Saving the environment: The onus lies on us

People might be able to create a positive environmental impact by practicing conscious consumerism, waste reduction, recycling, supporting sustainable practices, and campaigning for environmental policy. It’s essential for fostering a healthy environment and guaranteeing sustainability for future generations. Aaradhana Shrestha from ApEx spoke to three people to find out how important it is for people to take responsibility in addressing environmental challenges, and what efforts they have made to help ensure environmental sustainability.

Soni Pokharel, 23

Environmental protection is a key responsibility of each individual. We have to be more serious about the actions we take on a regular day. Everyone is well aware of the heat waves and climate change across the world. We have all felt it. The summer has possibly been the hottest ever in Nepal. We should definitely take this as a sign for a change in our behaviors and try to reduce our carbon footprint. Replacing all plastic products with sustainable products, recycling the waste we produce inside our homes, saving electricity and water are the actions we could take. These conscious acts will definitely help save the environment in the long run. We need to do the right thing and be aware of our actions.

Yugesh Paudel, 23

Change or positive transformations in the environment often don’t demand big actions. Planting a small plant, reducing unnecessary water waste, being conscious of the food we consume, where it comes from, and not wasting the food, opting for an electric vehicle in place of petrol or diesel one—these simple mindful activities can save our environment. It’s easy to grab a bottle of a cold drink in the summer but we overlook the amount of water it requires to manufacture a bottle. We could be saving thousands of liters of water if we were a little more mindful of the things we consume.

Sneha Shrestha, 22

I care deeply about the factors that lead to environmental pollution in my community. I founded the Clean Ranibari Society which empowers women in my community to use barren land for nutrition gardening with proper waste management. My passion for environmental sustainability also led me to found and represent the startup Avani in the Hult Prize Melbourne Summit 2023 at the Melbourne Business School in Australia, which aims to solve landfill issues with mycelium products. For a long time, I, and perhaps you, have dreaded the future of our common home. But there's a chance for us to make amendments, complete our journey of impact, and live in harmony with nature. All we need is the will to do so.