ENOUGHISM : NON CONVENTIONAL BUT EFFECTIVE APPROCAH TOWRADS CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES

“They have succeeded in accumulating a greater mass of objects, but the joy in the world has grown less.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky ( The Brothers Karamazov)

Of late there has been enormous focus followed by some genuine and concrete actions towards conservation of natural resources for the posterity. The approach of sustainability mainly towards exploitation of resources is not only the  need of the hour but has to be given top priority right from contribution/action at individual level and even compromising  personal satisfaction or little of our greed. One of such non- traditional approaches is the path of enoughism - a concept based on less spending and rational or controlled buying by the consumer. In other words enoughism is just opposite to the Consumerism – a concept based on increasing consumption of goods.

There are diverse and strong point of views both for and against the consumerism. One of the strongest points supporting the consumerism lies in its capability to provide immense happiness and feeling of possession.

Continued development of human knowledge which resulted into improved technological interventions has not only facilitated the delivery of diverse goods for daily uses albeit at a very fast rate of exploitation of resources  but also helped to provide an immense services for  the mankind. A report of the World Watch, 1989 estimates that world’s people have consumed as many goods and services since 1950 as all the previous generations put together.  This has same time allowed the businesses to grow and economies of the Nations to proliferate like anything. The darker side of this has been the degradation of environmental conditions and scarcity of resources especially nonrenewable ones.

The developed countries having witnessed the best of material growth have now started to explore the alternatives and ways for the conservation of resources. Enoughism is now becoming the talk of the town and one of the approaches towards this.

India with its rational approach towards the utilization of resources has been the crusader for the environmental conservation since times immemorial. The biggest living example of this was Mahatma Gandhi who was known for his simple life style and contained needs (a simple dhoti and a wooden sandal) .Mahatma Gandhi like a practicing environmentalist realized the importance of environmental problems and sustainability which we are facing today. That’s why he cautioned us to be careful about the use of resources which are sufficient only for the needs of the human beings and not for the greed. 

It has been now realized that though there have been the availability of greater choices and access to vide range of goods due to economic growth but this does not necessarily brings more happiness. In such a case the practice of grading the Nations based on the economic parameter like GDP is nothing but a step to maintain the economic preferences duly according less priority to issues like environment and social well-being. Considering the farsighted goal of sustainability of resources, the blind adoption and support of materialistic approach can only be ephemeral in long run. The conventional approaches of conservation of resources have not been really very effective due to various/ obvious reasons and major one being the  step motherly treatment and lackadaisical attitude among policy makers and planners .  Entry of other non-conventional interventions like enoughism and moderating our life style which may not be easy to follow but once adopted have the real and log lasting solution for a sustainable life style.

Let’s resolve today by taking a pledge that we will moderate our consumption and will allow our inner conscience to act instead of being influenced by marketing gimmicks of advertisers. Let happiness not be judged and weighed by what you possess physically.

GREEN WASHING : A SOPHISTICATED WAY OF CAMOUFLAGING ENVIRONMENTAL MISDEEDS.

Developmental activities which are an integral part  of Corporate World  have been in the  centre stage of discussion specially in the context of sustainable development . 4 decades back in Stockholm in 1972 we started discussing seriously the negative impact of various developmental activities on the environment. UN conference on the Human Environment or Stockholm conference that led to creation of UN Environment Program followed by different initiatives  started by  different Nations centring around the conservation of Environment.

It is very well known fact that there is continuous need of various developmental interventions many of which are  much required for the very existence of human race. Corporate World has adopted various strategies to sustain the demand of their products and advertising their products is one of the most important strategies. It is a fact that consumerism has been greatly influenced or developed by the advertising action of the business. Its really surprising to know that the Corporate world has identified the importance of being environment friendly even before the starting of UN conference on the Human Environment or Stockholm conference in 1972. Two years before  on 22nd April 1970,  the first Earth Day  was held on April 22, 1970 where it was decided by  many industrialists  to advertise themselves as being friendly to the environment. According to as estimate, Public utilities spent 300 million dollars advertising themselves as clean and  green companies basically to lure the consumers in the name of eco-friendly or green product or conservation of nature.

In the latest  WWF Living Planet Report 2012 the impact of Corporate advertising is quantified stating  “Corporate advertising converts our insecurities into a chain of wants, needs and excessive demands, which have made our ecological footprint exceed the planet's ability to produce resources and absorb emissions — by more than 50%” . So in other words the greed of getting more profit from the businesses of the Corporates is resulting into exhausting of resources at an alarming rate.

The other aspect of “consumerism – advertising relation” is the increased trend of green washing by the corporate world and the enhanced level of awareness in the area  of environmental conservation is main factor for the green washing. With the back ground of consideration for environment the green washing is now becoming the core agenda of advertising for more and more corporates.

