Educated Fools: Just education will not change the world

We are an informed generation. Smartphone, internet, websites have enriched our lives with information. The ability to stare at a 5 inch glass screen and getting to know about what is going on in any corner of the world is astounding. Viral videos, social experiments, latest news will not change the world, whereas understanding them, questioning the motive behind them, transforming information to knowledge will enrich the world and make it a better place.

Everywhere I go, I hear people say, “What can I do, all this is way beyond my power”. Saving water, saving electricity, speaking up to wrong just around you, these are things all of us can do. We do not need a revolution for this. One can as many social campaigns on YouTube or Facebook, like/up vote them share them, but it will still not change the world, unless we apply it in our lives.

I would like to address instances of hypocrisy, disrespect to natural resources witnessed among educated individuals in our society:

Instance 1: The perennial need for ACs

Classic example of why our ozone layer is fucked-up. Let’s take the months of July-January in Mumbai. Rains begin, temperatures drop and it is pleasant. People have developed the habit of using the AC regardless of the weather. State by some of my educated friends “Dude I like to switch on the AC, use a blanket and go to sleep, it feels so cosy”. Understandably he pays the bill, his AC, and his sleep. At what cost? Let’s dig deeper into the affects:

1.       Unnecessary utilization of electricity produced using non-renewable sources of energy (over 70% of the electricity in India is produced via coal)

2.       The room gets cooler, but the outside gets hotter, excessive release of carbon dioxide, lack of trees to absorb the carbon dioxide results in global warming

Now one may reason, that it is just one house, one room. There are thousands of them, imagine the impact of those thousand homes in one city, an entire state, an entire country and then the world.

Just to add to that, how many of us switch of lights/fans of washrooms, rooms when not in use? Do you realise how much electricity you have been denying to a remote village which could get a good 6-8 hours of electricity if one small locality in Mumbai did the right thing.

Instance 2: Waste of water

This is something I remember my mom teaching me the day I started brushing my teeth by myself. Turn off the tap when not required, even while you are using it. So this is what my mom taught me, while you are brushing your teeth you do not require the water, so turn it off, and while you are cleaning up keep the tap flow slow. This is such a basic lesson; my mom did not need an MBA for that. By doing what my mom taught me a long time back, I am able to save good 2-3 litres of water while I am brushing. The same applies for activities such as washing utensils, shaving, taking a shower. The amount of water going down the drain is huge, just for one home. Imagine for a society, a locality, a city, a state, a country.

As I dwell on more of these thoughts, I remember my friend saying “Dude I am paying for it, I will use it the way I want it”. Yes agreed, you are paying by cash today, tomorrow your kids will pay for it in something money won’t be able to buy and neither will you. For all the parents, teach your kids these things, these are habits which are to be en grained at an early age.

Education, information, awareness is a waste; if you and I don’t think over the consequence. Earth is running out of time, we have already started witnessing the effects such as floods, rise in temperature, global warming, and children are born with deformities more often today.

THINK. APPLY. SPREAD THE WORD