This is my collection of writings for the three hundred and sixty five day writing challenge - where one has to write something daily, every day, for one whole year, based on the prompts provided - as part of an exercise to improve creative writing...
"Write about going green or an environmental concern you have."
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More than dust and pollution, what really gets me is wastage of water especially when there such an acute shortage of it. For though around 76% of Earth is water, over 96% is saline and therefore unfit for drinking, which means that only 3% of earth has water fit for our consumption. That could sound as little but considering how huge Earth it, 3% translates to a lot of water, which would be sufficient if we did not waste it.
By waste I am not going to talk about industrial misuse of water, the general wastage of maintaining gigantic lawns (the grass is a water sucker) and those humongous swimming pools or the gross apathy of humans in using marshlands and drying up lakes to build concrete towers. Those are worrisome but involve factors beyond my control. I am going to rant over the tiny ways each of us can make a difference.
Drinking water from a bottle - most of us cannot finish it off and at end of the day, we simply pour it down the drain. What happened to the old habit of pouring it in glass and then drinking it? Drink the whole bottle if you want, but if you do not, someone else can also have that water.
Taking a shower, could we not substitute it by filling a bucket with water and then using it to have a bath. One large bucket of water is more than enough, do we really need to have the shower running and water draining all the time we sing our way through the bath?
Washing vegetables or clothes, again the tap keeps running. Why? Do we get a kick out of hearing the sound of water flowing, a feeling that we are in the lap of nature and are sitting beside a pool, under the shade with a waterfall nearby? Do you have an idea how much of water we waste that way, and the solution is simple, for vegetables use a large container, fill it with water, soak and wash the vegetables. And if you have a few plants, you can use the same water for the plants, they will welcome the dirt.
The worst is during summer, when there are timings for water supply. I am sure that in three days you can work out how much water you and your family would need, can we not simply store that much water and only refill it the next day, the old water can surely be used for flushing if you do not want to have a bath or wash you clothes in it. No, that will not do, you have to empty all the buckets and all the drums, wash them and again fill with water.
Water is a renewable natural resource and yet is in finite quantity, we are privileged if we do not suffer from water scarcity, which is a miracle considering that our country does not do very well when it comes to this resource:
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And if we do have a duty to our fellow citizens, to travel miles to obtain a single glass of drinking water, not water for pools or lawns, not for showers and washing, not for pouring it down the drain, for drinking, just one glass. Some do not even have that chance.
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Maybe if all of us save a glass a day, one person somewhere would have a glass to drink. Is it too much to ask for?
