My City My Responsibility - Eco-friendly Lifestyle Part 2

Dear All, 

As mentioned in the last blog, we are facing the global ecological deficit and Earth Overshoot day is the day which marks a calendar date when we have used more from nature than our planet can renew in a year.

Graph showing earth overshoot days till date

The concept of Earth Overshoot day was initiated as a campaign to raise awareness about our continuous exploitation of the Earth's resources and its renewing capacity. As per the calculations done by Global Footprint Network, in 1970 we crossed the threshold and since then every year we are in a debt towards the Earth. If we are to continue with consumption-centric lifestyle we will require 1.7 Earths i.e practically one more planet to suffice our needs. If we see the past earth overshoot dates right from 1970 to 2018, i.e in the last 48 years the dates have been rapidly shifting from December to August which means that we will soon reach to a time when we will be deprived of some of the Earth's resources at global level if not all.
However, as a country and as a city we have the power to move this date backwards by undertaking small but effective steps now. We need to adopt a lifestyle that is minimalist. Its not about being a miser, its about discovering whats most important for us and adjusting our day to day activities based on this principle. 

By 2050, more and more people will be staying in urban areas, hence it is important for us to have a city that helps us manage our resources well. For instance, we should demand for better and safe roads with efficient public transport, so that we use less of individual vehicles to travel, which will in turn help saving on fossil fuels and lower carbon emissions. Air pollution problem caused majorly due to vehicular emissions will also be reduced. Another resource consumptive activity coupled with enormous carbon emissions is construction. Instead of developing haphazard buildings in every corner of the city, it is important to survey the need for housing demand and accordingly develop affordable housing with basic facilities. These houses can be built using materials that redue energy and water usage. There is a need of research on developing such innovative materials in this sector. Similarly waste minimization and management at the source is one of the most important ways to reduce our ecological footprint which will help us move the overshoot date ahead to an extent. Above all our attitude towards our resources should be just like the way we manage our finances. Otherwise soon we will be taxed for overusing our resources as well!

Individually, we can make a minimalist calendar, where in every month we can reduce or minimize use of our resources. For eg. Discovering the one thing that maximizes your electricity bill and trying to reduce the same by an alternative process or by minimizing usage will in turn reduce your energy consumption and save your money too.

In case if you have any specific ideas on minimalist lifestyles or you are already living a minimalist lifestyle, please write to me so that I can spread the message to maximum number of people. 

Pournima Agarkar.

www.samuchit.com