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

My City My Responsibility - Cradle to Cradle

Dear All,

Do you know that the rate at which we are using our resources to produce new stuff everyday, we will require three Earth like planets to fulfill our needs by 2050. Is it possible to get more planets? Are there any other Earth like planets from where we can get more resources?

The answer is NO, we have only ONE EARTH and we have to fulfill all our needs within the boundaries of this planet only. Its just like having a savings account in a bank from which you can withdraw only what you have deposited not more. Unlike a credit card where you can use more but then you are in a debt and for which you have to pay extra interest as well. If you cannot pay back the debt with interest, you are going to go bankrupt! Currently we are in a debt to our planet in terms of resources, in order to compensate we have to take some conscious measures.

Measures like conscious consumption and efficient consumption by using the 4R's i.e. refusing, reducing, reusing, and recycling can save our resources to an extent. But we will be more effective if we take certain measures while we are producing the stuff.

We saw the concept of lifecycle which  is the entire journey of any product right from the time its born till its death, also known as Cradle to Grave. However, there is nothing like death in nature, everything that dies is used up by other organisms as their food and is thus part of a natural cycle. For example we all learnt about the food chain in our schools. After the predator its the decomposers or bacteria who mix with the soil and help in the growth of the plants or producers. 

Can we produce or manufacture, using this Nature's concept also known as Cradle to Cradle by making industrial processes more innovative and efficient, where the waste of one product becomes source for another product. 

As consumers can we demand such production pattern? If yes, please comment with an example if you know of one!

Pournima Agarkar.