Chapter 1: Natural Resources and Their Use (Geography)

A resource stays renewable only if we let Nature restore and regenerate it. It becomes non-renewable, at least for a long time, when we use it faster than it can renew itself or damage the cycle that renews it. Examples from the chapter:

• Groundwater: farmers in Punjab and many other states pump out more water than rain can put back. Almost 80% of Punjab is now "over-exploited", and in large areas the water is now deeper than 30 metres.
• Forests: if timber is cut faster than trees can grow, the forest is used up.
• Fish: commercial over-fishing, such as of tuna, reduces fish faster than they can breed.
• Rivers: untreated industrial waste poisons rivers so that they cannot support life. Global warming melts Himalayan glaciers faster than snowfall can replace them.
• Soil: careless use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides degrades it.

Actions that can prevent this:

• Water: rainwater harvesting, rejuvenating ponds and tanks, cutting wasteful use, treating and reusing water, and choosing crops that need less water.
• Fishing and forests: allowing them time to recover, as communities did by not fishing in the spawning season, and replanting native trees.
• Soil: caring for it with cow dung and compost, mulching, mixed cropping and organic farming, as in Sikkim.
• Industry and energy: treating industrial waste before it is released, and shifting to renewable energy to reduce global warming.

Using a resource faster than Nature can restore it (over-pumping groundwater, over-fishing, over-cutting forests, polluting rivers, degrading soil) can make it non-renewable. Water harvesting, controlled harvesting, replanting, organic farming and treating waste keep it renewable.

1. Producing oxygen: trees and plants release the oxygen we breathe.
2. Filtering and storing water: forests and wetlands clean water and recharge groundwater.
3. Preventing soil erosion: roots hold the soil, which protects our farmland.
4. Pollination: bees, butterflies and birds pollinate our crops.
5. Providing habitat and food: forests and oceans support animals, fish and plants that we use.

Others include decomposing waste and recycling nutrients into the soil, and controlling floods and moderating the climate.

When these natural processes benefit us, as clean water, protected farms or pollinated crops, they are called ecosystem services.

Producing oxygen, filtering and storing water, preventing soil erosion, pollinating crops, and providing habitat and food (also recycling nutrients and controlling floods).

Renewable resources are renewed by Nature's own cycles of restoration and regeneration, as long as we use them sustainably. Examples are sunlight, wind, flowing water, timber from forests, fish and soil.

Non-renewable resources form over very long periods (millions of years), so they cannot be replaced as fast as we use them. Examples are coal, petroleum, natural gas, and minerals and metals like iron, copper and gold. India's coal, for instance, may last only about 50 more years.

What people can do (two examples):

1. Water: harvest rainwater, revive ponds and tanks, use drip irrigation, and do not over-pump groundwater. This keeps rivers and groundwater replenished.
2. Forests: cut only as much timber as the forest can regrow, replant native trees, and protect sacred groves. This lets the forest regenerate.

(Also: grow crops organically to keep the soil healthy, and fish only outside the breeding season.)

Renewable resources are renewed by natural cycles (sun, wind, water, forests); non-renewable ones take millions of years to form (coal, oil, metals). Use renewables no faster than they regenerate, e.g. by harvesting rainwater and limiting tree-cutting with replanting.

Your answer will depend on your own home and area. Common examples:

• Respecting Nature as sacred: sacred groves where trees are never cut, worshipping the tulasī, banyan or peepal trees, and offering arghyam to the Sun in gratitude.
• Saving water: collecting rainwater in tanks, stepwells and village ponds, reusing water from washing rice or vegetables to water plants, and not wasting water at festivals.
• Avoiding waste: eating on banana or sal-leaf plates, carrying cloth bags, mending and reusing clothes, and passing things on to younger siblings and neighbours.
• Food and farming: using cow dung as manure and fuel, composting kitchen waste, and avoiding fishing in the breeding season.
• Saving energy: switching off lights and fans, drying clothes in the sun, and walking or cycling for short trips.

Examples: sacred groves and tree worship, rainwater collection and reuse of water, leaf plates and cloth bags, composting and cow-dung manure, seasonal fishing bans, saving electricity.

• Use resources at a sustainable rate. Renewable resources should be used no faster than they regenerate, and non-renewable ones carefully, while we develop substitutes.
• Reduce pollution and waste. Treat industrial waste before releasing it. Cement factories, for example, should follow the Central Pollution Control Board's rules to cut dust and pollution. Reuse and recycle materials, as Nature does in its cycles that leave no waste.
• Choose sustainable materials and energy. Use local and traditional materials like stone and mud (as at Auroville), plant-based and recycled materials, and renewable energy like solar power.
• Think of people and fairness. Production should create local jobs and should not displace communities or harm their sacred places. It should also not leave some people without fair access to water and clean air.
• Think of future generations. We should act as stewards of Nature and work for the wellbeing of all (lokasangraha), not just our own present needs.

Produce at a pace Nature can sustain, cut pollution and waste, prefer sustainable materials and renewable energy, be fair to local people, and keep future generations in mind.