The Wake-up call : Change starts with you

By Rtr. Dilhan Jayasinghe 

Edited by Rtr. Pevindra Ratnayake 

“The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard”.

                                                                                                -Gaylord Nelson

Even though humans are part of the natural world just like all other living beings, people often try to define and understand human activities as a separate category from other natural phenomena. This itself has led to a deviation of human lifestyles from their natural practices. 

People depend on the environment for food, water, timber and natural gases etc. The demand for natural resources has been increasing since the Industrial Revolution as the human population continues to increase exponentially. Hence, we tend to modify and change nature and in turn natural phenomena, in order to fulfil not just our needs but our greed in this competitive world. These modifications have both negative and positive impacts on our surroundings but the majority have been identified to cause adverse effects on the environment.

Nature is vandalized by humans & a lot of natural resources are taken for granted.  As a consequence, nature has begun to respond to them. Though humans cannot live without nature, nature can survive without humans. Therefore, as a community, we should adopt more sustainable development methods, which will benefit the human community as well as nature and all its components in the long run. However, as individuals, there are many ways that we can contribute to a sustainable lifestyle. This series of articles will be your guide to help transform your current lifestyle into a greener and sustainable lifestyle.

 Finally, it is important to remember that a “single grain of rice can tip the scale” What you do, how you live and the choices you make have an impact on this earth more than you can comprehend. Never doubt the power of a thoughtful, committed citizen as all the change that has been brought upon this earth has always started with just one man, one choice and one idea.