Every year, on June 5, we celebrate World Environment Day. Human beings are sensitising to the environment and its magnanimity, albeit slower than we should. Whether we sustain, continue a struggle to survive, or we perish on this planet, depends on our alliance with our environment.
What is the environment? This is the first in a series of blogs to know the environment, our relation with it and our ways in it.
I randomly asked a few friends to tell me what comes to their mind when they hear the word ‘environment’. The responses, quoted below, are al-right and a reminder that the environment is all-inclusive, even of our sentiment that it is at risk and we must save it.
Here are the responses:
- For the longest time, I think of the environment in terms of the Ben King song Spanish Harlem’s line, ‘Its growing in the street right up through the concrete’
- Our precious surrounding which is rapidly being destroyed
- Natures gift to humans that helps in nourishing life on earth
- What I am surrounded by
- Man-made activities such as deforestation, mining, pollution and more which are harming the nature- forests, rivers, and marine ecosystems and the manner in which it is reflected in climate change.. temperature rise and more
- It’s terrible in India, please save it!
- High time we start taking our environment seriously rather than taking it for granted
- My environment encompasses not just physical surroundings but social and cultural aspects too that nurtures my wellbeing and development
- Environment is everyone and everything that surrounds us
- The aura and air around us, thus including other creatures, flora, fauna, built and unbuilt too!
- The first thing that comes to mind are trees and forests..
- A sum total of stimulation which one receives from conception until death.
Natural elements have dominated our perception of the environment. With climate change taking effect, the focus of the world has shifted to discussions on sustainability and the loss of or threat to natural elements. Without doubt, more of us understand that the environment is more than just air, water and pollution. There is greater awareness that the built environment is encroaching on the natural and better awareness that other elements including the social, cultural and psychological are a part of the environment. We constantly attempt to comprehend the classifications such as racist environments, gendered environments, environmental classism, discriminatory environments to name some. Wonder how these are about our survival? Me too! As much as we know about the environment, and every day we seem to know more than we did yesterday, our ways are rather wrangling than in sync with it. Few people and fewer philosophies acknowledge in their ways that the environment is everything including us and there is a need to live in harmony with it.
As a species, humans have this irrepressible, almost fractious, urge to control the environment. We all know that whatever the environment is, it needs to be conserved. The irony is that while on the one hand conversations are about conservation, human endeavour on the other hand, almost naturally, is all about overpowering the environment. Perhaps, if we make a conscious attempt to accept the fact that we are the environment of a million and more species on the planet, including our own, we would conform than control? Maybe. OK, maybe not. It is still worth exploring.
In subsequent blogs, I will write about what I learn and will appreciate if any of you readers have ideas that we can explore together! Thank you for chiming in with your first thoughts about the environment. Tell me more, challenge me some. This world environment day, or on another day, what do you think we need to learn and do. I look forward to sharing this space with you. If the comment box doesn’t work, email me or message me. You know how to get a hold of me. So long!
