18th April 2016
Arvind and I recently read about the 19 year old who is solving the world’s ocean pollution crisis. Boyan Slat is a Dutch engineering student single handedly developing the gyers (floating booms and processing platforms) which would potentially clean up 20 billion tonnes of plastic from the world's oceans; the plastic which kills millions of animals and damages thousands of cargo vessels every year. Arvind stressed on the fact that he was 19 – he was exceptionally impressed by a kid who showed that much drive, determination and hard work at such a young age.
For me, regardless of his age, this was so commendable. The age didn’t matter to me, infact I disagreed with Arvind, and mentioned how adults have it harder to do something for the greater good. Not only are they in a pathetic zone (they have full time jobs!), they also have responsibilities towards their families and are less imaginative and courageous than the youth since they are aware of the hindrances like the corruption of the government and lack of support from other bodies.
Arvind called these ‘excuses’. It hurt me quite deeply, as I felt like I was defending myself along with the other lazy adults. He mentioned how we are trying to change the animation industry in India by starting Totem – since it was something that everyone complains about, and it was something that mattered to us deeply. But we always think of things beyond Totem – things which need immediate attention like global warming, rising carbon levels, animal cruelty and abuse, poverty, failure of forest conservation and all kinds of waste and pollution caused by man.
After much thought and contemplation in solitude, I realized I really was making excuses. There’s no excuse for not fighting for things you truly believe in. There's no relative morality. For nature, for animals, for the welfare of all kinds. I need to take a drastic step to changing the way I live and how I contribute to these severe life threatening and destructive issues. We all do.
I started my research and found some truly inspirational people who I think we all need to listen to and help in their efforts to change the world for the better. These people have truly motivated me to change and take out the time and effort to improve. Here are some of those admirable people.
Lauren Singer - Environmentalist living a zero-waste lifestyle in NY
Boyan Slat - Engineer solving ocean-pollution
Tshering Tobgay - Prime Minister of the ONLY carbon negative country in the world (Bhutan)
Daily Dump - an Indian (Bangalore-based) oranganization promoting and educating about responsible garbage segregation and disposal, and it's benefits to individuals and the world.
There are many other inspirational people working towards such global causes, but these are the few who have deeply inspired me to do something!
I am taking the first few steps to solving the pollution and garbage segregation and disposal issue in our country, especially the cities which generate the maximum waste. A majority of people are aware, but not conscious of the waste situation. I am going to start waste segregation, composting of wet waste, recycling of dry waste and minimize my consumption of packaged products to discourage plastic use.
Through this initiative, I would like to influence and urge you all to make these tiny steps that would help in a big way. I am going to share my progress and relevant helpful info regarding the same. I would love to hear if and how these efforts are working for you guys as well! Let’s be more responsible and try to undo the shit we’ve already done, one step at a time.
With lots of love,
Nikhita
Arvind and I recently read about the 19 year old who is solving the world’s ocean pollution crisis. Boyan Slat is a Dutch engineering student single handedly developing the gyers (floating booms and processing platforms) which would potentially clean up 20 billion tonnes of plastic from the world's oceans; the plastic which kills millions of animals and damages thousands of cargo vessels every year. Arvind stressed on the fact that he was 19 – he was exceptionally impressed by a kid who showed that much drive, determination and hard work at such a young age.
For me, regardless of his age, this was so commendable. The age didn’t matter to me, infact I disagreed with Arvind, and mentioned how adults have it harder to do something for the greater good. Not only are they in a pathetic zone (they have full time jobs!), they also have responsibilities towards their families and are less imaginative and courageous than the youth since they are aware of the hindrances like the corruption of the government and lack of support from other bodies.
Arvind called these ‘excuses’. It hurt me quite deeply, as I felt like I was defending myself along with the other lazy adults. He mentioned how we are trying to change the animation industry in India by starting Totem – since it was something that everyone complains about, and it was something that mattered to us deeply. But we always think of things beyond Totem – things which need immediate attention like global warming, rising carbon levels, animal cruelty and abuse, poverty, failure of forest conservation and all kinds of waste and pollution caused by man.
After much thought and contemplation in solitude, I realized I really was making excuses. There’s no excuse for not fighting for things you truly believe in. There's no relative morality. For nature, for animals, for the welfare of all kinds. I need to take a drastic step to changing the way I live and how I contribute to these severe life threatening and destructive issues. We all do.
I started my research and found some truly inspirational people who I think we all need to listen to and help in their efforts to change the world for the better. These people have truly motivated me to change and take out the time and effort to improve. Here are some of those admirable people.
Lauren Singer - Environmentalist living a zero-waste lifestyle in NY
Boyan Slat - Engineer solving ocean-pollution
Tshering Tobgay - Prime Minister of the ONLY carbon negative country in the world (Bhutan)
Daily Dump - an Indian (Bangalore-based) oranganization promoting and educating about responsible garbage segregation and disposal, and it's benefits to individuals and the world.
There are many other inspirational people working towards such global causes, but these are the few who have deeply inspired me to do something!
 |
| Daily Dump's lovely terracotta compost-ers. |
Through this initiative, I would like to influence and urge you all to make these tiny steps that would help in a big way. I am going to share my progress and relevant helpful info regarding the same. I would love to hear if and how these efforts are working for you guys as well! Let’s be more responsible and try to undo the shit we’ve already done, one step at a time.
With lots of love,
Nikhita
Comments
Best wishes for the initiative.
:)
:)