The problem with the green washing is that for many of the businesses this environmentalism is not more than a routine and business slogan and a few of them only are committed and concerned towards the environment.

The biggest challenge for the Consumer or Citizen in this context is to identify between companies having genuine concern and those camouflaging their actions with green levels.

Equally pondering fact related to green washing is that money being spent on the green washing is 8 to 10 times more than the money earmarked for the  conservation or environmental protection/ mitigation  measures like pollution control or related research activities .

Whatsoever may be the dynamics of advertised induced consumerism and green washing; the ultimate loss is for the planet earth and its resources.

How can we alienate ourselves from this nexus or look behind the green façade to know the facts?

What is your opinion?

Consumerism: A New Disease of Developing Countries

The latest study conducted by the psychologists of Northwestern University relating to consumerism confirms the vanity of human wishes including materialism and consumerism. (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/consumerism-and-its-antisocial-effects-can-be-turned-onor-off.html ).The research shows that that people who place a high value on wealth, status, and stuff are more depressed and anxious and less sociable than those who do not. Apart from above worthlessness of these values which are on the top of the wish list of every one in today’s world, the Consumerism and materialism influence the human attitude to act in a ways which are less ecologically beneficial and indirectly force human being to behave in less social manner.

 "The more we consume, the happier we will be. Or so we like to believe. But for the planet, it's disastrous." - George Monbiot .

The simple indicator reflecting the surging economic growth of developing countries including India is the number of millionaires and Billionaires. There were 85000 millionaires in India in 2005 which rose to 153000 in 2011 apart from having   55 Billionaires (2011).  However on the other side we are witnessing the continued degradation of environmental conditions, over exploitation , social unrest, corruption and other socio-environmental problems. These offshoots of growing economies are one of the major challenges which the developing countries are going to face in coming years.

 So we have a bigger question to ask.

What kind of life style we shall adopt?

One that is full with high materialistic value, consumerism and supporting exploiting of resources unmindful........ 

or 

the one that is socially just, responsible, environmental friendly and rational in  consumerism..

SUSTAINABILITY: Oh. Environment !! Who cares ?

The concept of sustainability was adopted in 1969   by IUCN but a formal approval to this term was given  in 1972 during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm when the conflicts between environment and development were first acknowledged. A standard definition of Sustainability was adopted  during World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 where  economic development, social development and environmental protection were recognized  as three pillars  and collective responsibility  and mutually interdependent actions at local, national, regional and global levels to advance and strengthen these three reinforcing pillars of sustainable development  were  identified as core area of action.

Development of technology has also facilitated the economic growth . Apart from meeting the genuine demands of population growing at exponential rate , the increased trends of consumerism and materialism have affected the demand regime fuelling for further development of market. This process of development, which started germinating its seeds into the mind of Homo sapiens about 2 lakhs years ago, accelerated all processes leading into change of all ecosystems of the world in a gradual but sure manner. Technological advancements leading to economic changes , socio- ecological combinations and complexities  leading to organizational transformation of  communities and communication processes have helped man to reach the present stage .However the process has severely influenced the resource base and also resulted into unprecedented environmental damage in the form of pollution of various kinds, degradation of precious lands resources and depletion of valuable plants and animals.

The other important concept of sustainable development is social sector where the concept of equity is envisaged to deal all the challenges arising out of increased economic growth  which is not equal in all parts of the Globe. Whether it is health, education, food security or any other sector related to social well being of  the community , the Govt/States are playing crucial role  to provide necessary inputs, though the other reason behind this is to sustain the political interests which is very common in a democratic system like ours and where the people as an electorate play crucial role at frequent intervals. It is also  true that in spite of continued efforts towards improvement of  social sectors for the last 50 years, the results of these interventions have not been very encouraging mainly due to poor delivery mechanism , lack of interest and commitment leading into administrative incapacities apart from  faulty implementation of the programmes.

Environmental  conservation is  being considered  very crucial not only for the overall survival of the man kind but also for the intergenerational needs. Recent phenomenon of climate change and related problems  including global warming has made the amelioration and conservation of environment arduous and challenging. To counter this  additional problem, there is need to have  much emphasis  towards  technological innovations and  financial support which is somehow missing in  the present system of governance .

One  the major factors which is not making the environment sector eligible for the required patronage and subject of priority at various levels including political parlance is the intangible benefits arising out of it. Be it  a quality water to drink  or fresh air to breathe  or  non-degraded land to support agriculture or allied activities  or  precious forests for multifarious benefits , these issues have no potential for registering their importance in the minds of political bosses and there is bleak future of improvement of this sector unless concentrated efforts , political will translating into improved budgetary allocations and suitable technologies are infused into present environment sector which is badly  crippled and  ailing. Till the present trend of neglect, less priority and implementation bottlenecks coupled with institutional deformities like corruption and accountabilities  related to Environment  continue, it may not wise to expect any desirable outcome as envisaged for a true sustainable model of development .

