Eco - Warrior For Future

Shweta dozed off in her father’s car. Suddenly, she found herself in a strange place where all she could see were tall grey buildings and not a single living soul. Not even humans! The alleys were dingy, the air was grey with a heavy foul smell. Shweta ran from home to home, banging doors, calling for help, but no one answered. She felt thirsty but there was no water to drink. It was a dead neighborhood, a dead planet. She saw blades of a giant fan rotating somewhere. It seemed to say something again and again. ‘As you sow, so shall you reap….as you sow, so shall you reap…..’. “Wake up Shweta, there is something you have to see”, Dad’s voice trailed from somewhere far. Shweta woke up with a start to be dazzled almost immediately. “Are those wind mills I see?” She answered the question herself. “Yes, yes, they are wind mills! Her excitement knew no bounds. She ran as fast as she could towards the green pasture. She was out of her nightmarish city. The green earth was real. It felt wonderful to breathe the cool, fresh air.”What you see here is a source of sustainable energy”, dad said.

Shweta now recalled all the discussions she had about sustainable development with her science teacher Ms Latha. Our country has 18 percent of the worlds population but only 2 percent of the worlds land. And for this 1 billion population there is just 4 percent fresh water. Shweta wondered, “How can we become a super duper developing country, if these development activities spoil nature and leave nothing for the future?” Shweta’s father had told her that through sustainable development and sustainable living, we can make sure that the resources provided by nature are used correctly and judiciously. That should be the goal for every individual and industry. Shweta wanted to know what sustainable development is. He had brought her here to show her exactly that. Shweta’s Mom had made a few home rules for them to save water, save electricity and fuel which she initially resented. But now when she reflected on them she smiled and told her dad, “Mom asked me to use only 2 buckets of water a day, to save water. I walked to school every day to save fuel and I have to watch TV in moderation to save electricity. That makes sense now.” Shweta’s father hadn’t liked his wife’s severe rules at first but now understood that the strictness had actually made Shweta more sensitive towards her environment. He thought it was a good idea to probe the issue further and so he brought her to this windmill farm. “Wind is a renewable natural source of energy unlike coal and petroleum that are depleting very fast. When instead of fossil fuels, industries use renewable sources like wind energy or geothermal energy which is the earth’s core energy or solar energy, they make a sustainable choice. It not only saves fossil fuels, but also causes less pollution and that in turn reduces Global warming. “So when we are heating water through our roof top solar heater, instead of electric geysor, we are saving fossil fuels too,” Shweta said. “Absolutely,” said her father, “that is why I installed one.” “Our country is relying heavily on sustainable development right now,” dad said.

“We are developing very fast but to sustain our development, we need to make sure that the natural resources like minerals, water, forest, rivers and fuel are used judiciously. You will grow up someday and I am sure you will not like to live in a city where your water usage is rationed, where you cannot even think of using electrical appliances and you can’t ride a car because there is no fuel to run it. “Mumma was right in setting home rules” Shweta said. “But I will need to make some changes when we return home dad”. Dad frowned. “The rules should be applicable for a longer time and not just for a week” Shweta said. Also, I will ask my friends to follow them as well. We all need to save our planet. There is a saying, “As you sow, so shall you reap”. If we save today, our future will be secured too. “Isn’t that what sustainable development means.. dad ? - to make the future better by saving today?” Dad smiled and hugged his daughter. She seemed to have grown taller in just one day.