Question

I am not an environmentalist in the fashionable sense of the term . I support dams or waters harvesting, If either will solve the drinking water crisis. I will eschew plastic and carry my groceries in bags of natural fibers. If the Ozone layer is to be protected, or if unleaded petrol and CNG will clear our lungs and ensure a better quality of life, I will root for it. My generation had a glimpse of an era when the resourceful use of resources was a creed. When we were in school , We were taught to eke out our pencil stubs by fitting them into old fountain pen holders. The eraser had to virtually become non-existent before it was replaced. Our Instrument box saw us through school. Uniform hems were carefully let down or handed down to younger sibling, as were textbooks .You did not have to be on the bread line to observe financial stringency .It was not In good taste to flaunt wealth and the parents sincerely believed that a little deprivation honed the spirit. They had their own tales deprivation. They walked many miles to school ,while we were privileged to have buses, bicycles and even cars to ferry us to and fro. In their youth they studied by lamplight and cooled themselves with Palmyra fans and cooked on firewood., while we could not manage without electric lights and fans and gas stoves. Our children in turn need central air- conditioning ,computers and microwaves to make life livable. So do we , now But sometimes I worry that our minds will atrophy with all the software programmes available to us today. We can safely stop thinking for months and years and not even know it. Our parents read no books on lateral thinking, but they were most innovative. Many years ago , my sister-in laws and I mixed the better for a fancy cake, full of fruits and nuts. But a power cut rendered the oven impotent. Powerless , we abandoned the a cake baking. However, after two hours there came the mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked cake. My mother-in law was holding aloft a beautiful specimen ,she had put together a makeshift oven with bricks and fuelled it with coconut shell and wood from the backyard ,with the baking tray ,sandwiched between hot sand and coconut shell embers to maintain an even temperature. And this without resorting to self-help books.​

Answer 1

Answer:

the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.

"survival in an often hostile environment"

Similar:

habitat

territory

domain

home

abode

surroundings

conditions

environs

circumstances

2.

the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity.

"the impact of pesticides on the environment