There is need to  bring a change in the attitude of all the concerned including those  who play a crucial role in the conservation of environment  by putting extra efforts  and changing the present attitude  of shrugging off responsibilities and  according  least priority to this sector. The “who cares” attitude  needs to be replaced  with the  “We all care” only then we may able to expect a visible and required impact in this directions which is  very much required not only for present generations but  for the generations to come.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are exclusively mine and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency/government.)

Greenest people having most polluted Cities: India’s Air Pollution

I felt quite happy reading an article of Mr. Bhagwad on his blog (http://www.bhagwad.com/blog/2010/environment/climate-change/myth-of-the-environmentally-irresponsible-indian.html/) citing one study carried out by National Geographic in association with GlobeScan ranking the greatest people across the Globe. To my surprise and happiness Indians were ranked as the greenest people in the world for the third time. However my happiness was quite short lived, once I came across one study related to Environmental performance Index (EPI) for the year 2012 taken up by Yale and Columbia Universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. 22 indicators across ten major policy categories including air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity, and forest management were selected for this study. In the EPI ranking, Switzerland with 76.69 score got top rank followed by Latvia, Norway, Luxembourg and Costa Rica under strongest performers category . This was not a good report for the India . Ranked at 125 with 36.23 score, she got listed in the category of weakest performers along with Tajikistan , Iran, Iraq and south Africa.

In another significant study , carried out by World Health organization (WHO) regarding the most polluted Cities of the World,India again got it's two cities included in the list of 10 most air polluted cities of the world.

1. Ahwaz, Iran

2. Ulan Bator, Mongolia

3. Sanadaj, Iran

4. Ludhiana, India

5. Quetta, Pakistan

6. Kermanshah, Iran

7. Peshawar, Pakistan

8. Gaberone, Botswana

9. Yasouj, Iran

10. Kanpor, India

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/air_pollution_20110926/ en/index.html

This study was based on the status of PM10(Particulate Matter 10) an indicator of availability of fine particles of dust and other pollutants less than 10 micron in size which are responsible for a variety of diseases related to Upper respiratory tracts like Asthma, Cough, Cold, and also found to be carcinogenic in many cases. It is also estimated that more than 2 millions people die every year from breathing in tiny particles present in indoor and outdoor air pollution. As per WHO, air quality guidelines for PM10 20 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) is as an annual average but as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB ) guidelines the permissible limit of PM10 is 60 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3).

(http://cpcb.nic.in/National_Ambient_Air_Quality_Standards.php)

The status of other cities having PM 10 more than permissible limit of 60 µg/m3 is as follows.

City	Annual Mean PM 10 (µg/m3).
Ahmedabad	80
Nashik	80
Surat	81
Hyderabad	87
Visakhapatnam	87
Rajkot	89
Bangalore	90
Vijayawada	91
Bhopal	93
Nagpur	98
Pune	99
Jaipur	112
Meerut	115
Patna	120
Allahabad	128
Dhanbad	131
Mumbai	132
Jabalpur	136
Faridabad	139
Kolkata	148
Agra	165
Indore	174
Lucknow	186
Delhi	198
Kanpur	209
Ludhiana	251

The ranking of Ludhiana (known for its automobile industries) and Kanpur (for it leather industries) with PM10 limits of 251 and 209 µg/m3 respectively not only speaks about the deteriorated and lethal quality of air but also the effectiveness of regulatory bodies like State Pollution Control Boards and other govt. institutions. Lack of strong and environmentally sensitive political will always be a guiding factor for the improvement or deterioration of such state of affairs.

TIGERS or TRIBALS: What to choose & what to lose?

So India lost 367 sqkm of forests in 2 years, out of which281 sq km of forest cover was lost in Andhra Pradesh. As per the latest report, the on-going naxalite activities in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh are squarely blamed for this state if affairs as 182 sqkm of forest lost in Andhra Pradesh pertains to Khammam district known for leftist activities.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article2869267.ece

This report has not only generated lot of discussion among the environmentalists, concerned citizens and officials for further depletion of already dwindling resources, same time conflicting opinions are being advocated for this problem.

A few of these are listed below.

1. The main reason for this situation is clearing of forests by local tribals to prove their claim over the forest lands so that they can be benefitted under recently promulgated Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Andhra Pradesh is one of the States implementing this Act very effectively.

