What do you mean when we talk about the environment? In physical terms it is the surrounding around us. It is basically the air that we breath, the land that we live on (soil forest etc.), the water that is like our life line and the interactions between them. We are totally dependent on the environment and the surrounding around us. If we have a good environment with clean air, water and fertile soil and land around us, it directly contributes to our healthy living and vice versa. Therefore, for a healthy living, we need to fully protect our environment.
However, with tour current trend of living unsustainably to fulfill our desires, we are exploiting our natural resources such as our forests, water resources thus disturbing the ecology and the environment. If we live on with the “Business as Usual” scenario, it is expected that other environmental issues will be compounded, such as air and water pollution. It seems certain that the future is bleak for our world’s natural resources and environments. Around the globe, people are facing various kinds of water-related issues, from water scarcity to floods. In the midst of fulfilling consumption demands, we humans have appropriated natural resources such as land, water, air and forests, thus transforming natural ecosystems; replenishment needs for the nonhuman environment have been overlooked, causing issues like environmental degradation and ecological disruption. Activities such as large-scale mining, urbanization and agriculture have led to the disappearance of forests, and along with these forests, global water sources have disappeared, resulting in the drying up of many rivers and lakes.
All these are also contributing to the compounding impact of climate change with the increase in greenhouse gas.
The environment and the climate need to be fully protected. This can only be achieved if we open ourselves to a sustainable life. Our environment is also spiritually connected with us. It is like the law of Karma. If we do good to our environment, the environment will take care of us. For example, if we plant trees and do not cut down our forests, we will be blessed with clean air and clean water with clean surrounding. Of course, we have to be also mindful of how we take care of our wastes. On the other hand, if we pollute our environment by exploiting our forests, water resources and pollute the air by industrialization and also pollute our water resources by using pesticides and chemicals, we ourselves will suffer from diseases through pollution.
Therefore, environment is not a rocket science. Taking care of it is a basic way of living our lives in a mindful way.