>Very inspiring and informational!! A gentle reminder that there are so many heroes like Abdul Kareem working silently towards helping mankind and mother nature.During my visit to Periyar and Eravikulam National Parks, Kerala in 2008, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they were plastic free zones. Tourists weren\u2019t allowed to bring in plastics and dispose inside parks, a feat that National Parks in USA are struggling to achieve !! Alarmed by the rise in plastic litter, the world famous Grand Canyon National Park, USA decided to ban sale of plastic water bottles inside the park last year but had to halt the decision because of the fierce resistance it met from Coca-Cola, one of the major donors to the park. The reason for Coca Cola\u2019s resistance? Shops inside the park sold bottled water \u201cDasani\u201d , a product of Coca Cola. Now given the huge popularity of the park (about 5 million people visit the park each year), loss on revenue sales from Dasani was a significant one for Coca Cola , thus triggering a red flag. Fortunately the park has overcome the obstacles now and the ban on bottled water was announced by the park authorities in February, 2012. Following the footsteps of Zion National Park, USA, Grand Canyon National Park would now have water stations inside the park and tourists are expected to refill reusable bottles.This story encourages each of us to take some baby steps towards preserving our natural resources. There was a time when I would get annoyed at my parents at their obsession towards carrying water from home when heading to railway station. I thought it was much more trendy to just buy one at the station. With time I realized how cool my parents were and how uncool I was in my approach !!<\/p>\n
USA has safe tap water almost everywhere. Yet, why did this country become the biggest consumer of bottled water? Who brainwashed us into believing that bottled water was a need? Why didn\u2019t we question the obvious? Bottled water poses two big menace \u2013 (1) huge wastage of resource and energy that goes into preparing one bottle. One bottle needs 3x amounts of water to prepare it (2) The plastic litter that never decomposes !! Yet why didn\u2019t we stop it?
\nNow extend this to India, a country that is facing severe shortage of drinking water. Tap water at home and public places is unsafe to consume in many parts of India. Add to that the huge middle class with rising income that is willing to pay for \u201cconvenience\u201d. A perfect breeding ground for predators !! Bottled water business is becoming one of the most attractive businesses in India, a sure shot success. As ground water continues to go down, plastic waste continues to rise. As water will become more scare, these companies would further expand, feeding on our water miseries. A chain reaction, a ticking bomb? Shudders to think!! Carry boiled\/filtered water from home wherever possible. say NO to bottled water. Spread the word NOW !!
\nThanks,
\nShikha<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
>Very inspiring and informational!! A gentle reminder that there are so many heroes like Abdul Kareem working silently towards helping mankind and mother nature.During my visit to Periyar and Eravikulam National Parks, Kerala in 2008, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they were plastic free zones. Tourists weren\u2019t allowed to bring in plastics and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n