The cry "Go Green" is more vehement and audible than ever before. In recent months (or may be years) articles about global warming have mushroomed in many popular newspapers and websites. Such advertising is a positive sign because nothing educates or influences people more than the media. Reaching out to people and educating them spawns individuals, activists and groups that can eventually join hands to tackle climate change. Individuals, NGOs and environmentalists have to come together to help people wake up to the reality of pollution and heating up of earth's atmosphere.
My concerns are specific to India where people are unmindful of effects of vehicular pollution, plastic bags, chemicals etc. In my view, plastics are the main culprits in global warming and pollution. In the west, usage of plastic bags is more prevalent (which is also a cause for great concern) but they are not littered around on roads, public parks and bus stops. In India, some of these public areas are grazing grounds and food sources for cows, dogs, birds and other domestic animals. Animals and birds can easily feed on plastic garbage and hence I see plastic bags as more dangerous to India than any other developed country. Gone are the days when local flower vendor used to wrap flowers in banana leaves....Gone are the days when people carried their own cloth/canvas bags for grocery shopping....Gone are the days when newspaper was preferred method of wrapping dry grocery products (On the flip-side, I dont like newspaper wrappers because they are not "cool". I don't want to carry my groceries wrapped in old newspapers. But fact is that paper is more environment friendly than plastic and newspapers can easily give way to "cool" paper bags.). Today, plastic bags are fancier to own....I have seen people asking for extra plastic bags from grocery/apparel shops as a gift when they shop big.
The other big culprit in pollution are chemicals - not just the chemical waste from factories, but also the ones used in cosmetics and cleaning agents. These chemicals have become a part of our everyday life and it is really hard to live without them once we get addicted. I cannot live without my hair gel, body spray or moisturizer. However, it is always possible to live in an educated way - conscious of effects of some chemicals and cosmetics. It is not hard to choose one brand of body spray over another if one is lesser pollutant than the other and if the same brand achieves the intended purpose of "beautification". It is not hard to take a canvas bag to buy our groceries. There are several ways to go green. We can go back to our old ways to discover future. We can go back to the future. In my "go green" quest I found (and received as forwards) several links that might be helpful for people wanting to contribute against climate change and pollution.....
1. www.treehugger.com is a complete repository of ways to go green - from your coffee to your car, you can live and die green.
2. Greenpeace International - to volunteer and campaign for "greening" your environment.
3. Cosmetics saftey database - to choose Old Spice over AXE or vice versa.
4. Dienviro - to green your home - from cleaning to eating.
My concerns are specific to India where people are unmindful of effects of vehicular pollution, plastic bags, chemicals etc. In my view, plastics are the main culprits in global warming and pollution. In the west, usage of plastic bags is more prevalent (which is also a cause for great concern) but they are not littered around on roads, public parks and bus stops. In India, some of these public areas are grazing grounds and food sources for cows, dogs, birds and other domestic animals. Animals and birds can easily feed on plastic garbage and hence I see plastic bags as more dangerous to India than any other developed country. Gone are the days when local flower vendor used to wrap flowers in banana leaves....Gone are the days when people carried their own cloth/canvas bags for grocery shopping....Gone are the days when newspaper was preferred method of wrapping dry grocery products (On the flip-side, I dont like newspaper wrappers because they are not "cool". I don't want to carry my groceries wrapped in old newspapers. But fact is that paper is more environment friendly than plastic and newspapers can easily give way to "cool" paper bags.). Today, plastic bags are fancier to own....I have seen people asking for extra plastic bags from grocery/apparel shops as a gift when they shop big.
The other big culprit in pollution are chemicals - not just the chemical waste from factories, but also the ones used in cosmetics and cleaning agents. These chemicals have become a part of our everyday life and it is really hard to live without them once we get addicted. I cannot live without my hair gel, body spray or moisturizer. However, it is always possible to live in an educated way - conscious of effects of some chemicals and cosmetics. It is not hard to choose one brand of body spray over another if one is lesser pollutant than the other and if the same brand achieves the intended purpose of "beautification". It is not hard to take a canvas bag to buy our groceries. There are several ways to go green. We can go back to our old ways to discover future. We can go back to the future. In my "go green" quest I found (and received as forwards) several links that might be helpful for people wanting to contribute against climate change and pollution.....
1. www.treehugger.com is a complete repository of ways to go green - from your coffee to your car, you can live and die green.
2. Greenpeace International - to volunteer and campaign for "greening" your environment.
3. Cosmetics saftey database - to choose Old Spice over AXE or vice versa.
4. Dienviro - to green your home - from cleaning to eating.
