'I'm upbeat about change'

Q&A: Dr Aarti Bhalla, Travel professional and environmentalist

Travel professional and environmentalist Dr Aarti Bhalla will train under Al Gore at an environmental summit, finds out Neha Bhatt

What led to your being selected for the Australia Asia Pacific Summit?
Environment has been my passion since childhood. At 22, I started going for treks, discovering the mountains and nature. I led groups on expeditions and now I do that as a profession. I love sharing my culture with travellers, meeting village heads and making them aware of the environment. It hits me that the government allots crores to clean up the environment — for something that is all dirt of our own making. The Australia Asia Pacific Summit — held this week — is important because the training will enable us to spread awareness about the climate crisis. The time is over for round table conferences.

We are faced with a climate crisis. What can we do?
As Al Gore says, “We are dangerously close to tipping points that would make it important to avoid irretrievable damage to the earth.” We need a sense of urgency and damage control cannot be left to environmental scientists and government bodies alone. Everybody hears about renewable energy but people are not instructed on how to make lifestyle changes. From reusing water from the washing machine to mop the floor, to not leaving the charger on plug point after your phone is charged, switching to natural products like water and old newspapers for cleaning purposes are small examples of adopting change. Follow the three R’s; reduce, reuse, recycle.

So, what next?
I want to mobilise political will to develop a movement. I’ll make presentations in sectors like hospitality, education, corporate and resident welfare associations to apply environment-friendly measures.

Is it hard to keep working when many around you aren’t interested in listening?
Thankfully, I’m a very positive person. When I was a child, I almost lost my life in a fire which made me a determined fighter. I’m upbeat about change. But one needs to reach out to people. If I put reminders online people might find it crazy but it will stop and make them think.