I will be citing an example witnessed by me in my routine life.
In India, floral waste from temples has a share of 16% of the total waste in water. Thousands of tons of waste flowers are disposed of into the Ganges (the sacred river of Hindus). These flowers contain toxic chemicals such as lead, arsenic, pesticides and cadmium. These chemicals have an adverse effect on marine life and pollute the quality of water. This is the same water that is used by numerous people for drinking purposes.
Now think about a situation where the department of the protection of rivers interacts with temples and other sources that are giving rise to waste flowers and communicate with the environment department to utilise these waste flowers in an eco-friendly manner and derive utility out of it. If this happens, many fruitful results can come out of it:
a) Quality of water can be retained.
b) Marine life can be safe.
c) People can become complacent and,
d) Waste flowers can be decomposed in a useful manner.
Adding to these previously stated points, Ankit Aggarwal recognised this problem and initiated his start-up named Phool, which makes incense sticks out of flower waste. These sticks can be used for religious ceremonies and rituals. Ankit came up with this idea of efficiently using waste flowers to create something of value.
Moreover, this addition of value provided employment opportunities to a lot of women (this can be their source of income and contribute to mental and physical well-being). However, if coupled with concerned government departments, this effort can lead to large-scale benefits.
In this single example, we can all get linked through an invisible thread. It is through a sanguine mindset, sedulous attitude and unity in action that we can safeguard our ecosystem. Collaborative efforts and a common vision can strengthen the awareness and importance of this concept at both local and global level to benefit humanity and nature in the future.