This word is LiFE, which means ‘Lifestyle For Environment’. Today, there is a need for all of us to come together and take Lifestyle For Environment forward as a campaign. This can become a mass movement towards an environmentally environmentally conscious lifestyle.
— Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP 26
LiFE was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—at COP26 in Glasgow on 1 November 2021—as a mass movement for “mindful and deliberate utilisation, instead of mindless and destructive consumption”to protect and preserve the environment.
It aims to nudge individuals and communities to practise a lifestyle that is synchronous with nature and does not harm it.
Those who practise such a lifestyle are recognised as Pro Planet People.
Need To Change Our Lifestyle
- Transitioning from throwaway culture to a circular economy is imperative
- Environmental degradation and climate change impact ecosystems and populations across the globe.
Without timely action, 800 million to 3 billion people are projected to experience chronic water scarcity due to droughts at 2°C warming. - Global economy could lose up to 18% of GDP by 2050 without urgent action by all.
Several policy reforms have been implemented globally to address environmental degradation and climate change. Actions required at the level of individuals, communities and institutions, despite their enormous potential, have received limited attention.
Changing individual and community behaviour alone can have a significant impact on the environmental and climate crises.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), if 1 out of 8 billion people worldwide adopt environment-friendly behaviours in their daily lives, global carbon emissions could drop upto 20 per cent.
The 2020 UNDP report ‘The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene’ says that, “Humans wield more power over the planet than ever before. In the wake of COVID-19, record-breaking temperatures, and spiralling inequality, it is time to use that power to redefine what we mean by progress, where our carbon and consumption footprints are no longer hidden.”
Behavioural Change Programmes Implemented By India
India has rich experience in implementing large-scale behavioural change programmes
While the world is focusing on policy and regulatory measures to address the environmental crisis, India has demonstrated success in harnessing the power of collective action to solve complex problems.
Swachh Sagar Surakshit Sagar campaign aimed to remove approximately 15,000 tonnes of waste from 75 beaches in 75 days.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) led to the construction and use of over 100 million toilets in rural India within a span of 7 years.
Ujjwala Scheme increased households with LPG connections from 62 percent in 2015 to 99.8 percent in 2021.
India is the first country to include LiFE in its Nationally Determined Contributions:
“India will put forward and propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on its traditions and the values of conservation and moderation, including through a mass movement for LIFE, as a key to combating climate change.”
India’s Environment-Friendly Culture And Tradition
LiFE builds upon India’s environment-friendly culture and traditional practices:
- The average carbon footprint per person in India is 1.8 tonnes per year, as compared to the global average of 4.5 tonnes.
- Several unique water harvesting techniques, contextual to local conditions, are practised across India. These include the step wells of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the underground tanks (tankaa) of Tamil Nadu, the check dams (johads) of Rajasthan and the Zabo system of Nagaland that deposit the water in pond-like structures on terraced hillsides.
- Clayware, for example, are commonly used for cooking and serving purposes. Across the country, street and public food establishments continue to serve food in plant-based biodegradable utensils (sal tree leaves) and tea in clay pots (kulhad).
- Several traditional Indian practices such as adaptive architectural forms that minimise electricity consumption and hand-washing and sun-drying of clothes, as well as a dietary preference for plant-based foods and millets can serve as foundations for LiFE.
Mission LiFE
- Mission LiFE seeks to translate the vision of LiFE into measurable impact.
- It is designed with the objective to mobilise at least one billion Indians and other global citizens to take individual and collective action for protecting and conserving the environment in the period 2022–28.
- Within India, at least 80 per cent of all villages and urban local bodies are aimed to become environment-friendly by 2028.
As a global programme, Mission LiFE envisions three core shifts in our collective approach towards sustainability:
Change in Demand (Phase I): Nudging individuals across the world to practise simple yet effective environment-friendly actions in their daily lives.
Change in Supply (Phase II): Changes in large-scale individual demand are expected to gradually nudge industries and markets to respond and tailor supply and procurement as per the revised demands.
