Vaaris Chitkara's Letter

Dear my future self,

As I begin writing this letter today, I dream of becoming an engineer by the time I open you in 2033. I hope I can fulfil this wish of mine and this letter puts a smile on my face when I read it 10 years from now.

My goal along with my fellow Ardeeians is to make the world a better place in the next 10 years. I decided on a ten-year time frame because that should be enough time for us to make a difference.

Some of the things that I plan to do to achieve this are: First, I will be planting one sapling every month that will not only help the world but it will help me and animals around us. As trees take in CO2 and give out oxygen that will not only purify all the air around me but also help everyone in the whole building. It will even provide shade from the sun and also block the heat that the sun emanates. This means that I won’t need any air conditioners which will help the environment. Just imagine! If I do this, then by 2033, I would have planted more trees than the number of trees in the world’s smallest forest (Adak National Forest which has only 33 trees) and would have my own little forest.

Secondly, I will try to save water. Whenever someone talks about saving water, everyone thinks that we will have to do something huge to make a difference but no; sometimes small things make a bigger difference than even big things. These can include taking short baths, keeping the tap off while we are brushing, recycling water (using the water used to wash vegetables for watering the plants). Rainwater harvesting is another amazing means to replenish the ground water level. Just imagine if eight billion people do this, it can save more water that we could ever imagine.

Finally, I will be following the 3R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle. Recycling stuff basically means to reuse waste to make new things. Many brands have also become conscious about recycling and one such store is Fabindia. Their bags are made out of recycled paper. Apple already uses large quantities of recycled rare earths and tungsten in their products and by 2025, will use 100% recycled cobalt in batteries.
Piñatex, developed by Dr Carmen Hijosa is a leather alternative made from cellulose fibres extracted from pineapple leaves, PLA (Polylactic Acid), and petroleum-based resin. This is great for both animals that get killed for leather and great for the environment too as if the leaves weren’t used they would just end up burning and releasing a lot of CO2. There are many such examples and I hope that they continue.

I think that if my future self would keep encouraging me in doing this and more then, by 2033 our world will hardly have any problems. I pledge to continue doing all this to help the world heal and become a better place.

Eco Warrior
Vaaris