Each person represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. (Anais Nin - diarist) Do I go for my regular walk at seven in the evening and pretend it is six (which is my usual time) or do I go at six in the evening knowing it is five actually, or shall I leave my favourite past time altogether. Shall I go through the M M Alam road and see the state in which the local government leaves all the major roads in, while I contemplate shopping. Or shall I not go for shopping at all because I might be among the people to be blown up by the terrorists who are playing hop, jump and hide in the country. These are just a few of the very minor decisions we make everyday. Shall we drink water from the tap or first boil it or purchase bottled water thinking its coming from the purest fountain on earth. Shall we raise our voice against issues that are multiplying by the hour or shall we remain silent knowing no one is listening. Every week I sit down to write and want to start from and end on a positive note. Every week I find myself tired of trying to pretend that everything is fine around me or that it will be fine in future. However, no one is born a pessimist. It is the surroundings that make you an optimist or a pessimist. Lucky you are if you just come out resistant. Society was not meant to be perfect or ideal, but it was meant to be bearable. Liveable. Breathable. Enjoyable in its slightest of moves. The swaying of a branch, the flow of a river, the freshness of your child that you have just given a bath. The purity of prayer. One wonders if that is too much to ask for. I drive past ten banks before I turn into my lane. All are reputable banks and I am sure they have qualified people who are working there with a high sense of diligence towards their work. Outside these banks and on the sides of the buildings lies garbage. Plastic bags float around the buildings. The bank - the place where souls are sold - so that you can buy your dream car, your perfect vacation and some groceries. Never has it occurred to them that they have a civic responsibility too. I have little patience for the environmental savagery that we so impolitely continue to do, and have on occasions tried to walk into banks, shops and offices, asking them to "keep their surroundings clean." I receive a quiet smile, polite nod and that's about all I would get, because I don't keep a credit card, never buy bonds and rarely - if never - take my groceries in plastic bags. I either carry them to the car in my arms, or ask for a paper bag which unfortunately even the "big" stores do not possess. We use plastic bags to carry shopping items, to throw our garbage out, to store food, and food stalls and posh restaurants alike use low quality shopping bags to store food or give take away meals. I know of only one place where I pay five rupees for the box they give the food in, sans the plastic bag. God bless them The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, a department of the Ministry of Environment, is responsible to implement the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 in the country. An act to provide protection, conservation, rehabilitation and improvement of the environment; prevention and control of pollution, and the promotion of sustainable development. Those are not my words. They are official - on the record - heavy duty words. Protection would mean cutting down trees. Conservation would mean more billboards to make an already disappeared skyline invisible. Rehabilitation is a tricky one, because there is not much to rehabilitate. Improvement, if I'm not being too direct, would be adding another tank to the old Fortress Stadium. Prevention and control of pollution would definitely be burning garbage and then pouring water over it. Lastly, promotion of a sustainable environment is the making of a road in order to break it later to add new sewerage pipes...then to dig it up further to add a last touch. Here is the link http://www.environment.gov.pk/. Please feel free to be amused, shocked, surprised or disappointed to find that we have laws but no implication. People want to be educated, live in a clean environment, and save their children from viral infections but fail to do so and continue to live in a filthy environment due to the negligence and disinterest of the state. A cat's courage is as long as the dog's lease; if the state or the institutions of the state decide to move around and enforce the law, a citizen will have little or no choice to show disobedience. In the absence of law enforcement, it is the people of Pakistan that are suffering. The World Environment Day is June 5, 2008. Here is the positive note I want to end on. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has a chance for Pakistanis who can do something other than just complain. If you go to this site www.unep.org/wed, and click on Asia Pacific you will find more than twenty entries from different parts of India, where even if it is a small step towards a better environment, they are taking it on this day. Efforts include planting trees to showing people documentaries on the hazards of pollution. From folk dances and puppet shows on local environmental issues to photography exhibitions, it is enough to put us to shame. Nonetheless if someone is reading this and wants to join in don't look for an excuse. Jump in You will find something that you can contribute to the society and the environment we are suffocating every second. At the end of the day it is better than burning tires on The Mall Let's make room for one more breadth in order to breathe again. E-mail: aaakn92@gmail.com