PM Modi Wins UN's Highest Environment Award - How Can We Contribute?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have been chosen to be conferred with UN's highest environmental honour - 'Champions of the Earth' award.

They have been chosen in the Policy Leadership category for their remarkable contribution towards environment through International Solar Alliance (ISA) and promoting new levels of cooperation on environmental action.

Governments of various countries, global ambassadors and social activists have been appealing the world to do their bit for saving the environment but very little awareness has been seen among people. As per a survey conducted by World Health Organisation (WHO), over 12.6 million people lose their lives due to environmental diseases and the numbers are increasing consistently.

There are various causes which add to deterioration of the environment. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Air and sound pollutions
• Hazardous waste
• Volatile organic compound
• Plastic pollution
• Organic dust toxic syndrome
• Persistent organic pollutants
• Heavy metals
• Mercury poisoning
• Noxious gases including nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and sulphuretted hydrogen

It is a well-known fact that poor or unhealthy environment can lead to numerous life-threatening diseases. These diseases include:

• Stroke
• Ischaemic heart disease
• Cancers
• Chronic Respiratory Diseases
• Diarrhoeal Diseases
• Respiratory Infections
• Neonatal Conditions
• Malaria
• Asthma
• Smoking-related diseases
• Diseases caused by toxic or irritant chemicals in the environment
• Diseases caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation

Environmental issues can also lead to mental disorders like anxiety, stress, bipolar disorder and more.

How can we prevent these environmental diseases?

We can prevent these diseases by learning not to spread any type of pollution and teaching our coming generations to follow these rules of environment.

Here are some other ways which can help in preventing environmental pollution:

• Completely quitting the use of plastic
• Saving water
• Controlling noise pollution
• Trying to use public transport as much as possible
• Not wasting a single bite of food
• Managing hazardous materials effectively
• Proper solid waste management
• Planting as many trees as possible
• Making adequate arrangements for vector control
• Trying to keep your home, office and surroundings as clean as possible

Here are some ways which can help in keeping yourself safe from environmental pollution:

• Wearing a mask whenever outside the house
• Trying to stay away from traffic as much as possible
• Not having much exposure to sun rays
• Installing air purifiers at home
• Planting trees in the garden area

Not only our Prime Minister but each and every one of us will have to contribute our part to make the environment healthy, otherwise soon the only green planet in the universe will also become an uninhabitable planet.