What would it take for Green to transform itself from an activist fad to a mainstream reality? And change our lives back to what they were always meant to be?
No thank you,” firmly stated my 12- year-old when the shopkeeper offered to put his acquisitions into a plastic bag. “And you shouldn’t keep plastic bags in your shop, when you’re claiming to be environment friendly,” he added, before gathering up his shopping in his arms and trudging to the car.
That was eight summers ago.
Today, as I notice the absence of plastic bags in most shops I visit, I marvel at the way the not-so-big-issue from less than a decade ago has made inroads into our everyday lives. The tipping point has been achieved and, at least in our attitude towards plastic, activism green has made the cut to mainstream green. Our children did us in. So today, when I read about an on-the-spot fine being levied on use of plastic bags, or about the discovery of a new biodegradable plant-generated plastic, I’m not surprised. Plastic had a head-start, with our children taking up its cause. And effect.
Today, environmental concerns are as passionately discussed by sixth-graders as by policy makers across the world. Yes, in India we may not be as vocal or active in our green concerns as our counterparts in the materially developed world; but we’re becoming more aware by the minute. And, perhaps, we’re one up, as we never went the whole consumerist way, and have less of a road to travel back to get to our roots.
Every couple of decades, new issues arise that are pertinent to the times we live in. Just like we lived in fear of nuclear warfare in the seventies and eighties, the great issue of our times is how to make this world safer and more bountiful for our children, and our children’s children. And this concern is real. To put it harshly, the concern is simply how to save our children and grandchildren from unnatural, undeserved extinction. Macabre as this may seem, it would be fair and accurate to say there are no two ways about it: the rivers are drying up; the gas reserves are diminishing; the layers of the earth are getting disturbed all too often; the air is becoming more polluted; and the vegetation is thinning. All this while, the buildings get bigger and taller; the cars become bigger and faster; the food gets more refined and processed; and the technology to make our lives easier, lazier and more comfortable, becomes better and better.
Having thoughtlessly contributed to the current scenario through our everyday acts (adding an extra dose of carbon to the planet even as we deplete its resource count) we are just as much partners in guilt as is the air-polluting industrialist whose factory constantly spews polluting gases into the atmosphere. It only seems right, therefore, that you and I do our bit to save the planet for the generations to come.
Though the problem may loom large and dramatic, no dramatic or knee-jerk solutions will reverse the damage done over the last few decades. The change has to seep through each little act that makes our lifestyle what it is. We will have to change where and how we live; what we eat, wear, drive; and, most importantly, change our mindsets and thought processes – the actual drivers of who we are. It all adds up. The change has to be real and mainstream if we want to see the grey around us turn green.
I would like to state upfront that I do not decry green activism. Activism has its uses and, often, as in the case of the Chipko movement, or more recently the Narmada dam issue, serves as a shrill wake up call to the slumbering authorities. Activism serves to arouse, alert, and even alarm where necessary; but where it fails is in the way it places its bets on extremist actions rather than mainstream practicality. The actions of the activist have to inspire change in regular people leading regular lives. Often, the aggression associated with activism causes regular folk to draw back. Very few people want to be thought of as a nuisance to society, or make a big noise for nothing. Activism needs to urge one to take up the issue in the everyday humdrum of one’s lives. Only then does effective change happen.
To make the change from an unknowing, thoughtless, ‘non-green’ lifestyle to an aware and thoughtful one, the mistake we cannot make is to reject blindly anything that spells consumption or development. Going back to nature need not necessarily mean rejecting all the comforts that have come to us through technological advancements over the years. No, I’m not selling out. I’m merely advocating aware and responsible consumption – a concept most people don’t realise still exists. Agreed, this middle path is a tough tightrope to walk, even for the more conscientious of us. Do I take out my jeep, or do I drive a small energy-efficient, status non-friendly car? Do I eat the calorie-reducing organic food that may have traveled from far, or do I eat locally grown produce? Do I switch on the air-conditioner or do I make do with a water cooler?
The challenges are many, and once you sit down to analyse your life, you may find you face them at every step. The impressive thing, though, is that each one of these challenges can be met. Life can still be comfortable – with the bonus of being meaningful and sustainable at the same time. Responsible luxury is the mantra – with the definition of luxury doing an about-turn. Simple, thoughtful acts can help achieve the seemingly impossible magical balancing act.
Let’s begin with the spaces we live in – the factor that affects where and how we live, work, commune, and play. If a building is designed in consonance with nature – harnessing natural resources like sunlight and wind direction to give our bodies a natural stimulus, relaxation and rejuvenation – we will need to rely very minimally on artificial sources of energy that depletes natural resources and introduces pollution. When buildings use natural and local materials, the impact on the environment is minimised, and the visual aesthetic is one that is in consonance with the surroundings. So, when building a home, an office, a club, or even a park, you and your architect need not go in for traditional building techniques: modern environmentalism has already begun to encapsulate modern building materials, new age skyscrapers, and futuristic architectural ideas. All these can help ensure that the environment can play an important part in the creation of your ‘space’ without making your home or office look like a hippiehut in the middle of the Congo.
For those of us who live in pre-constructed apartments and high-rises, a few changes here and there – like the utilisation of available sunlight through daylight harvesting, managing water, and available wind, bringing in greens, and managing waste – can make all the difference between a grey and a green lifestyle. Extending from where we live, to what we eat and wear, how we rejuvenate ourselves and how we commute and travel, are other indicators of a green or non-green lifestyle.
If we can be aware, organic, natural, and local in all these aspects, green will not evade us. Natural, unprocessed, locally grown, and the organic keep us in natural health – and, it’s not too tough a call. Just find the will-power not to eye the California grown ‘Pink Lady Apple’ at your local fruit vendor!
When you go looking for that fabulous dress, remember organic is in fashion. Natural fabrics, hand-spun, hand-embellished, designed with international silhouettes and trends in mind, is the way to go. Another global trend that is emerging very quickly in India is that of holidaying and rejuvenating in home-grown resorts, boutique eco-hotels, and nature resorts. Big hotels will lose out unless they pull up their green socks!
Moving on to local travel and its undeniable impact on the immediate environment, it may not be untrue to state that the auto-centric development of the last few decades may not have left us with very many options. However, if the overhead cycle tracks being built in Toronto are an indication of a new trend that has come to stay, then biking definitely comes out on top. Of course, despite the BRT cycle projects initiated by the Indian government, our traffic may not be the most conducive to free-spirited cycling to work. However, cycling to the shops, to the main road to drop your child to catch the school bus, to the club, or within the colony, are definitely some easily available options. Besides the fact that you’ve chosen a healthy, low-carbon alternative transportation, you will also enjoy the monetary benefits that come from joining the two-wheel commuters. If all this is not very practical for you and you must commute on four wheels, there are always the hybrid and electrical varieties to choose from. George Clooney, Julia Roberts and dozens of Hollywood celebrities drive a Prius, don’t they? And if you can’t afford that, a smaller car that gives more mileage than a giant gas-guzzling automobile is always better – provided, of course, that you can slay the status-related demon first.
Thus, it actually boils down to tackling your mindset first. Think green. Acting green will follow… and, naturally. Responsive, sensitive actions result in a responsible and sustainable green lifestyle. Awareness is the key and, in today’s world, there is no excuse for ignorance. The technological advances in green have led to major trends upping the green quotient in today’s lifestyles. So, if like James Lovelock, you feel one with the planet, you may actually be taking the most significant step for mankind by turning green in your everyday life. And, if each of us were to take that call, the green numbers will progressively increase.
Of course, for the green movement to become truly ‘mainstream’ requires a critical mass of practitioners. And, no doubt in a country where the sole aim of the masses is to get two meals for themselves and their families, being green is irrelevant. Yet, when leaders, policy makers, policy executioners, business houses, opinion makers, and educated and aware citizens manage to create circumstances for the flowering of green, the effect is bound to trickle down. And, all this will be helped by man’s inherent aspirational nature, and guided by our collective, traditional wisdom. After all, even a Cameron had to turn to traditional Indian wisdom to create an edifice for his mind-boggling-to-the-west Avatar. We can do it locally!
Haraa’s mainstream Dos and Don’ts
- Low on waste generation, high on waste management
- Low on consumption of energy, high on using technology for alternative energy generation
- Low on water and oil consumption, high on solar and wind energy consumption.
- Be a locavore – eat local produce, work locally, build from local materials.
- Think of the impact of every new acquisition on the people who matter. It will help you choose wisely.
- Be receptive to nature – and emulate it
- Look at the larger picture, always.
