2026-10-22: I found these old writings when I was cleaning up some stuff and added them here.
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The topic, whether people in developed nations should live a more sustainable lifestyle due to increasing global warming, is a long-debated one. On one side of it are the comforts and cozy lifestyles of those who can afford it and on the other are its adverse effects on the whole planet earth. I hold the view that it is not morally justifiable that some polar bear's home gets melted because a person in California wanted the temperature in his house to be cool 20 degrees instead of a still comfortable 25 degrees.
Based on the evidences available to us, we surely cannot neglect the global climate change. Decreasing size of polar ice caps, rising surface levels of sea and increasing temperature all point toward the same thing. They are in a unison indicating that the damages caused by our lavish lifestyles has bent the life-tree of our planet beyond its breaking point and it is no longer in power of earth to absorb further damages without showing it's consequences. And the consequences are no pretty sight. Living sustainably and in-sync with the nature is the fastest way, short of human extinction, to alleviate further problems and help earth regain its environmental strength.
All this talk of sustainable living sounds noble but we should also accept the reality that majority of us aren't ascetic and do prefer a level of comfort in everyday lives. However it is completely plausible and not at all harsh to lead a more eco-friendly life. Starting with our work-place, what we can do is to place our workbench as closer to windows as possible and use the sunlight during day-time instead of artificial lights to illuminate our work-place. Even if its not possible for us to move our workbench we can still use the sunlight to brighten our room while using a table lamp, much better than whole-room light, to illuminate our work-area. Similarly, natural breeze can be used instead of fans and air-conditioners to maintain hospitable temperature. Natural air has an added benefit of freshening the atmosphere in contrast to an air-conditioner which recycles the previously used air. And even when we plan to use electricity for other purposes, we can make sure that we rely the least on sources which cause pollution and switch to much greener energy sources like solar-cells to provide electricity directly from sunlight.
Many such small changes made together can have a snow-ball effect in saving our planet, or at the least keeping it from getting more hostile. Thus while we cannot denounce the global climate change and the need of the hour to live in a more eco-friendly manner, we need not think of going to any extreme to help our world. No saintly life is necessary and only few more intelligent choices can take us very far.