‘To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” – Terry Tempest Williams. And this is exactly what the World Environmental Day, 2017 aims to accomplish – the amity between man and nature.

The celebration is the medium through which the United Nations (UN) fosters worldwide awareness and spurs the actions for preserving our environment. First held on 5 June 1974, it has been celebrated on this day every year since.

It is the principal campaign for arousing global awareness about issues ranging from marine pollution and global warming to sustainable environment and wildlife crime. World Environment Day (WED) has augmented global consciousness, driven change and aided actions concerning the protection of the environment, for the last 43 years. It is a global platform for public outreach. This iconic day is celebrated by 143 countries.

And each year, WED has a new theme that major organisations like NGOs and governments worldwide adopt to advocate environmental causes. This year’s theme is ‘Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land from the poles to the equator.’

So, instead of the uprooting trees and polluting the environment, let us take pledge that we’ll all plant a little sapling and turn the world’s colour scheme back to green and blue, in place of the grayscale one it currently sports.

Do you know that about 27,000 trees are cut down each day so that we can have our toilet papers? Throwing plastic bags and other related materials in the ocean kills almost one million sea creatures annually.

Earth is a beautiful place which has sustained everything living on it for millions of years. But our residence here has done considerable damage to it. But hopefully, there is still a chance to save it.

Simple things like walking or cycling to our destinations and enjoying the environment on the way can help to ensure a better future. It’s time for people to stop hiding behind governments, to stop claiming that the corporations or Government agencies will take care of everything. They are trying their best, but what good does it do if we keep littering our own surroundings, polluting the air that we ourselves breathe and contaminate the water we drink? Therefore we need to stop waiting for others to do what is everyone’s job and just get a broom and some friends, take a few saplings and seeds, go out there and make sure the environment we live in is a clean and green. Thus we can walk out of our house and enjoy the soothing breeze. Like Max Lucado said, “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”

This is our planet. It has sustained us, our ancestors and hopefully, will sustain our descendants as well. Now how about we all return the favour in the perfect spirit of what Sukanto Bhattacharya, the great Bengali Poet, expressed “ We will make our earth habitable for the children …this is my firm commitment to the new (future generations).”

Coordinator, Class IX, Auxilium Convent School, DumDum Cantt, Kolkata