Sustainable Lifestyles: Need of the hour

            -By Chaitanya Alok Salvi

According to a report published in 2015, the supply of oil can shut off at whim any time. In any case, oil wells will run dry in about 30 years. Not only the oil is reducing, but also the other non-renewable resources are declining at a fast pace. Serious steps must be taken else we will be left with no natural resources.

What we should do?

It is high time now and we take some serious steps towards environment protection and conservation of natural resources.  Protecting the environment is not as hard as it sounds to be we just have to practice sustainable development and achieve the sustainable development goals.

What is Sustainable Development (SD) and what are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

 Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generation. In simple words, sustainable development is conserving non-renewable resources and relying more upon renewable resources.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDGs are a collection of interlinked goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. Some of the SDGs are as follows:

1.       Zero hunger

2.       No poverty

3.       Good health and well being

4.       Clean water and sanitization

5.       Life below water

6.       Life on land

We can achieve sustainable development goals by working upon the following ideas:

1.       Zero hunger: In India, lot of food is being wasted during weddings and birthday parties just because we mix up all the leftover food and throw it. We can save the leftover food by redistributing it into separate bins so that it can be given to poor people who cannot afford it.       

                          

2.       No poverty: We can reduce poverty by changing some of our daily habits like using public transport instead of private vehicles, buying products from street vendors instead of going to malls for shopping, enjoying street food instead of going to expensive cafes and restaurants.

     

3.       Good health and well-being: This SDG can be achieved by maintain cleanliness in our surrounding and by educating people health and hygiene and various diseases that occur due to dirty surroundings. We can maintain cleanliness in our locality by throwing garbage into the garbage van that comes in our colonies regularly.

                        

    

4.       Clean water and sanitization: Efforts are being made by the government as well as various NGOs to provide clean water and sanitization. Agriculture uses 70% of all freshwater for human use so we should use technologies like Israeli drip irrigation technology which minimizes water wastage during irrigation.

                      

   

5.       Life below water: Life below water is as important as life above water. We can save marine life by not throwing garbage into them and by de-silting water bodies around us regularly.  

                         

   

6.       Life on land: Life on land not only means the lives of humans and animals, but also means the plants around us. As forest area is decreasing alarmingly, we must plant a tree on every special occasion and protect it until it becomes big enough. 

                      

  

                   

    By following these ideas and using our own creative ideas we can not only protect the environment, but also make it a better place for generations to come.