Earth Hour: Most citizens are only observers, not participants

Observing Earth Hour around the globe has become more of a ritual than anything else and has lost its value. It’s like the warning on a cigarette packet. Everybody knows the effects of smoking, but smokers don’t simply quit the habit because of the message.

With campaigns like the Earth Hour, the ritual is useful, but it attracts only first-time participants and those who are new to the concept. These events are grim reminders that most citizens are only observers and not participants in mitigating environmental degradation.

Those who lack clarity of thought and don’t understand the problems arising from global warming and climate change, don’t care to be part of the change needed. Take the butterfly effect in physics. It says if a butterfly flutters its wings in New York, there could be a tornado in Japan. So we all need to understand that everything we do — our daily habits and lifestyle — has an impact on some part of the world. But sadly, all of us have failed to accept the urgency of conserving our resources.

All you have to do is drive from Mekhri Circle to the airport in the evenings to see the kind of energy resources going to waste in our city. Do we have the luxury of illuminating so many hoardings and wasting so much energy? We certainly don’t. It’s time our kids are taught early on about the need to conserve our resources as they are only limited and there are hundreds of more generations to come. For each one of us conserving energy should become a part of our daily lives, because if it doesn’t, we will only go further downhill.
(The writer is energy expert and member, FKCCI)