Pollution is a Mindset that the CBSE and NCERT should address.

One day we might need gas masks to live!

The title says it all, "Pollution" is indeed, "a Mindset", an attitude and a way of thinking. This is with reference to the recent smog that engulfed the Delhi NCR, (and of course other areas) forcing schools to be shut down what with the AQI levels spiking across the 500 mark. The people of Gurgaon felt they had to do something, make their voice heard as the authorities seemed to be interested in other things, and they gathered at the Leisure Valley Park to express their concerns and anger at how the pollution was being handled.

At the gathering, a few experts explained how it was not just stubble-burning (although, undeniably, it remains one of the major reasons), that was behind the deadly smog. They spoke about how the burning of garbage was, in fact, a very important reason for the presence of smog. Strangely enough, burning of garbage seems to be the easiest way for disposing of garbage lying in front of our houses. During my morning walks, I find numerous piles of garbage burning on the way as early as 5:45 a.m. These piles include plastic, paper, and many other substances which let off noxious fumes besides the dense smoke given off by piles of leaves. It is sadly deeply ingrained in the mindset of people that consigning garbage to the flames is the easiest way of solving problems. The message that even burning leaves releases the carbon dioxide trapped them into the atmosphere does not seem to have reached most of the people living in the country. During the winters it is common to see people lighting discarded tyres and plastics to warm themselves in. The fumes and gases coming out of burning tyres and plastics are so nauseating and yet you find scores of such fires throughout the country. Somehow, the burning of piles of twigs, leaves, wood, and tyres seems to have become an institution for socialising.

The presence of stinking garbage left untended is again a cause for concern. How then do you condemn the burning of garbage knowing very well that stinking and rotting garbage also releases noxious fumes, methane thrown in? That I guess is another Mindset problem. First and foremost, the segregation of waste starts at home. Bio-degradable waste should be separated from non-biodegradable waste. Bio-degradable waste should be disposed of in green-coloured garbage bins while the non-biodegradable waste is put into the blue coloured bins. Well, most of us don't do it. We lump the bio-degradable waste with the non-biodegradable waste. Waste management is one of the most important mindsets of people living in advanced societies. In fact, Waste Management is an important science that can promote and protect not just healthy lives but also sustainable development. Garbology, as this science is concerned, is one of the most important revenue-earning projects in the 21st century. Garbage is gold and yet we treat it like rubbish! The methane released from decomposing biodegradable waste can be used to produce electricity. Rare metals can be extracted from E-waste and re-used. Paper and rags can be recycled to make paper, while plastic can be used to make roads. Garbology can be a multi-million dollar industry and it requires people with the right mindset to understand this. It is only when people see "financial gain" in processing and recycling garbage that we will begin to see fewer piles of stinking garbage all over the city.

Quite a few people will disagree with the idea of pollution being more of an attitudinal problem than a physical problem! One might state that it is easy enough to rant and scream about stubble-burning, without actually taking any action to prevent it, which, I agree, is a fact! We often turn a blind eye towards such instances believing it to be 'another's problem'. Today, unfortunately, air pollution in Delhi NCR is because most of us have this attitude. Attitudes, however, can be changed through education, but to do so we need to have a specific curriculum that addresses the issue. Environmental Sciences (E.V.S.) should be taught as a separate subject and not, "infused" in the NCERT syllabus. In fact, this should be taught as the General Studies paper at the senior levels and the marks should be counted even at the Board levels. It is only if we take up the whole subject seriously that we can hope to have a younger generation that is more aware of the environmental issues than we are.

All might not be lost, however! If all schools like mine could attempt to develop a culture of respect for the environment, and awareness of what each one of us needs to do as stakeholders, then surely, things will change! It all begins with telling students to leave no trace, in other words not to litter or drop leftovers from meals, wrappers and scraps of paper. The poster, a photograph of which I have posted above was made by students of the middle program and it very clearly describes the process for making our environment liveable. They say charity begins at home, I would say that awareness about the environment starts from school!