Posts tagged environmental behavior

So here I am, back in my birthplace of Hyderabad, India. I haven’t been here during the peak summer in probably 15 years, and I’m literally frying. Today’s high was 104 F, and the chance of rain has been 0% for just about forever. Apparently it’s a record breaking heat wave and drought. Great.

I’ve got a bit of a cold on top of that, which only make it worse. As if I wasn’t parched enough, my sore throat just feels extra sore. I did not know my body had the capacity to drink so much water at once. I’m quietly enjoying the air conditioning of my room which combats the heat, but it doesn’t do anything for the dryness. Even Michigan winters don’t leave my skin this scaly. And my jetlag is still persisting, so instead of sleeping I’m up writing now.

But enough complaining. I’m going to be here for two months, so I may as well accept the situation. My flight got in around 5 am yesterday (Thursday) morning at the Rajiv Gandhi Int’l Airport. This new airport, while being quite far outside the city, is absolutely beautiful. While I don’t remember the old Begumpet airport much beyond a few domestic flights in ‘07, I’m told we had some terrible experiences there when I was younger. I was blown away the first time I saw the new airport in Shamshabad three years ago, and this time I took advantage of the hour-long drive home to fully take in the surroundings.

My family lives in Malkajgiri, outside of Secunderabad, so our drive home from Shamshabad took us right through Hyderabad just a little after sunrise. The streets were, of course, already busy as always. Here’s a few shots from the car:

The highway out of the airport. This new area is really nicely developed to complement the beautiful airport.

Sunrise over the already busy streets

One of the many flyovers that now populate the Hyderabad skyline

Another unrelated, but interesting sidenote: I was pleasantly surprised to see at least three distinct articles concerning environmental policy or the Ministry of Environment and Forests in The Hindu this morning. Whether or not the action is effective, at least people are talking about it.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Once I find a way to combat this heat and dryness (or at least adapt to it), and once I start my internship on Monday, I’ll have more.

That’s right. Practicing environmentally friendly behaviors should be the norm, and not the exception. But even with the increasing awareness of environmental problems around the world, people still find ways to poke fun at those who live greener lifestyles.

I generally like to take a very practical approach to environmental change. I’m not a crazy activist that rallies around town protesting congressional decisions and inflaming others with my super green beliefs. All I want is for people to be more aware of their choices. And although progress definitely is taking off, there seems to be a sort of stigma associated with going green.

Everyone who takes part in greener behavior is not a “tree-hugger”, or a “hippie”, or a “flaming liberal”. However, such labels are widespread and don’t appear to be leaving any time soon. Even when these terms are used jokingly, they have the effect of almost discouraging people from being greener, for fear of being labeled as something supposedly negative.

Doing our part for the environment isn’t funny—it’s a matter of saving our world for the next generations. Sure, I’ve committed plenty of environmentally unhealthy acts in the past, as most people have. But I try my best to keep those to a minimum. Discouraging labels like “tree-hugger” and “hippie” don’t help the cause. In the past, before the green trend gained so much popularity, these terms targeted a minority. But it’s not a minority anymore. Help protect our environment: end the jokes.