hottest World cup that was going on. Having heard about the Super moon that was going to
happen that day night I and few of my friends gathered in our favourite place ‘the tank top’ of
the hostel to view the rarity.
Awaiting the Moon, we were discussing about it - On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size
and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20
years. Its 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the
Moon's orbit.
Peeping into the past
Finally the super moon had appeared, gazing its ruling beauty amidst the tress passing clouds
in the sky I was dragged to the days of my childhood. I remember my grandmother feeding
me dinner showing the moon – A Moonlight dinner. It was really a super moon for me big
and beautiful. Gone are the days, those lovely days.
I had already fallen back deep into my thoughts. Memories and thoughts were playing a
confusing role back and forth about present and past. Those days’ people lived a sustainable
life in all the possible ways. These days the same has become the greatest need of the
hour. When we look back to years and compare the current sustainable technologies being
invented; we will find most of them are modified and computerised form of our ancestor’s
methodologies.
Sustainable lifestyle?
In the pursuit of material comforts and a higher standard of living, human beings have
been engaged in an intense and sustained assault on the environment. Many of the modern
developments and gadgets either make life convenient or create aesthetically appealing
objects, but harm the environment, often in subtle ways. In some cases, the problem is
compounded by a carefree use of resources, without concern for environmental implications.
A particular mail I had crossed very recently flashed my mind when I had to give a thought
on present and past people living styles with respect to sustainable development.
A few examples drawn from life in India are discussed below.
§ Several decades ago, people used to eat unpolished rice. With the advent of
mechanized rice mills, the use of polished (white) rice became the norm in virtually
all the households. What a folly to expend energy to remove the valuable nutrients
that cover the rice grains.
§ About 50 years ago, all the watches and clocks available were mechanical devices,
powered by the energy stored in springs wound by hand. These have now been
rendered almost extinct by the availability of quartz watches powered by batteries.
The electronic watches are convenient as the batteries last for a year or two and free
us from the chore of winding the spring daily. In most of the villages and towns, there
is no system for recycling or proper disposal of such batteries. The possible leaching
of toxic metals and other substances into the soil and water bodies is not of much
concern to most of us.
§ Another wasteful practice is the use of ballpoint/gel pens instead of fountain pens
for writing. Even though many adults are writing less and typing more, millions of
children in the higher classes still use pens for taking notes at school and for doing
their homework. The ink accounts for only about 25% of the total mass of the refill
plus packing material; the plastic and metal that are discarded when the refill is
thrown away make up the rest of the mass. For example, consider a refill whose mass
(excluding the ink) is about 4.6 g. If 100 million refills are discarded annually, the
amount of waste generated is 460,000 kg. The disposal of such a large amount of
waste is not of much concern to both children and adults.
The list of examples is endless, but solutions are scarce. Are we ‘helpless pieces of the
game’, as Omar Khayyam had written in a different context, or can we do something to
reduce environmental degradation?
Having my thoughts on present status of living and development going boundless and
unanswered I merely could not imagine the condition of the Environment. Will us take a
thought and make a note to follow up an action to change the Situation? Or agonize much
more disasters like Japan?
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