Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, Nobody

Recently, when I was doing my course on sustainable tourism, I was reminded of a short story by one of my instructors. It is a very common but easily forgotten story which I’m sure most of us have come across. Let’s read the story again in the picture below:

In its simple and meaningful style, this little story leaves an immense message for us all – since no one took responsibility, nothing could be accomplished. Same is happening with the climate crisis today. We all are aware of the dangers of our deteriorating environment but none of us are willing to do anything about it. We keep thinking that someone else will do it. But the reality is that each one of us can do something, in fact each one of us SHOULD do something…even a little something will do!

Sustainability is a complex problem

The biggest problem we face today as a human race is the rampant destruction of our environment yet very few people are doing some concrete work on it. Despite there being so many awareness campaigns all around us, many are oblivious to the crisis. I read somewhere that this is because sustainability is a complex problem – we cannot see, hear or sense what is happening in real time. You see, the human mind is designed in a way that when we see, hear about or feel a problem, we work out a solution for it immediately. But the problem of climate crisis is not so obvious. People do not directly feel the consequence of it. For example – industries release toxic materials and hazardous gases on a daily basis and pollute our rivers and atmosphere. This contributes hugely to the climate problem but since we do not see this happening and since it does not seem to affect our lives on an immediate basis, we tend to ignore it.

I agree with the complex problem theory to some extent but I also feel that we cannot just leave it to that. We have to figure out why people are not taking much interest in solving this grave issue, despite the numerous talks and awareness campaigns. Some I could figure out are as follows:

Few reasons why the climate crisis is ignored and simple solutions

1. No Time – Well, we are all hard-pressed for time but that doesn’t mean we do nothing about going green. Going green does not only mean growing your own produce or making your own cleaning products, which do require time and effort. But instead, you could focus on other ways like rethink your water, electricity and fuel consumption and use them wisely. Just choose one or two things that you can do to help the environment and do it consistently for a few days until it becomes a habit. Less time and effort is required in doing these but the gain is significant.
2. I don’t care/not my problem as it does not affect me – So the next time the weather gets extremely hot or there are floods/water logging in your area or there’s haze affecting your health due to pollution, please do not complain :)! While Mother Nature is very resilient and capable of reflourishing, she can be equally destructive too. Especially when we do not care, do not respect and take her for granted. That’s why it is sad to know that there are people who have still not woken up to the reality of the climate crisis we are currently facing despite so much of awareness. It is everybody’s responsibility to take care of our common home – the planet Earth!
3. I alone cannot make a difference – Yes you can! Believe in yourself and make that change! It is said that -” every drop in an ocean counts”. You are that drop and many such small drops have the power to create an ocean! So start small, go steady and see the movement grow. Every #littlegreenstep counts!
4. I want to but not sure where, when and how to start – Start now! Start small! – It’s never too late. There are many sources available online. Or you can look for inspiration through blogs like ours. The best way to start is to take up something that is easy and not so time consuming – for eg. ditch single-use plastics like mineral water bottles or plastic bags and use reusable ones instead. This is one of the easiest sustainable habit to adopt and make a huge difference to better our environment. It is also a good idea to rope in your best friends to start your sustainable journey together. You can encourage, inspire and compete with each other, making it fun!
5. It’s expensive to be environment friendly – Not necessarily. You don’t have to go out and buy a lot of stuff labeled as eco-friendly to start your sustainable journey. There are many items available at home which can be used instead of buying new ones. For eg. instead of buying a new cutlery set to carry with you in your bag, I’m sure you can find an existing cutlery set at home from previous purchases or from online food deliveries and keep a dedicated set for yourself to carry with you. Similarly, you can find tupperware boxes or food containers from previous purchases which you can make as your bring your own container for takeaways. Some stuff can be completely eliminated – for eg. using straws – instead of buying new steel/glass/bamboo reusable straws, you can give up this habit and drink straight from the glass itself (unless there is need to use straw for medical purpose). You can even learn to make your own cleaning liquids with fruit scraps or your own skin care products using ingredients from the kitchen. You can upcycle and repurpose a lot of products. You can learn to mend your clothes, bags or shoes instead of throw them away. The possibilities and resources are endless!

These are few of the most common reasons why people disregard to contribute to sustainable development of our planet. Sustainability is everybody’s responsibility and we need to change our mindset and attitude. But how do we do it?… We will discuss about this in detail in a subsequent blogposts. Meanwhile, do let us know in the comments below if you agree to the 5 reasons listed above or you may even voice out your own reasons. We would be glad to hear them and can have an open and honest discussion about it.

Take small steps to achieve big

In the meantime, if there is already some inspiration igniting in you to do good for the planet, my suggestion is to practice making small, sustainable changes, one at a time – for eg. one of the easiest change to incorporate is switching to using a reusable bag for shopping or using a reusable water-bottle instead of buying mineral water. Try it! Don’t worry if you forget or falter sometimes, take it slow. Changes do not happen overnight but with patience, practice and commitment, it will become a daily habit. The key is to take-on one sustainable habit at a time and keep building over it.

So in conclusion, coming back to the story – Anybody or Somebody must commit to do their part so that someday it will inspire Everybody to follow and Nobody is left behind, thus creating a world momentum to build back a better planet!

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly, we need million of them doing it imperfectly.” – Anne Marie Bonneau