Our Future in Our Hands
Shubhavi Dhondge

As the country's future citizens, it is our responsibility to make sure mankind excavates its ways through science and technology to make sure we have a reliable and resilient future ahead. Humans have been wasting the precious resources given by the Earth for far too long and we need to change our ways before it's too late.

To live in a world with - thriving biodiversity in both water and on land, an accurate balance of the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the atmosphere, and a happy Earth with proud residents, we need practical and economical solutions.

1 - Increasing agricultural yield in less area of land.

We need enough food for everybody to eat. And we have been cutting down masses of wood to make space for agriculture.

Therefore, we need to make a good amount of yield in the minimum area so we can save a portion of the land for nature and its inhabitants. We can achieve this by paying heed to the following ways:

      a) Encouraging vertical farming and hydroponics.

         Vertical farming is the practice of growing plants stacked on top of each other whereas hydroponics means growing plants in layers using mineral-rich water and no soil. 

      b) Inventing better fertilizers - 

         Plants require different sets of nutrients at various stages of their life. But, by giving them a mix of nutrients, the plant finds it hard to absorb the nutrient necessary for its growth.

A capsule that releases the necessary nutrients over a period of time for the particular stage of the plant would be perfect as we might be able to get the yield at a much higher speed.

2 - Reduce/Stop Carbon Emissions.

The increasing rate of Carbon dioxide is harmful to the environment because it is the main reason for global warming, causing a rise in sea levels and affecting the biodiversity in the polar regions adversely. The ways to avoid Global Warming can be implemented in the following ways.

       1) Controlling Transportation - 

Vehicles burn fuel as an energy source for the engine to run. But due to combustion, Carbon dioxide is released as a by-product. Therefore, to control this, we should always use public transport and encourage vehicles to have an automatic electrical engine which is environmentally friendly.

       2) Using Clean ways to get Electricity - 

The most common ways of getting environmentally friendly Electricity is through renewable resources, such as solar panels and wind turbines that use solar and wind energy. But another renewable energy lies buried deep within the Earth - Geothermal Energy. As the Earth's crust warms up the water reservoirs, the steam finds a way to escape. We can use the energy of this steam to spin the turbine for powering a generator.

3 - Saving Biodiversity.

At last, saving biodiversity is extremely important for the balance of the food chain, pollination, and sustainability of the planet. Therefore, we must ban the usage of any non-biodegradable or the one that can cause harm to the sea life.

Instead, we can replace it with the biodegradable plastics made from the starch of corn, sugarcane, etc.

The Earth has always been like a mother to us, protecting us from any harm and providing every resource we could ever ask for. But, it is extremely disappointing to see that we are the sole cause of her destruction. But, its not too late... If we join hands and vow to protect our mother, then this task is not impossible...

"Let's care for the planet we have destroyed rather than looking for another one"

- By Shubhavi Dhondge 7D