‘Think Green to Act Green’ and ‘Grow Green to Go Green’

By: Reshma Jain

The World Environment Day is celebrated annually on June 5 to spread awareness and action for the protection of the environment. Climate change has become a global crisis and the need for action has been felt like never before. It is time we all join hands together to make conscious choices and pledge for a sustainable living. On this day, Socio Story brings to you a story which will serve as an example to choose the ‘Greener way’ and will also throw light on simple lifestyle changes that can bring a huge impact.

Born and brought up in Amritsar, Drishti Mishra Khurana is a modern-day millennial with a soul set in traditions. Like music and art, love of nature is a common language, believes Drishti who is an environment enthusiast. Under the guidance of ‘the Green Couple’ of Punjab - Mrs. Geetanjali Mehra and IRS Rohit Mehra, she discovered her interest towards the environment. Their out of the box eco-friendly initiatives and clear vision for decreasing carbon footprints and leaving ‘green imprints’ on the world has been inspiring. The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest: it is the one thing all of us share and will pass on to our next generation. 

When Drishti turned 25, she planted 25 ‘Panchvatis’ (Banyan, Peepal, Gular (fig), Pakad and Ashok). This not only benefits the environment, but is also in consonance with our religious beliefs, she shared. In 2018, Drishti’s family planted 1,800 saplings of more than 20 native varieties to create a micro jungle at their farmhouse. Drishti’s family believes in the magic of Ayurveda and has an inheritance of five generations in Ayurvedic medicines and herbs. The method is called Vruksh-ayurveda i.e native plants and the micro jungle is like a personal oxygen chamber giving a place to relax and rejuvenate.

In 2019, Drishti along with others had organised a cricket match for their employees and towards the end, made new generation bombs. This was to bring at the palm of their hand a little revolution, something that they created with their own hands and had the power to change the face of the earth. These bombs are a unique way of reforestation, made under the expertise of the green couple. They then started distributing the seed balls with every purchase at their retail store and gave guidance for throwing the seed-bombs at barren lands to increase the green cover in Punjab. 

Supporting the new innovative ideas and to bring awareness for less consumption of fast fashion products, Drishti, her husband and her siblings wore up-cycled holiday wear through Punjab’s leading designer - Farah Sanjana for a family vacation. Drishti said, “Up-cycling means to reuse discarded objects or material in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original, this is where we up cycled our dust bags into street-wear and still wear it for our family gatherings.”

Drishti also has a vertical garden outside her house and it gives the message out loud to the city of living sustainably. It’s created from reused waste plastic bottles and has saplings planted in them and it works on application of drip irrigation which is reducing 93% of water wastage. The wall stands tall to give a green welcome to the people passing by and is a constant reminder to the citizens of the city of their promise, commitment and responsibility towards Mother Earth.

Drishti, who has been awarded over 25 awards for excellence in the field of academics, theatre and art illustrations, expressed, “It all begins with small initiatives. Everyone has started understanding how our actions are impacting our future. I see a lot of youngsters and even elders making conscious decisions like saving electricity, planting more trees, car-pooling, not using plastic bottles, buying sustainable products and trying to educate others too. We're building a better world by inspiring and nurturing the environment. If all of us come together, the world can be a better place to live in.”

Drishti further shared that education is one of the best ways to bring a positive change. More the awareness, they would reflect it subconsciously. Small changes need to be done to encourage sustainable lifestyle. “Small actions can have a really big impact. I believe the future of marketing is digital media and a simple change any business owner can do is to stop investing in hoardings and pamphlets. The bills can also be sent on WhatsApp, we can go paperless. The students can also submit projects online. We can all for once stop using shower and try to get back to our roots where we can bathe with one bucket of water. We can save electricity by making sure that before leaving our premises everything unnecessary is shut. We need to create self-reliant communities based on principles of simple living.”

A few more simple ways of sustainable living include: Plastic water bottles should not be used at all; we can carry our own water bottles all the time. We must change the way we celebrate our special occasions, planting a tree on a special occasion is an amazing idea. Instead of giving flower bouquets to show love, show it with a small planter instead. Years later, this will reap its fruit for the next generation and at the same makes us conscious of our own consumption.

Drishti’s future plan is to bring awareness for Sustainable Fashion, handmade products as it’s the product of traditions while Fast Fashion is the product of greed. Let’s Reimagine, recreate and restore our planet. This World Environment Day, don’t just post on your social media, let’s keep it simple - Each one, Plant one! We need to take Ecosystem Restoration as a global mission to revive billions of hectares, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea. It’s time to make conscious decisions!