Here’s how you can celebrate World Environment Day

For many of us, ‘concern for the environment’ is that green bulb  which our schools effectively fitted at the back of our heads. It glows whenever we urinate under ‘Do not urine here’ murals or someone goes ‘thoop-splat’, staining a wall with red paan. Maybe when someone asks us to segregate, and we think that it is the most challenging thing to do, or when we walk past a water tanker which has water spilling out. This will in all likelihood continue happening, until one day the bulb fuses and the most convenient thing to do will be to point fingers in the darkness.

Every noble memory has a day of it own and on June 5th, we like to think of good old days when the city was greener and cleaner, the roads were earmarked for joy rides and lakes didn’t catch fire. On this day, the spotlight falls on activists, environmentalists, conservationists and NGOs that go around the city cleaning up, spreading awareness, talking about nature, the animals, the plants, the air, the water, and why we need to keep it clean and how we still can keep it clean despite development and urbanisation.

Bangalore’s population has increased from four million to around ten million in the past 15 years, and we need more of everything. This year on June 5th, as we celebrate World Environment Day (WED), let us think of the various things we can do to make a difference.

The theme for WED 2015 is ‘sustainable consumption’, with the slogan “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care”. Sustainability means that we need to stop thinking only of ourselves (all seven billion of us!), but also of the coming generations and more importantly of the planet itself–otherwise, there might just not be enough for everybody’s need, let alone anybody’s greed.

There’s certainly a lot we can actively do as citizens, besides parroting the 10 mark ‘save the world’ answers we once wrote in our environmental studies papers. Here are some of the events you can be a part of this weekend, in your capacity as a responsible Bangalorean. 

Celebrate with the city

Parisara Habba 2015

• Organiser: Energy and Environment Resource Group, KSPCB
• Date and time: June 5th, 6.30 am to 9.30am
• Venue: Selected Lakes, Kanteerava Stadium
• Registration & Contact: http://parisarahabba.org/index.php/cyclakethon-registration
• More information 

Celebrating Art and Natural History

• Organiser: National Gallery of Modern Art
• Date: June 5th, 6th and 7th
• Venue: National Gallery of Modern Art
• More information

SouthFire Cycling Nights

• Organiser: SouthFire Cycling
• Date and time: June 4th, 9.30 pm to June 5th, 11.45 pm
• Venue: Lakeview Milk Bar, MG Road
• More Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/715477845246790

Urban Forest Tree Planting Drive

• Organiser: Rajanet Yegneswaran Charitable Trust
• June 5th, 10.30 am at Kumbalagodu Govt School, Mysore Road
• June 6th, 10 am at Waste management Unit, Electronic City
• Contact: 9845449703

Greenathon

• Organiser: Eco Watch
• Date: June 5 th
• Cycle Rally, 6 am
• Film-screening and interaction – 9 am
• Awareness programmes (painting, drawing quiz etc) until 3pm
• Venue: Bishop Cotton Boys’ School
• Contact: 9448273488

Tree-Planting Drive

• Organiser: Eco Watch & YMCA
• Date and time: June 5th, 9.15 am
• Venue: Baldwin Girls’ High School
• Contact: 9448273488

Tree-Planting Drive

• Organiser: Eco Watch & Max Retailers Fashion
• Date and time: June 5th, 11.45 am
• Venue: Indiranagar Club
• Contact: 9448273488