New Delhi: Actor Dia Mirza never misses a chance to drive home the message of saving earth and acting in a pro-planet manner. Recently, the eco-investor took to Instagram, a social media platform to promote plant-based diet. Sharing the power of ‘ghar ka khaana’ (home-cooked food) via a video, Dia said that leafy greens, lentils and cereals not only provide us with nutrition and good health but are also good for the planet. She added,
A great way to act on climate is to eat a plant-based diet or mostly plant-based diet. Eat seasonal and local fruits and vegetables.
The video features table-top pictures of the home-cooked spread. Towards the end, Dia Mirza shared her meal for the day comprising bhindi (ladyfinger), palak (spinach) daal, minced gobhi (cauliflower), and roti.
Dia Mirza who is UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and UN-Secretary General’s Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) said each one of us has the power to ‘act on climate’. Sharing the video, she wrote, “This week the world broke the daily temperature record. This affects us. Each and everyone of us. Every individual can act on climate. One of the ways to make a difference at an individual level is to eat seasonal and local fruits and vegetables. Practice a mostly plant-based diet to act on climate. Join the movement to help achieve global goals. Every one of us can act now to help create a better and more sustainable future. In India we have always known and understood the benefits of plant-based meals. Give me dal, chawal, sabzi and I am happiest! What is your favourite home-cooked food?”
Take a look at the video:
Watch: Government And People Need To Do More For A Sustainable Future: Dia Mirza
Practise what you preach is Dia Mirza’s mantra. Earlier in May, she celebrated her son, Avyaan Azad Rekhi’s second birthday in a sustainable way – zero-waste and plastic-free. Sharing the glimpses of the sustainable celebration on her social media, the actor shared a short video in which she has highlighted how easy it is to celebrate in a waste-free manner.
Here are some of the sustainable choices she made:
- Opted for reusable paper lanterns instead of plastic balloons;
- Ditched the plastic cutlery for reusable cups and cutlery, bamboo straws and tissues;
- For décor, she chose table linen, Avyaan’s old toys and upcycled cloth buntings;
- For games corner, there were organic crayons and pottery;
- Return gifts were packed in organic natural fabric bags; trees were planted in the name of children; there were upcycled luggage tags;
- A waste segregation corner was designed to segregate waste into wet and dry.
She captioned the video as,
Zero waste, zero plastic birthday. Because what’s good for our children is good for the planet.
Also Read: We Cannot Achieve ‘Health For All’ Unless We Ensure No One Is Left Behind: Dia Mirza
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
