Sonu Nigam Celebrates a Day Without Waste with GAP

Ganga Action Parivar celebrated the International Day Without Waste with famous Bollywood singer and artist, Sonu Nigam taking a green pledge to preserve and protect our Mother Earth, Mother Ganga and Mother Nature.

For centuries, India has described its fertile and rich soil as sona-as gold- and associated the health of the soil, their sacred rivers, the air and their environment as the true wealth of their communities and their lives. Sonu Nigam, whose name literally means precious as gold and whose beautiful voice and popularity he has been able to connect and touch millions of youth, said that the true heritage our Earth is being polluted everyday with our waste.

Pujya Swamiji honoured Sonu Nigam and his sisters, Teesha and Meenal, with a sacred Rudraksh plant and said: “Our Indian traditions and values have empowered us to honour our sacred rivers and sacred land as our Divine Mother. With your divine example you can truly inspire everyone to connect to their roots and preserve and protect the rich soil and heritage of Mother India.”

On the occasion, Sadhvi Bhagawatiji of Ganga Action Parivar brought light to Mahatma Gandhiji’s famous quote: “There is enough for every man’s need but not enough for even one man’s greed.” Today, unfortunately our natural heritage, our sacred soil and rivers are under severe threat from being littered, polluted and neglected. Non-biodegradable plastic and waste fill landfills, float in rivers, chock up sewage pipes and kill stray cows as well as many other animals. Statistics from the UN show that one million plastic bags are used and disposed every minute.

Furthermore, the lack of awareness, poor implementation of legislation and lack of wide-scale access to effective technologies to safely dispose of this waste have led to thousands of people unknowingly burning polythenes and non-biodegradable waste, releasing toxic/carcinogenic gases into the environment and contributing significantly to rising air pollution and global warming.

Sadhvi Bhagawatiji shared: “Excess waste on our planet is a manifestation of our greed; of taking more than what is actually required for our basic needs. When we consume more than we need and make life-style choices such as eating meat, we actually unconsciously are contributing significantly to polluting the world. But, the hope lies in the fact that simply by making wiser decisions towards our consumption and our life, assessing our carbon and water footprint, we actually can contribute significantly to preserving our environment, protecting our future generations and thereby improving the quality of our own lives.”