Going Green...Back to Basics...
It has been a really long time since I wrote in my blog, so my English could be a little rustic and out of sync with the intention of my thoughts but still I guess there is nothing wrong in trying.
I took a paper called “Green Management”, though I was skeptical on the breadth of the content, I was glad to know that there was much more to it than just the mostly failed green talks and Al gore videos. It talks about how corporations from developed economies mostly are taking accountability on a product even after its useful life cycle, it seems you can recycle your jeans and Nike shoes after you no longer use it. That is a good thing but they do most of their manufacturing in Asian countries like China and India and with no proper implementation of pollution related laws, it seems like these countries “produce” more green house gases and thus contribute heavily towards global warming.
It had other measures and initiatives taken in a more corporate/policy levels like carbon credits and carbon emission trading. It was all very informative and looks like there is so much going on in terms of containing global warming especially from a business point of view.
But I guess we need to go more basic than that to tackle meaningfully the problem of global warming. I am kind of having an vantage view point in terms of able to observe American and Indian lifestyles and that leads me to question the true intentions of the companies and how they are trying to cash in on this “trend” of “green culture”.
The other day I was watching TV ad about “going green” by using “reusable” lunch boxes and they showed a lunch box that we use in India to carry food to hospital or from a hotel in my grandfather’s time and claim it to be “green”. I definitely appreciate the effort but we have been doing the same things for centuries for want of resources.
The other thing is the ill treatment of trees by printing coupons, for everyone who has stayed in US knows that you get more coupons and ads than you can possibly use or buy and there is a big waste bin right next to the mailbox for discarding the same. I understand that coupons help you save but these mindless printing of paper ,just because you have resources ,even if its made from 10% recycled paper is total disregard for the environment.Atleast in India, if this happens, whether you buy the advertised item or not, you can sell the paper aka recycling.
There was a “green” campaign reusable coffee mugs and tumblers for “saving” earth here, the funny thing is we were doing the same thing sometime ago, till we decided to bring in plastic cups for roadside tea shops back home. Some times I really hope India does not “advance” in these terms because we will not be able to handle the burns and issues related to customs not like our own.
Traditionally in Indian culture, when you drink anything liquid, you should not be sipping the same rather pouring the same, this solved the dual problem of wastage and hygiene. I hope we stick to that and help save pollution on the roadside and elsewhere.
I hope in India, they advertise and encourage green habits whether traditionally followed or otherwise to educate people. The first lady appears in a public education campaign out here, I don’t think even an actor would do that in India except may be for AIDS campaign, I hope those actors and cricketers, who get crores for advertising coke and airtel, also consider educating their fans on these things, may be, and just may be they would listen to them and similarly in America, I hope they understand that there are other “people” living outside the US(the rest of the 95% people in the world) who would be just happy to have a single serving of food and water on their table.
I am not sure exactly how much percentage of Indian population has stayed in developed countries, I hope these people take back the good habits from Americans and not just the dollars,brands and photos. Sometimes technology helps and sometimes we should help technology by our usage and habits.
I know, I have used so many “hopes” but as we know,if there is no hope, there is no tomorrow.
Comments
actually, i had to read twice to understand the post. you may need to start writing more often again!
is the post trying to say that traditional indian culture was more responsible than the adopted western culture prevalent today? I do not want to debate the thought because any western aspects you say here are actually hear-say to me.
I do agree that actors could do campaigns on green habits. But who will pay them? When people return from the west, they put on such an accent and lifestyle that kinda leaves the common indian think they must be really rich and the rich has a certain lifestyle that these people cannot learn or use. So, people learning from the west and implementing here is not going to work for the foreseeable future. I do not want to generalize that too. But the percentages are small one way or the other to make a difference.
A large part of the responsibility falls on the schools and colleges, i'd say. you have to teach people when are still learning. we are so busy prepping for gre's and gmats or jees and aieees, that we don't quite learn anything relevant to living in a society.
Whatever i wrote is observable for me ,that is,it is surely not a heresay,you would probably notice the same if you were here!
Also,educating the young is not just the responsiblity of the education system;parents,TV etc play a major factor,as i said,educating about "going green" is done by TV ads here targeted towards the younger generations,we should atleast do that in India i strongly feel.
Thanks Abi :) for your honest comment,as i said,my english is very rustic i guess