Ideologies That Make Life Less Harmful For The Environment

While we work hard to accomplish all the tasks in our day, we still live life after crossing all the hurdles. Don’t you think we should pat ourselves on the back every day, saying, “Oh! “It was a hard day, but I made it”, Are you appreciating yourself?

STOP appreciating, YES stop right now, because it is time to blame ourselves (sorry for the harsh words) instead of praising. It seems as we are the only ones to be credited for the success in our life, but there are other things that support us even without telling us. Nature is one of them.

From breakfast oatmeal to evening coffee, everything comes from nature, and you can’t live without them. We use natural resources without any gratitude, worry, or regret, but they reach us through disturbances in the environment.

What’s the point, you may ask? Should you give up oatmeal or coffee? Certainly not. Point is to live a life that supports environmental protection. Following ideologies will help you live in a way that leaves the environment less damaged, even if you enjoy coffee and oatmeal.

Veganism

Vegetarianism is popular in India, as up to 30% of Indians are vegetarian, according to a Wikipedia source, but Veganism is something different. It doesn’t only abstain one from eating meat & eggs but also restricts consuming dairy products, honey, and using leather.

There is no specific data on the number of vegans in India, but countries like Mexico, the UK, Poland, and Israel outstrip India in this race, having more than 5% population as vegans.

The question is how the vegan ideology supports the environment. The answer is the fact that the dairy industry causes greenhouse gas emissions globally at a high scale and by becoming a vegan you can reduce it.

Vegans claim that they cause less harm to the environment as compared to vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Simply put, veganism means completely surviving on plant-based produce causing less or no harm to the environment.

Minimalism

The term minimalism may be coined by the western world, but In India, it was always in our roots. The great Indian personalities from different verticals of life inspire us to live as a minimalist and the best example is Mahatma Gandhi Ji.

Minimalism is about living a simple and mindful lifestyle with subsistence stuff only, but now it is also becoming one of the best solutions to environmental problems. 

Minimalists claim that they produce less clutter that helps in reducing air and water pollution. A minimalist’s rulebook states that they buy fewer or no items that are made after harming the environment.

Paperless

This concept must be at the top because it is feasible for all, no matter where you live and who you are. If you are reading this post, it means you have a smartphone or a laptop, so you don’t need paper anymore. Knowing that we have digital notepads, we still use physical notepads.

Switch to the digital notepad and go paperless to support environmental protection. Paperless ideology reduces the environmental harm caused in many ways from tree cutting to types of environmental pollution caused by paper mills.

Sustainability

Apparel, leather bags, shoes, packaged food, and electronic devices, the list is long for the products that we daily use, and they are made after interrupting nature a lot. Some of them, like plastic bags, might bring more danger to the environment even after they are thrown out of your home.

However, these days it seems difficult to live without these items, but we can reduce their usage and replace them with sustainable substitutes to bring down the causes of environmental pollution.

Cut down the usage of automobiles and electronic devices to save energy, use jute bags instead of plastics. Your aim must be to find natural products and live a sustainable life.

Go Green

I’ve seen people making excuses like, “I don’t have a big garden to plant trees.” Before you dream of an oasis garden, let’s start from the balcony.

Green is green, no matter what its size is. Even small indoor plants like the snake plant and Aloe Vera produce a high amount of oxygen.

Grow anything in your kitchen garden, balcony garden, or anywhere else. Be it microgreens, vegetables, or decorative plants, they support the environment. Do what is feasible for you right now and plan something big for later!

Takeaway!

Before you take action, understand why the need for environmental conservation is there? Dig deeper to see how human activities cause harm to the environment and to what extent. After that, see how your life impacts the environment negatively and adopt an ideology that fits your lifestyle.

Pankaj Rai