“I’m currently in my gaaon ka ghar which is situated in the interiors of Maharashtra,” says Raveena Tandon. Away from the concrete jungle, she is spending her time cycling around her rural neighbourhood, enjoying the fresh air and engaging in plastic clean-up drives. She believes that it’s her responsibility to educate the village locals about the perils of plastic.

“Slowly and steadily, we need to make people aware about the destructive nature of plastic and the trouble it is causing to our environment and oceans. We’ve reached a dangerous place and we need to conserve whatever little is left of the nature,” she says.

Tandon shares that the past few years saw her shifting to a more eco-friendly way of living: “Both here and in Mumbai, we’ve shifted to solar power. We’ve also created separate tanks for rain water harvesting. We use that water to water plants. Anil (Thadani; husband) and I carpool most of the times. If we have to go in and around the vicinity, we use the same car. And this Environment Day, I’ve ordered about a thousand plants and I’ll be doing a drive in and around my gaaon ka ghar. ”

Stressing on the importance of recycling and the need to opt for organic food items, the Shab (2017) actor says, “I try and recycle almost about everything, right from old chairs to newspapers. In our home in Mumbai, we’ve gone as organic as possible. From vegetables and fruits to shampoos, soaps and linen, my entire family has begun using organic products.”

Tandon rues the lack of political will which is stopping environmental conservation from being a part of the mainstream discourse. “There is a need for development but it has to go hand in hand with conservation. Wherever there is a forest area and wildlife, we need to leave that place alone. We need to convert barren lands into green lands and then make commercial areas around that place. There needs to a political will to save this planet. One must also teach our future generations to protect the planet from the harm that we have already done,” she ends.