Change in Policy (Phase III): By influencing the demand and supply dynamics of India and the world, the long-term vision of Mission LiFE is to trigger shifts in large-scale industrial and government policies that can support both sustainable consumption and production.
The mission will be incubated, curated and piloted by NITI Aayog and subsequently implemented by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in a non-linear and non-sequential manner. While a proceeding phase will organically feed into the next phase of Mission LiFE, all phases are equally simultaneous in nature.
Mission LiFE 2022-23: In 2022-23, Mission LiFE will focus on Phase I, Change in Demand, by nudging individuals, communities and institutions to practice simple environment-friendly actions (LiFE actions) in their daily lives.
Specific and measurable: Easy to practise by individuals, communities and institutions, with minimal supply-side dependencies Non-disruptive to ongoing economic activity, and, in fact, promoting economic activity in the foreseeable future
List of Actions
In view of Mission LiFE being launched in the 75th year of India’s independence, a comprehensive and non-exhaustive list of 75 individual LiFE actions across 7 categories is identified such that most actions are:
Energy Saved
- Use LED bulbs/ tube-lights
- Use public transport wherever possible
- Take the stairs instead of an elevator wherever possible
- Switch off vehicle engines at red lights and railway crossings
- Use bicycles for local or short commute
- Switch off irrigation pumps after use
- Prefer CNG/ EV vehicle over petrol/ diesel vehicles
- Use carpooling with friends & colleagues
- Drive in the correct gear. Keep your foot off the clutch when not changing gears
- Install a solar water or solar cooker heater on rooftops
- Switch off appliances from plug points when not in use
- Use biogas for cooking and electricity needs
- Keep temperature of Air Conditioners to 24 degrees
- Prefer pressure cookers over other cookware
- Keep your electronic devices in energy-saving mode
- Use smart switches for appliances which are used frequently
- Install community earthen pots for cooling water
- Defrost fridge or freezer regularly
- Run outdoors instead of on a treadmill
Water Saved
20. Adopt cultivation of less water intensive crops like millets
21. Participate in recharge of rural water bodies through Amrit Sarovar Scheme
22. Practice crop diversification. Move from rice & wheat cultivation to pulse & oil seed cropping system.
23. Use efficient water saving technologies (like micro-irrigation, bunding, farm ponds, zero tillage, direct seeded rice, alternate wetting and drying and others)
24. Create rainwater harvesting infrastructure in home/ schools/ offices
25. Use drip irrigation systems created with waste materials, wherever possible
26. Reuse water from washed vegetables to water plants and other purpose
27. Pre-soak heavy pots and pans before washing them
28. Do not discard unused stored water every time there is fresh water coming in taps
29. Use buckets instead of hose pipes to water plants/ floors/ vehicles
30. Fix leaks in flushes, taps and waterpipes
31. Use water-efficient fixtures for taps, and showerheads, and toilet flush units
32. Invest in a water metre for your house to measure water consumption regularly
33. Reuse water drained out from AC/RO for cleaning utensils, watering plants and others
34. Prefer a water purification system that wastes less water
Single Use Plastic Reduced
35. Use cloth bag for shopping instead of plastic bags
36. Carry your own water bottle wherever possible
37. Reuse glass containers/ packaging plastic items as storage boxes
38. Participate in and mobilise participation for clean-up drives of cities and water bodies
39. Prefer using non-plastic eco-friendly cutlery during gatherings and events
40. Turn off running taps when not in active use
41. Use menstrual cups instead of sanitary napkins
42. Use recycled plastic over virgin plastic, wherever possible
43. Use steel/ recyclable plastic lunch boxes and water bottles
44. Cut the packaging bags used for milk, buttermilk, etc. only partially to avoid plastic bits from mixing into biodegradable waste
45. Opt for bamboo toothbrushes and neem combs
Sustainable Food Systems Adopted
46. Include millets in diets through Anganwadi, Mid-Day meal and PD scheme
47. Compost food waste at home
48. Create kitchen gardens/ terrace gardens at homes/ schools/ offices
49. Prepare organic manure from cow dungs and apply to farms
50. Prefer locally available and seasonal foods
51. Use smaller plates for daily meals to save food wastage
Waste Reduced (Swachhata Actions)
52. Contribute cattle waste, food waste, and agricultural waste to biogas plant (provided under GOBARDHAN)
