In addition, most people in my neighborhood use solar power to heat their water tanks. Although many people have back up electric water heaters, solar panels are much more common here than they are in the U.S.
Two of the biggest environmental problems in India involve proper disposal of trash and easy access to functioning toilets. There is a nationwide campaign called Swachh Bharat (Clean India) that encourages people to not only stop littering on the streets but to get rid of household trash in a more environmentally friendly way. The campaign also aims to build more working toilets as an incentive for people to use toilets. There are a lot of people in India, which impacts the environment and how people interact with the land.
I've noticed that there are a lot of business practices aimed at reducing waste. When I went to buy a bottle of soda at a store, the shop owner told me that I had to return the glass bottle. Leftover food is often fed to street dogs, and many children are responsible for sorting through garbage piles to collect plastic and metal to recycle.
In Delhi, to combat pollution, the city sometimes puts an odd-even rule in effect. This means that vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers can drive in the city on some days, and vehicles with even-number endings can drive on the days in between.
People in India, and people all over the world, need to come up with ideas like these in order to prevent overuse of the environment so that we keep our land, water and air clean for the next generation.
