Shivamogga: World Environment Day will be worth, if we save our environment, including animal-bird-forest, with love and care and give it to the next generation. So let us resolve in this regard today itself,” said MLA from Tirthahalli assembly constituency Araga Jnanendra.
He was speaking after inaugurating the World Environment Day programme organised jointly by the District Administration, District Legal Services Authority, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India Bengaluru and Forest Department Shimoga, at elephant camp in Sakrebailu.
We are celebrating this year’s Environment Day under the theme ‘Get Rid of Plastic Pollution’. The use of plastic is dangerous for us. Even in times when there was no plastic, we lived peacefully. Let’s resolve now not to use plastic which is deadly,” he said.
Remember that nature fulfills our desires, not greed, and we need to be conscious and should take care of the environment. The evergreen forest in the district is getting lost. The temperature is rising. So we must act with care to save the environment that protects all of us. Every drop of water is like a drop of blood in our body. It has to be preserved. Let us take a pledge to protect the environment by preventing all forms of pollution, including plastic,” he said.
Environmentalist B.M. Kumaraswamy said, “In just 120 years since the industrial revolution started, we can see how much damage has been done to the environment. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, western Europe and the United States used coal and petroleum in abundance, leading to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and environmental destruction.
For the first time in 1972, the United Nations held a global conference on environmental protection in Stockholm on June 5. World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year.
Plastic pollution is one of the thousands of pollutants. Although there are many uses of plastic, it is equally dangerous. Plastic, especially single-use plastic, is very dangerous. Since plastic is not biodegradable like other organic materials, it has been causing damage to the environment as microplastic particles for thousands of years, entering the environment, in the air we breathe.it is killing the earth’s microorganisms.
It is joining the oceans and damaging the aquatic chain through ocean pollution. According to the 1922 UNO report, 430 million tonnes of plastic is produced in the world every year. Of this, 51 per cent is in Asia and 71 per cent in China. 80 lakh tonnes of plastic is entering the ocean.
Single-use plastic is our biggest enemy and the plastic we throw away causes pollution for thousands of years. Of the 35 lakh tonnes of plastic waste produced annually, 68 per cent is single-use plastic.
One of the biggest reasons for single-use plastic pollution is the widespread growth of the single-use water bottle in the market, In wedding houses, thousands of water bottles are being used and thrown into the heap. Though the central government had banned 19 types of single-use plastic in July 2022, its implementation has failed. Because we are responsible for plastic pollution. The solution is also in our hands and everyone, including the youth and students, should take a decision that they will no longer use single-use plastic like plastic covers, straws, etc.
At the event, three elephants, including two elephant cubs and one elephant from the elephant camp, were named Krishna, Abhimanyu and Dhruva respectively in the presence of the MLAs.
The cleanliness drive was carried out from 8.30 am to 9 am at the elephant camp in Sakrebailu. Later, a tree plantation programme was organised by the Forest Department, Legal Services Authority and the Tourism Department.