53. Practice segregation of dry and wet waste at homes
54. Use agricultural residue, animal waste for composting, manuring and mulching
55. Recycle and reuse old newspapers, magazines
56. Feed unused and uncooked vegetables leftovers to cattle
57. Set printer default to double-side printing
58. Repair, reuse and recycle old furniture
59. Buy paper products made from recycled paper
60. Donate old clothes and books
61. Do not discard waste in water bodies and in public spaces
62. Do not let pets defecate in the public places
Healthy Lifestyles Adopted
63. Encourage use of millets in food and indigenous herbs and medicinal plants for nutrition and well being
64. Prefer consuming natural or organic products
65. Start biodiversity conservation at community level
66. Plant medicinal plants such as neem, tulsi, giloy, mint, curry leaves, ashwagandha, curry leaves etc. within household premises
67. Practice natural or organic farming
68. Plant trees to reduce the impact of pollution
69. Avoid purchasing products/souvenirs made from skin, tuskers and fur of wild animals
70. Create and volunteer at community food and cloth banks, and at animal shelters
71. Initiate and/or join green clubs in your residential area/ school/ office
E-Waste Reduced
72. Repair and use electronic devices over discarding the devices
73. Discard gadgets in nearest e-recycling units
74. Use rechargeable lithium cells
75. Prefer cloud storage over a pen drive / hard drive
Impact
When estimated against a business-as-usual scenario by 1 billion Indians in 2022-23 to 2027-28, the impact of LiFE actions can be significant, as demonstrated below with select examples:
- Switching off the car /scooter engines at traffic lights /railway crossings can save up to 22.5 billion kWh of energy
Turning off running taps when not in active use can save upto 9 trillion litres of water. - Using a cloth bag instead of a plastic bag while shopping can save up to 375 million tonnes of solid waste from entering the landfil.
- Discarding non-functioning gadgets in the nearest e-recycling unit can recycle upto 0.75 million tonnes of e-waste.
- Composting waste food at home can save up to 15 billion tonnes of food from going to landfills.
Global Mission LiFE
LiFE And Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The SDGs focused on sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), responsible production and consumption (SDG 12), climate change (SDG 13), life on land (SDG 15), and life under water (SDG 14) emphasise that all individuals ensure that their lifestyles are in sync with the resources available on the planet.
Further, research from the New Climate Economy highlights that bold environmental action could create as many as 65 million jobs by 2030 (SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth).
SDG 12 entails decoupling economic growth and environmental degradation and demands more efficient and environmentally friendly management of resources, including improving energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, access to basic services, and providing green and decent jobs to ensure a better quality of life for all.
The societal responsibility towards SDG 12 goes beyond businesses, to involve individual consumers as active participants in the process of achieving this goal.
Given the global commitment to achieving the SDGs by 2030, it is important to note that Mission LiFE contributes directly and indirectly to almost all the SDGs.
Mission LiFE For The World
Global Call For Ideas And Papers
Ideas and research proposals are invited from leading global scholars on how environment-friendly actions can be adopted by individuals, communities and institutions in a measurable and attributable manner. The top 5 ideas will be acknowledged at an international LiFE conference in June 2023.
LiFE Compendium Of Global Best And Traditional Practices
NITI Aayog and MoEFCC, in partnership with United Nations India, will create a comprehensive repository of traditional and contemporary best practices from around the world that facilitate the adoption of environment-friendly lifestyles by individuals and communities.
Partnering With Other Countries
MoEFCC and the Ministry of External Affairs, with the support of NITI Aayog, will coordinate efforts to continually identify and build capacity of countries worldwide to implement Mission LiFE for their respective populations.
Proposed International LiFE Day
By demonstrating the impact of sustainable lifestyles, Mission LiFE will endeavour to mobilise the global community to adopt LiFE and eventually towards getting the proposed International LiFE Day announced by the UN General Assembly
Source: NITI Aayog