SKEDSOFT

Environmental Ethical Values:

The earth is unique among all the planets in our solar system. It is with plentiful resources and providing sustenance for the survival of human beings. But today everywhere in the world, environmental degradation is escalating. The air, land and water are increasingly becoming polluted. The atmosphere is becoming warmer because of the increase in its carbon dioxide content. Marine life is losing its ecological balance because of toxic wastes being dumped into the sea. Hence we are all confronted with multifarious environmental issues like air pollution, water and land pollution, noise pollution, deforestation, energy crisis, misuse and mismanagement of natural resources. The world is virtually sitting on an environmental time bomb that is ticking away without the consciousness of many of us. Unless we diffuse it soon, our life on the planet earth will be destroyed. Hence there arises an urgent need to inculcate among our people sensitivity towards environmental degradation by fostering environmental ethical values. Ethics attempts to define what is right and what is wrong regardless of cultural differences. We have a fundamental responsibility to respect nature and to care for the earth, protecting the life-support systems, biodiversity and sustainable development. As pointed out by Mahatma Gandhiji, “There is enough for our needs but not for our greeds”.

Environmental Ethical Values:

The following are a set of environmental ethical values to be inculcated.

• Environmental consciousness.
• Humility and reverence.
• Responsibility and commitment.
• Respect for all life and landscape.
• Global environmental citizenship.
• Self-reliance.
• Adoption of eco-friendly culture.
• Preservation of diversity on the planet.
• Sharing common environment.

“Try not to be a man of success but rather try to be a man of value”. - Albert Einstein.

Spectrum of Environmental Activities for inculcating Environmental Ethical Values:

• Using recycled paper for notes and circulars.
• Diverting waste from the kitchen to the garden.
• Switching off unnecessary lights.
• Using bicycles or walking.
• Using public transport systems.
• Collecting rain water.
• Avoiding using fresh water for gardening.
• Using cloth towels instead of paper towels.
• Avoiding unnecessary outdoors lighting.
• Organizing tree-plantation campaigns.
• Reducing volume of Radio/TV to reasonable levels.
• Listening to radio programmes on environment and its allied problems.
• Organizing eco-clubs.
• Placing trashcans and dustbins around the college premises.
• Observing Environment Day on 5th June and Earth Day on 22nd April.
• Planting trees in and around the campus.
• Encouraging healthy life styles through balanced nutrition, exercise and Yoga.
• Helping to enforce protection laws.
• Staging short plays on environmental crisis to create environmental awareness.
• Conserving energy resources by avoiding unnecessary wastage of energy.
• Collecting and displaying pictures and newspaper cuttings depicting the environmental crisis.

‘I’ are Continuous:

There are various activities in ‘I’. These activities are imaging, analyzing and selecting/ tasting. If we observe these activities we will find that we are imaging throughout the day, even at night. During the day, we keep having desires, and these desires don’t stops even at night. The activity of analyzing, takes place all
the time as well. What we analyze may keep changing, the activity of analyzing is continuous. Similarly, the activity of selecting / tasting is also continuous. The object of the taste may change but the activity of selecting/tasting is continuous. We are expecting something all the time. And do the selection on the basis of this expectation. These activities keep going on in us, irrespective of whether we want them or not. E.g. my object of taste may change from rasgulla, to engineering or nice looking bike, etc. similarly I may analyze about my personal life at one moment and about my surrounding at the next moment and may
start thinking about my relationships.These activities keep going on in us irrespective of whether we want them or not. This is what happens when we say “I was going to the exam and that song kept repeating itself in me, it was so distracting”.