Say Yes to A Sustainable Lifestyle With Earth5R’s “Home Equals Planet”

“The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.” — Richard Rogers

Depending on current plans it is estimated that within 12 years or less we will see a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperature and a 3 degree Celsius rise by the end of the century.

Change in average temperature of the hottest and coldest day if 1.5 and 2 degree Celsius rise seen (ipcc.ch)

These statistics are a jarring contrast to the safe standards set by the Paris Agreement of 2015 which laid down the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In Paris, it was decided by world leaders that the mechanism through which irreversible climate damage could be avoided is by limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degree Celsius by the end of the century.

This final decade is the “decade of action” and is humanity’s final chance to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals before 2030.

Earth5R’s HOME EQUALS PLANET Project is an initiative that aims to encourage people to undertake 15 actions that citizens can take on a personal level to create change. These actions are designed around our daily-life activities and are initiated in the line of sustainability. Each action is associated with the 17 SDGs that were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.

The 17 sustainable development goals (unicef.org)

The HOME EQUALS PLANET training conducted by Earth5R’s citizen volunteer Shambhavi Rathore interacted with participants who shared their current eco-friendly practices that they followed in their life. The session aimed at imparting knowledge on how the 15 actions can be adopted for a more responsible and sustainable lifestyle. Many of the trainees started executing those habits that were discussed in the training session in their day to day lives.

Earth5R’s Home Equals Planet 15 action training being conducted by citizen volunteer Shambhavi Rathore

Pallavi Nigam, one of the participants in the training session says:

Pallavi Nigam: “The training was immensely helpful in making me realise how the smallest of things are impacting the environment and contributing to climate change. One of the key things I will be inculcating in my life is to lessen the usage of single-use plastic and products that use non-recyclable packaging.

I really like the idea of a compost pit, I will start implementing that now.

Some actions that I have started performing on a daily basis after attending the training is having home cooked food and eating out or ordering in food occasionally.”

Pallavi reusing old glass bottles as plant pots and growing Karri-patta (herb) at home

“I now make it a point to use public transport wherever possible, reuse discarded glass and plastic bottles and upcycle old clothes as well.”

Pallavi has ditched plastic bags and is using cloth bags for groceries

Ayesha Agnihotri, an architecture student who is a nature lover enjoyed the training a lot and is excited to implement the 15 actions in her life.

Ayesha Agnihotri: “I think the HOME EQUALS PLANET training session was worthwhile and is extremely easy to follow. The 15 actions are tailored around our daily activities and make us release that smallest of steps count.

Some actions I would definitely like to incorporate in future are segregating my waste, growing my own kitchen garden, starting composting and upcycling old clothes.

I realised that there were many activities that I can easily start performing like spending more time in nature, reducing electricity usage, using cloth bags for purchases etc.“

Ayesha exercising (jogging) and spending time in nature

Ayesha making food at home instead of eating out or ordering in

Tanveen Kaur was also a participant in the HOME EQUALS PLANET training session and shared her experience:

Tanveen Kaur: “This training was very productive indeed. I got to learn a lot of new things like how we can actually ask the banks and financial service providers about what percentage of their funds must go into the green sector. This initiative can indeed bring about a drastic change on a large scale.

Buying goods without single use plastic packaging, walking short distances, recycling used products, repairing faulty products and not replacing them right away, growing plants in waste plastic bottles and raising herbs at my place to avoid buying them from supermarkets are some actions that I am now performing on a daily basis.”

Tanveen exercising in natural sunlight and choosing a healthier lifestyle

Instead of throwing old clothes, Tanveen and her family is upcycling them for dusting rags in the house

With the decade of action upon us, it has become imperative to consider more sustainable alternatives.

The enthusiasm and determination to act alone will help us collectively reach our goal. The actions and participation of Tanveen, Pallavi and Ayesha will inspire others also to be a part of the change.

HOME EQUALS PLANET’S 15 actions are a little step towards achieving the SDGs and tackling climate change by making more responsible and conscious choices in our lives.

To make the vision of a healthier future a reality, collective efforts are highly essential. We all need to take actions at our personal level and encourage those around us to do the same to conserve the natural resources bestowed on us.

Mother Teresa very rightly said “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

The Earth5R team would also like to appeal to all the citizens to join this movement and be a part of HOME EQUALS PLANET. To know more about Earth5R, visit their website at https://earth5r.org/.