement. But from my experience, it is always the acts of individuals that wind up making a difference... either to help or harm the environment.

Think about it. Every time you go out to buy medicines or vegetables for instance, a shopkeeper thrusts a plastic bag in your hand and by accepting it you add to a very serious problem in our towns and cities. The bags cannot be disposed off safely. Even if you throw it in the garbage bin, they wind up in dumps from where the wind carries them to drains, which they block. If they land in the sea, turtles and dolphins choke on them because they look like tasty jellyfish in the water.

Even if each of us uses only one or two bags a day, the problem becomes gigantic in a city where millions of people live. But this is one environmental problem you can easily solve: just carry a cloth bag around (like your grandmother used to!) And remember to tell the shopkeeper why you are not taking his bag from him so that he slowly gets the message and stops offering them to customers.

You can also start a "clean-up" campaign in your organisation or neighbourhood. And, of course, one of the best ways for you to help the environment would be to write letters to newspapers about how you feel, or to politicians to protest against plans to destroy the environment.

If you respect nature, learn all you can about nature and support conservation organisations; you can take a great first step towards launching yourself on the path of environmental activism for the rest of your life. It’s such a beautiful world and if each of us does even very little to help, we can keep it that way.

Every individual can play a role in safeguarding our environment. Adapt your lifestyle and make a significant change!

Conserve water

Did you know?

One person out of every 5 people in the world does not have clean water to drink.

99.5 per cent of all fresh water in the world is in glaciers and ice caps.

Little drops make the ocean...

Fix every leaking tap the moment you detect the leak.

Use flushes that use half the quantity of water and low-flow taps at the washbasin.

When washing your face and hands, keep the flow down to a trickle instead of a torrent.

Never leave the tap running while washing clothes and dishes or brushing teeth and shaving.

Take a bucket bath instead of a shower. (80 per cent of the city is forced to do this anyway, but those with running water use as much as all the others put together).

Never wet-service your car or two-wheeler. Besides conserving water, this will also protect your vehicle from corrosion damage.

If you use a washing machine, make sure you always run it on full load. The amount of energy utilised is the same.

Put a brick into the flush tank to decrease the quantity per flush.

Don't litter

Did you know?

The average middle class urban family produces 20 kg. of trash every week.

Disposable diapers could take 500 years to decompose in a landfill.

It’s not all trash!

Don't dispose your kitchen waste in non-biodegradable polythene bags.

Separate household wastes into 'Wet' and 'Dry' components. The 'Wet' portion comprises foodstuffs, dead animals, plant remains and wastes which are biodegradable. These can be processed to yield manure and fuel in the form of biogas.

Non-degradable wastes like plastic, metals and glass should be given to recycling factories.

Do not litter. Always throw waste in the dustbins that you find on the roadside, and if you cannot find one, carry the waste back home and throw it in your own household bin.

Use cloth bags for shopping.

Reuse envelopes, use both sides of paper and if you must use wrapping paper, be creative and consider options like coloured newspapers for attractive packaging.

Stop junk mail. Write to companies asking them to take you off their mailing list.

Buy products in bulk to minimise packaging, and do not patronise products with unnecessary and wasteful packaging.

Carry your own ceramic cup to the office to avoid using paper cups.

Pass on textbooks to a younger child and share books and magazines for leisure reading.

Encourage the practice of passing on old newspapers and magazines to the raddiwalla.

Stop polluting

Did you know?

Pollution levels inside cars can be up to 18 times higher than those outside the vehicles.

Mumbai city alone discharges around 2574.23 million tonnes of sewage into the sea everyday.

India uses nearly 100,000 tonnes of pesticides annually, of these 70 per cent are either banned or strictly restricted in industrialised nations.

India's standard for suspended particulate matter in residential areas is 2.3 times the 60 micrograms per cubic metre guideline recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Act now!

Special devices should be installed in factories to remove particles and poisonous gases before releasing fumes into the atmosphere.

Steps should be taken to ensure that automobiles do not release unburned fuels from their exhausts. Use unleaded petrol and ensure that a PUC (Pollution Under Control) test is done regularly.

Encourage car pools to travel.

Use neem leaves to keep out insects instead of toxic pesticides.

Save energy

Did you know?

A 40-watt tube light consumes as much electricity as a 100-watt bulb.

Refrigerators and air conditioners emit CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) that are responsible for destruction of the ozone layer.

According to some conservative estimates, oil reserves will last for less than 40 years. At the present rate of consumption India's reserves will last for only 22 years.

Save electricity

Removing two lamps in a fixture meant for four would save 50 per cent of the electricity bill.

Compact fluorescent bulbs consume less energy for more output.

Replace bulbs with tube lights as they consume less electricity for the amount of light they give out.

Turn electrical appliances off when you do not need them. Saving electricity means conserving fossil fuels and reducing pollution.

Instead of using air conditioners rigorously in summer, consider using old-fashioned khus sheets or just try splashing water on yourself and sitting under the fan.

Open refrigerators less frequently to save energy.

Do not switch lights on during the daytime. Open your windows instead and let the sunlight in.

Protect wildlife

Did you know?

If present trends of extinction continue, a quarter of the world's species of animals and plants could vanish within 50 years.

Two per cent of India's mammals, ten per cent of its flowering plants and five per cent of its birds are on the verge of extinction.

The world loses up to three animal species per day and according to some scientists this may go up to three animals per hour in the next ten years.

It is estimated that India loses at least one tiger every day.

80 per cent of all ivory is taken from elephants that are illegally hunted and killed to make artefacts.

More grain and cereal is fed to the livestock bred for meat in Russia and the USA than is consumed by the entire population of the third world.

A single sheep or goat bred for meat is fed the equivalent of 4 hectares of vegetation every year.

Care for nature

Report any instances of cruelty to animals to organisations such as the SPCA.

Boycott visits to zoos or circuses where animals are treated badly.

Do not hunt or disturb animals when you visit a sanctuary.

Be kind to your pets and to all animals in your neighbourhood.

Change your food habits. It’s greener to be vegetarian.