Earth is a beautiful living planet in the Universe and the

common habitat of more than 7 billion human population

and millions of species of biodiversity. Our Earth
provides us with food, shelter and most of our
requirements.

Despite unavoidable free services provided by the earth to

humans, we are not able to pay off her kindness to us.
Rather we humans are being cruel to our Earth with our
selfish activities. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Earth provides
enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s
greed.”

Every day we produce tons of degradable and non-

degradable waste, and throw it anywhere recklessly.
Smoke and harmful gases from our homes, vehicles and
industries are suffocating her. We are disposing of dirty
sewage, drainage and even chemicals recklessly, although
we know that more than 7 billion humans, along with all
plants and animals in this world, rely on water for their
lives. If we aren’t concentrating on saving those water
resources, then in near future water may be as expensive
as PETROL or one-day people may die due to thirst.
Despite huge noise by our jumbo population itself, we use
loudspeakers for our entertainment & industries, airplanes
or other noisy vehicles for our luxury. We destroy forests
for agriculture & settlement. We build huge buildings,
roads & factories beyond her carrying capacity. The
establishment of nuclear reactors vastly affects the
environment & human lives.

Harmful gases emitted by ACs, refrigerators, industries &

vehicles are depleting ozone layer & increasing our
exposure to very harmful UV rays of sun leading us
towards various skin diseases, eye cataract & even cancer.
Wastes like plastics & other non-degradable wastes like
insecticides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers etc. highly
degrade soil quality & decrease agricultural products &
kills soil microorganisms & decomposers. Water
pollution increases the risk of water-borne diseases like
cholera, dysentery etc. and lead & arsenic highly degrade
our mental ability & causes the extinction of many
aquatic animals. Air pollution causes airborne diseases
like asthma in humans & animals and disturbs whole
metabolism process in plants. Noise pollution causes
insomnia & heart diseases in humans. Deforestation is
leading to natural calamities like floods, soil erosion etc,
temperature increase and changed rainfall distribution,
drought, loss of valuable biodiversity, decreased oxygen
density etc. The burning issues in the world at present are
“Climate Change & Greenhouse Effect”.

Solutions to environmental problems are not impossible

for superior creatures like humans, if they are committed.
As a youth & global citizen, I too have the responsibilities
to my mother earth. My first role in nature is to reduce my
own carbon footprint via eco-friendly activities. Then, I
can form a GREEN ORGANIZATION along with some
other energetic youths to raise awareness in my peer
circle, neighbourhood & the community about
environment sanitation by changing degradable wastes
into compost manure & by 3R principle (reduce, reuse &
recycle) of non-degradable wastes. I can create workshops
with local people that air pollution can be controlled by
replacing household energy sources like coal, firewood
etc. by biogas, electricity or solar energy & we can
negotiate with factory owners & vehicle owners to use
dust & smoke purification systems in industries &
vehicles & we can encourage them to use solar-energy
based industries & vehicles.

We can organize environment sanitation programs &

afforestation programs in barren lands. We youths can
appeal the government to bring eco-friendly development
policies & proper planning of cities. We can organize
orientation programs about climate change, its causes, and
effects & mitigation measures in schools & colleges to
induce other youths towards conservation of nature.
Youths can initiate the concept of “Payment of Ecosystem
services (PES)” in society & emphasize homestay tourism
in the villages. As a student of the forestry sector, I have
the responsibility to aware local people about the
importance of forests & effects of deforestation along
with the new concept of carbon trade via REDD++
programs.

Thus, for the sustainability of our planet, I promise to

fulfil my responsibilities towards Mother Nature as a
global citizen so as to protect my living planet from
deterioration & to handover clean & green planet to our
future generations. Maybe our single efforts may seem
small but if thousands of youths can unite together
towards nature conservation then one day our efforts will
be a drastic step to protect our motherland Earth from
destruction.

A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right

person at the right time and at the right place, and when we
expect nothing in return”

“Ether, air, fire, water, earth,

planets, all creatures, directions,
trees and plants, rivers and seas,
they are all organs of God’s body.
Remembering this a devotee
respects all species.”
This passage is from the Srimad Bhagavatam
(2.2.41), echoes the passage above.
Everything in the world is part of one sacred
unity. The elements, the forces in the universe,
all creatures, all things living and unliving, are
ultimately part of one divinity. Poetically, one
body, God’s body. We should recognize and
honor this in everything we experience in life.
We are part of this, not separate from this
divinity in any way. It is our very essence.