' My nation’s economy includes me.'
Very obvious, no?
Now, in the light of the subtle-if not severe-environmental shifts lets restate this as:
Now, in the light of the subtle-if not severe-environmental shifts lets restate this as:
'The planet includes us.'
Obviously it does! So what's the whole point?
Why I did state the above in a similar fashion is to bring to light the frequently missed but yet inevitable fusion of Human advancement and Pro-planet movements. It may be cleverly pictured as decades of Environmental activism getting imbibed into Business, Technology and Governance. All striving towards a better planet.
To begin with,let me take you on a mental odyssey. Picture a farmer pitching for organic agriculture, non-profits based around turning trash-to-cash, people zooming beside you in e-bikes and now coming to you.
Perhaps a decade down the line you may be a different person altogether,owning up a Green-home, doing well at a job to care for the planet and perhaps monitor your lifestyle for possible planet un-friendly acts.
Now come back to the present. Seems too good to be true? Probably not. What you just saw was nothing but a fusion of our life, our markets, our economy and of the pro-planet movements. Feel free to call it the Green Economy.
I am pretty sure that you know what you ought to do for the planet. Don't worry! I wouldn't load you with a list of do's and don'ts. But what I would surely like to do is to introduce to you some forward looking ideas which could elevate our planet from the burden of our mindless activities. Let's move then.
Service Economy. Yes! Service sector is set to swamp the entire industrial arena if we want a an immediate solution to our wasteful consumption trends. See it like this, isn’t the idea of giving in our soiled clothes for laundry for a regular sum much better than owning up a washing machine per se (which turns obsolete when a new product floods in)? Many would certainly agree.
Let’s see how this works for you & the planet. Now since you have the option to switch easily between he service-providers (which you couldn’t have done easily if you bought the products) you would be spurring development of better performance products. Couple this with the rising environmental awareness in consumers and voila! You transform an industry,marketing products to one providing services & in turn generate the willingness to invest in efficient products. Also, in the end it would save you and the industry some dollars & the planet from being dumped with remnants of our Use-and-Throw lifestyle.
Now imagine everything you use-your Car,Television,Furniture is all updated with the latest standards without you having to empty your pockets to buy the latest in the shelf. Great, isn’t it? Move an inch ahead and you could see the neediest of the people getting access to water, energy and shelter through the very same mechanism,Pay-as you-go. Pay-per-month solar lanterns and gallon based pricing for filtered water is already a reality in India. It’s not just the social progress that these innovations offer but also the advantage of effectively weaning people away from the environmental destruction,they have been forced to commit for the very need of survival.
The next big revolution could be Frugal Innovation. Gone are the days when technological solutions came only from the labs. And why so? Being planet friendly doesn't simply mean installing sensors to automate your home lighting to say: Yes! We are energy conscious. No! really, turning to tech for the simplest of the jobs drags us into a vicious circle which makes us believe that ‘Better tech = Greener Planet.’ Hey! I am not intending to go back to the forests (No way!) but the point I wish to make is simply that:
The Environment needs Innovations derived from Itself.
Let me enlarge on this. Would you be surprised if I tell you that a husk(outer covering of rice kernel) based electricity plant running on indigenous technology is spreading faster in rural India than the universal solar energy? Or If a village (Ralegan Siddhi,India)made a crossover from a ecological disaster to an object of international appreciation all through independent efforts? Probably yes. What it means for you?
Let me share a personal story on this. In my goody childhood days I often wondered upon ideas to cool down my room at our home against the sweltering hot winds coming from the window. I certainly dint want to install an air-conditioner! What I did was to tie an old bed-cloth across the window from the outside and use the water trickling down from the air-conditioner on the first floor to keep it moist & cool the winds.Isn't it giving you a hint that to go green,we need to look around first before emptying our wallets!
I believe this is probably how YOU can include the GREEN ECONOMY within yourself before it catches up with you,eventually.
Let me share a personal story on this. In my goody childhood days I often wondered upon ideas to cool down my room at our home against the sweltering hot winds coming from the window. I certainly dint want to install an air-conditioner! What I did was to tie an old bed-cloth across the window from the outside and use the water trickling down from the air-conditioner on the first floor to keep it moist & cool the winds.Isn't it giving you a hint that to go green,we need to look around first before emptying our wallets!
I believe this is probably how YOU can include the GREEN ECONOMY within yourself before it catches up with you,eventually.
In sum the world and its economy is set to go Green(or just perish,sorry!) : creating Jobs to cater to the Planet,giving rise to new kind Businesses,transforming our Lifestyle and the list just goes on.Truly! Its We,You and Me who only could spark and support this revolution.
Though in this race we cannot afford to muss the Right of All(I know you got my point) to Progress.
Let me close down with some food for your Green-thumb:
"Every Act Small or Big Counts Not Just By Its Impact But By The Inspiration It Generates."
Go Vegan and help to take care of the planet.
ReplyDeleteWell written. Keep it up.
I do agree with the fact that small actions are starting pointing but in a country where I live they are actually gravestones. People switch off the lights on some fancy day but failed to demand transition from polluting source of energy to renewable.One major source of transition to green economy is decentralized democracy where local governance sources are more powerful than the state and it's supra-state machinery which is highly sophisticated and mostly inefficient. As a path to Green economy green governance is needed without it transition is not at all possible whether we campaign on small or large scale, switch lights etc. Green governance will come from the decentralized democracy which Bapu always referred to.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little we had khus tied to our window to cool our homes. Homes that had good ventilation. But now ventilation and homes are not to be spoken in one breath but two different things. How many can afford one home at all and that too with ventilation. Rice husk for electricity is a good option but what happens to cow feed? Actually there are no easy answers and the struggle has to continue. There is nothing wrong with air conditioning but then use it judicially and most importantly have good technology.
ReplyDeleteInnovate and integrate with new technology. Learn from where research has already been done and leap frog to find the best suited technology. There is no one fit for all solution. And technology to better people's lives has to keep all this in mind.
Localised governance as per need (as Kabir points out) is the need. The Mahatma talked about Gram Swaraj and that hold true till date. Rather the world and its fancy banks are discovering or redicovering this. Green tech / green economy are words that are not mere words but philosophy that goes beyond not using air conditioning and the usual simplistic solutions. It is a religion and a way of life.