Let us all be contributors in conservation

This paper recently featured two environment-related news reports. A senior environment journalist with this paper won a coveted press award for his detailed reportage on Aarey Milk Colony. He has also reported extensively about Tigress T1 (Avni) from Yavatmal who was shot dead in a blaze of controversy. Several other eco reports have thrown light on the man-animal conflict and co-existence.

Yet another report cited how a Mumbai family has constructed a one-storey home in Alibag using six shipping containers. Shunning the conventional brick 'n' mortar home and incorporating rainwater harvesting within the home to lessen the carbon footprint, this family is living the go green mantra.

While all of us may not have the bandwidth or the opportunities to do what these green warriors have done, we have in our own small way the ability to impact the earth and take eco measures. We can for instance reduce plastic bag usage. We have the ability to tweet to civic authorities on help lines if we see choked drains, especially during this season.

We can educate ourselves about rainwater harvesting and see if this can be incorporated in our housing societies. This is of course, besides other water saving initiatives we can undertake at our homes. Rainwater harvesting sounds intimidating and therefore daunting to many. With some learning and awareness, it may not be so and in fact, can be implemented by us in an urban milieu. Changes can be as small as eating lower on the food chain as often as we can, to exchange and action on eco-awareness. Mumbai especially, needs all of us to be conscious and put in sustainable safeguards wherever and whenever we can. With the city's constant push and pull against development and nature, let us save and back the latter as much as we can.

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