The Context

I am going to be promoted to Junior High School by April 2023. Since the academic year 2020-21, I have been quite active in community action and service and have meaningfully engaged in National and International forums around the issues of adolescent health and wellbeing. I participated in both classroom-based and virtual activities related to spreading awareness on myriad issues affecting our life and living and passionately advocated for amplifying the voices of very young adolescents (10-14 years) in particular, wherever and whenever possible. This article is a personal reflection of my views based on my lived experiences and learnings over the last few years.

Advocacy for Sustainable Environment as a duty

The conservation of our environment and engaging with local communities for spreading awareness on environmental issues in our local communities is our moral, ethical and social duty. We must remain cautious, sensitive and aware about global, regional and local environmental issues that are affecting our lives and our planet or posing challenges to sustainability of future generations. We need to act locally to be a part of the solution. Further, I have understood that environmental science should not remain as a separate standalone subject like other subjects in school curriculum. We must understand the underlying unity in diversity in anything we study in school or experience outside school. Through our concerted efforts at individual and organizational level and through advocacy for our rights for peaceful coexistence, we should put our learnings in practice. We may design our own social science or environmental science practicum through meaningful engagement in civic action. We must introspect our thoughts and actions, note down our mistakes and take remedial actions. We also need to openly express verbally or through articles. This is exactly what I am doing here.

Environmental sustainability as a part and parcel of our culture and education

It has always been emphasized through our scriptures, our cultural traditions, science, mathematics, performing arts, yoga, indigenous medicine, folk medicine etc. In fact, globally, even in religious practices we find cues to the significance given to environmental preservation, living in harmony with nature and to worship various animate and inanimate objects in our environment such as planet earth, sun, moon, other planets, stars. In fact, philosophically, we refer the term environment in the context of both internal and external environment. Sustainability of internal environment is ensured through right education, thoughts, ideation, attitude of surrender to God, servant leadership cultivated through precepts and practices of Yoga. Likewise, sustainability of external environment is ensured by correct actions and behaviour building on the principle of peaceful co-existence sourced from the precept of 'Vasudev Kutumbakam' (this whole world is a family) that encompasses all members of mother nature that is living or non-living. Our names are also sometimes chosen based on synonyms of names of planets, animals, birds, ether, air, fire, water and earth. Our seers have thus encouraged us to think and act as a global citizen. We have an obligation to live in harmony with nature.

Current Discourses around Environmental Concerns

From the perspective of current discussions and news around environment, I have learnt that though environment is an essential part of our lives but now-a-days, we are witnessing over-exploitation of natural resources largely because of uncontrolled population explosion, industrialization, urbanization, human greed and unending desires to meet materialistic needs. This has led to extensive & uncontrolled deforestation and degradation of our environment. Environment related issues like floods, soil erosion, extinction of flora and fauna, global warming, conversion of croplands and grasslands into barren lands, etc. are all man-made disasters. Hence, there is an imminent need to ‘Save trees and Save Environment’ to prevent all these man-made disasters.

Recommendation for Adolescents and Young People for Environmental Activism

We must admit that trees play an important role in our lives. We must actively participate & contribute to conserve our environment for sustainable development. We must carry forward the work of great environmentalists like Late Shri Sundar Lal Bahuguna, who initiated ‘Chipko movement’ in 1973 in India.

As children, we can do many things. Let us plant more and more trees. Let us gift plant saplings to friends on occasions like birthdays etc. Let us learn more about horticulture and medicinal plants. Let us learn more about forest ecosystems, terrace gardens, etc.  

Our guiding principle should be the famous quote of Bryce Nelson that 'people who will not sustain trees will soon live in a world that will not sustain people'.