All hopes on the youth to protect the environment

KARACHI:

When Simi Kamal came on stage at an Earth Day seminar on Wednesday, she threw something in the air. “That was the earth that I just threw at you,” she told the crowd. “Now it is your responsibility to take care of it.”

Kamal, an academic committee member of Hisaar Foundation, admitted that the previous generation has destroyed it the past 30 to 40 years. The fact that the youth today is more concerned about the environment gained more credence when the auditorium at Federation House hardly managed to accommodate the eager youngsters who had gathered to attend the seminar, titled ‘It’s our Turn to Lead’. Hisaar, an NGO working towards a better environment, collaborated with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Kamal asked the audience what they were doing to save the world and their replies surprised her. A girl told her how she and her teachers separate biodegradable and non-biodegradable trash, and try to make use of the non-biodegradable items. Another young man pointed out how he made sure the tap was closed while he was brushing his teeth.



It is a crime to have lawns inside your home in a city where people hardly have access to drinking water, claimed Kamal, adding that she does not have one in her house. “Trees should be planted in pots,” she said, adding that the suction pumps should also be banned in homes. “It sucks as much water as it can, leaving the other houses of the locality with no water.”

She suggested the audience to avoid using showers when taking a bath. “Use buckets,” she advised. “It consumes one quarter of the water as compared to a shower.”

Even the water that comes out of the air-conditioner can be saved and consumed, she pointed out. “If your air-conditioner runs eight hours a day between the months of April and October in Karachi, it produces 15 litres of water.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2015.