INTRODUCTION
‘Living in harmony with nature’ is not new to us. Sustainable living has always been an integral part of India’s tradition and culture. It has been integrated with our long-lasting traditions and practices, customs, art and crafts, festivals, food, beliefs, rituals and folklore. Ingrained within us is the philosophy that ‘entire natural world be in harmony’ which is reflected in the famous phrase in Sanskrit ‘Vasudhaiv kutumbakam’ that means “the entire earth is one family”. The phrase is mentioned in ‘Mahaupanishad’, that is probably a part of the ancient Indian text, Atharva Veda.
In Class IX we have already learnt about some natural resources like soil, air and water and how various components are cycled over and over again in nature. Also, we learnt in the previous chapter about the pollution of these resources because of some of our activities. In this chapter, we shall look at some of our resources and how we are using them. Maybe we should also think about how we ought to be using our resources so as to sustain them and conserve our environment. We shall be looking at our natural resources like forests, wildlife, water, coal and petroleum and see what are the issues at stake in deciding how these resources are to be managed for sustainable development along with the input from our traditional practices.
We often hear or read about environmental problems. These are often global-level problems and we feel helpless to bring any change. There are international laws and regulations, and then there are our own national laws and acts for environmental protection. There are also national and international organisations working towards protecting our environment.
Activity 16.1:
* Find out about the international norms to regulate the emission of carbon dioxide.
* Have a discussion in class about how we can contribute towards meeting those norms.
Activity 16.2:
* There are a number of organisations that seek to spread awareness about our environment and promote activities and attitudes that lead to the conservation of our environment and natural resources. Find out about the organisation(s) active in your neighbourhood/ village/town/city.
* Find out how you can contribute towards the same cause.
Awareness about the problems caused by unthinkingly exploiting our resources has been a fairly recent phenomenon in our society. And once this awareness rises, some action is usually taken. You must have heard about the Ganga Action Plan. This multi-crore project came about in 1985 because the quality of the water in the Ganga was very poor. Coliform is a group of bacteria, found in human intestines, whose presence in water indicates contamination by disease-causing microorganisms.
Figure 16.1: Total coliform count levels in the Ganga
As you can see, there are some measurable factors which are used to quantify pollution or the quality of the water that we use for various activities. Some of the pollutants are harmful even when present in very small quantities and we require sophisticated equipment to measure them. But as we learnt in Chapter 2, the pH of water is something that can easily be checked using a universal indicator.
Pollution of the Ganga
The Ganga runs its course of over 2500 km from Gangotri in the Himalayas to Ganga Sagar in the Bay of Bengal. It is being turned into a drain by more than a hundred towns and cities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal that pour their garbage and excreta into it. Largely untreated sewage is dumped into the Ganges every day. In addition, think of the pollution caused by other human activities like bathing, washing of clothes and immersion of ashes or unburnt corpses. And then, industries contribute chemical effluents to the Ganga’s pollution load and the toxicity kills fish in large sections of the river. Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission approved as a Flagship Programme by the Union Government in June 2014. It was launched to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution conservation and rejuvenation of River Ganga. The National Mission for Clean Ganga is the implementation wing set up in October, 2016
Activity 16.3:
* Check the pH of the water supplied to your house using a universal indicator or litmus paper.
* Also check the pH of the water in the local water body (pond, river, lake, stream).
* Can you say whether the water is polluted or not on the basis of your observations?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
R 5 PRINCIPLE
We need not feel powerless or overwhelmed by the scale of the problems because there are many things we can do to make a difference. You must have come across the five R’s to save the environment: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle. What do they refer to?
Refuse:
This means to say No to things people offer you that you don’t need. Refuse to buy products that can harm you and the environment, say No to single-use plastic carry bags.
Reduce:
This means that you use less. You save electricity by switching off unnecessary lights and fans. You save water by repairing leaky taps. Do not waste food. Can you think of other things that you can reduce the usage of?
Reuse:
This is actually even better than recycling because the process of recycling uses some energy. In the ‘reuse’ strategy, you simply use things again and again. Instead of throwing away used envelopes, you can reverse it and use it again. The plastic bottles in which you buy various food-items like jam or pickle can be used for storing things in the kitchen. What other items can we reuse?
Repurpose:
This means when a product can no more be used for the original purpose, think carefully and use it for some other useful purpose. For example, cracked crockery, or cups with broken handles can be used to grow small plants and as feeding vessels for birds
Recycle:
This means that you collect plastic, paper, glass and metal items and recycle these materials to make required things instead of synthesising or extracting fresh plastic, paper, glass or metal. In order to recycle, we first need to segregate our wastes so that the material that can be recycled is not dumped along with other wastes. Does your village/town/ city have a mechanism in place for recycling these materials?
Even while making everyday choices, we can make the environment- friendly decisions. For doing this, we need to know more about how our choices affect the environment, these effects may be immediate or long-term or long-ranging. The concept of sustainable development encourages forms of growth that meet current basic human needs while preserving the resources for the needs of future generations. Economic development is linked to environmental conservation. Thus sustainable development implies a change in all aspects of life. It depends upon the willingness of the people to change their perceptions of the socio-economic and environmental conditions around them, and the readiness of each individual to alter their present use of natural resources.
Activity 16.4:
* Have you ever visited a town or village after a few years of absence? If so, have you noticed new roads and houses that have come up since you were there last? Where do you think the materials for making these roads and buildings have come from?
* Try and make a list of the materials and their probable sources.
* Discuss the list you have prepared with your classmates. Can you think of ways in which the use of these materials be reduced?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK