veena_warrens_blog: Being Green...I am not nuts...

veena_warrens_blog: Being Green...I am not nuts...

Being Green...I am not nuts...

Our Exchange recently started a new initiative on "going green".  It is now a corporate social responsbility for Corporates to protect and sustain the environment.  Whatever the other reasons, the main being that we should responsibily use the resources of which we are guardians.   As the group got formed and many people volunteered to be part of the group the enthusiasm caught on.  At first I didn't want to be a part of the group, for the pure reason that every committment demands time and I am one person who is short on time....what with home and work and the kids.. Warren ofcourse did not hesistate because this is a project that has always been close to his heart.  He had even won an award for the "Best suggestion" on a competition that was floated by the SWC to help the Exchange achieve their green goals.  Needless to say, he wanted this very badly....this was a test of how good he measured himself to be....Ofcourse the award just added a feather to his cap. 

Going forward...as I said the group was formed and projects decided upon...I was roped to help with the mailers and the creative stuff etc.   A Green evening was planned on 12-Nov-2010. Initially the team was looking for a host for the evening...eventually when things didn't work out...I volunteered.  Not wanting to associate, but having to be the hostess, I had to know what I was speaking about.  So I started looking up and reading what it meant being "green".  From there began a commitment to being green...that has challenged me to look inward about the way we live our lives and why is this "Being Green" suddenly assumed enormous proportions for the world and for every one...starting from Green Peace to various activists the world over.

Of the many reasons cited ....one of the prime reasons is "human activity"...in its various forms.  While we were deciding on the many initiatives that could help us make the world a greener place and take tiny steps to achieving that goal...I noticed many people scoffed at the idea of being green and the work we were doing.  Needless to say I guess many projects world over may have had their share of critics...Al Gore too had the same problem when he spoke about "Global Warming"... the US Congress thought he was nuts and blowing out of proporotions the threat of "Global Warming".

Something of the sort happened to us too....The first thing that we are still struggling with is breaking the myth that being green doesn't mean making a drastic change in your life style.  That you don't have to stop all that you are doing and go back to the caveman era. 

The problem of world is that we are so used to the luxury that has become part of our lives that shunning it is harakiri...

My favourite argument has always been against people who quote that one of the reasons of the problems of the world is the huge population.  The population of the world has only in the recent century crossed 6 billion.  For the earlier centuries this had never crossed 1 billion, despite the fact that people definitely had more than 2 children. However, those days were different.  People had to walk miles to reach anywhere....to get water one had to walk to the water sources.  In general people's lives were filled with laborious tasks and their was little time for luxury.

Look at ourselves today...we are not short of anything we want. We drive to wherever we want. We have water running from our taps 24X7.  We take a shower or soak in a tub full of water when we want to bathe. When we are sick we have healthcare that ensure that we are well again.  We have phones to communicate.  We have paper to write.  We have electricity for our homes. We have fuel for our cars and for our stoves. Everything at our doorstep...twice much the reason to waste and not to give a thought for those we are still struggling with these basic necessities.

Population rise is basically a reason for the better quality of life we have today.  Population rise was not possible earlier, because of disease outbreak and bad sanitation. How can we say that population is a problem...people have right to be born ...the earth has the first right to life...not the technology that we have unleashed on it today....sucking it dry for our needs. We should me more thankful for the things and luxuries we have today that were not a part of our ancestors lives.  They lived a strong, laborious and more fuller lives, toiling and struggling and forging things out of nothing.  Yet, in the 7000 to 8000 years, the earth has never been threatened like it is today.  If we are more careful in the way we live today...we can ensure that the world has enough for everyone's needs and not merely to satisfy the greed.  According to me, the real reason of the worlds disaster is "luxury" which is the new mantra and not "hard work" which the human body was built for!  Ever wonder why those who toil by the sweat of their brow and the labour of their bare hands last more seasons that the one who has all luxury in his life?

All is not lost...if we can only make minor changes to our lives and ensure that we are responsible in the way we consume resources and truly feel that we are guardians of our planet ...then we can make a difference...else there is not other home in this entire galaxy that can satisfy our hunger when we have finished ravaging the earth...