2. There are many areas where the felling of mature plantations of Teak, Eucalyptus etc. was also taken up under the approved working plans resulting into display of clear patches in aerial photography.

3. Illegal felling of forest area under the support of leftist or other anti-social elements is also one of the reasons.

Whatsoever the reasons we may cite for the depletion of forests by the local tribals, a candid analysis points at only policy and management of government programmes. In spite of adequate allocation of funds and legal safeguards/supports and protection in the form of reservations and mandatory allocation of funds, the developmental activities and schemes are not percolating down to the lowest and needy individuals for the last 50 years. The lack of access to developmental activities and marginalization of poor in distribution of resources which are the corner stones for a sustainable and environmental friendly development , has only compelled the poor including tribals to exploit the adjacent forests which is only resources accessible to them and from which they eak-out their livelihoods

According to one latest survey under taken up by Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), there is inequality in the efforts made to prevent people from poverty and get them out of it. The numerous are inadequate and insufficient.

(http://infochangeindia.org/poverty/books-reports/why-poor-rural-tribals-will-remain-poor-for-generations.html) .

Of the 29 poverty alleviation programmes studied in the survey, only nine could prevent people from falling into the poverty trap. Thirteen could enable escape from poverty and 16 could alleviate chronic poverty. Consequently, says Shashanka Bhide, a senior fellow of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, a significant proportion of non-poor households may fall into poverty while a large proportion of poor may not manage to escape it. The result in case of forest dependent tribal communities, more and more forests are cleared in order to eking out their livelihoods. The poor remains poor for generations. So the question arises when we are not able to improve the conditions of tribals and aboriginal communities in spite of so many interventions/ experimentations , is it possible to conserve the wild -life specially tiger which is an indicator species of a balanced and perfect ecosystem and the tribals are one of the integral parts of this ecosystem ?

When discussing the status of Wildlife particularly the number of Tigers in the Country, tremendous concern for this matter has been shown not only by the media, officials and environmentalists but also by the general public.. Though the currents census of tigers has indicated an improved population of 1706 against the 1411 in 2007.

( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12877560).

However in case of any incidence of death of a tiger and a leopard to that matter there is genuine response from all sections of the society which is appreciable but the hard fact remains that such concern and response fizzle out very fast. Very quickly we forget these issues be it forests or tigers or pollution.

Rapid urbanisation, multifarious demands of population that is increasing at exponential rate and industrialisation has to follow the rapid and fast mode of development. This developmental process demands exploitation of resources at a rate which is unusually fast. Forests resources of the world had already been easy target of this process. Moreover Forests never had been an important agenda at political parlance. Supposing if all trees would have a voting power then the scene would have been entirely different .The on-going programmes and schemes of the Government aiming at improving the forest cover of the country are not at all sufficient to counter the total impact and pressure of all on-going developmental activities including pressure on existing land/forests for various purposes .Apart from providing a higher budgetary allocation there is need to inculcate a sense and positive approach towards environmental conservation among our policy makers and programme implementing agencies at various levels including forest departments. Otherwise we will be always fighting the battle of survival of forests and tribals at one forum and the dwindling number of tigers at other forum in isolation while the solution is very simple. Conserve and improve the forest resources, it will provide more livelihood opportunities for tribals; such a system will be always conducive for the growth of the tigers, a species indicating the health of a balanced and ideal environment.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are exclusively mine and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency/government.)

Is Community Cleanliness in India is of very low standards?

While going through one of the references related to Environment and Culture, I came across one article by Mr. David Leuthold (1989) related to culture and environment wherein he has correlated the reason of lower grade of Community cleanliness in India to its relegating to lower classes in the pa st. He further states that “ ..Hindus were very careful about their personal cleanliness, but had little concern about community cleanliness”. This statement initially puzzled me mainly because someone else commented badly about our Country and its culture. Nevertheless the existing scenario in this regard is also not worthy to refute the above statement.

This aspect is more relevant in current situations wherein most of us are not much bothered about the community cleanliness. (Who has the time? a stereotype but acerbic answer).Moreover the changed life style and increased consumption and consumerism have resulted into waste generation of the first magnitude. The situation is more pathetic in Metropolitan Cities including modern multi storied complexes/megacities where the disposal of solid waste (mainly municipal waste) has become one of the burning problems both for the civic authorities and citizens.

India’s urban population which was around 62 million in 1951 has been increased about 5 times in 50 years (285 million in 2001) and likely to cross 500 million by 2021.Such an alarming growth is bound to increase the waste generation especially in urban areas. The present per capita waste generation is estimated to be between 0.3 to 0.6 kg/day which makes our daily waste production more than 1.5 lakh MT and annual production around 60 MT.

The current trend of population growth is growing to increase the waste generation proportionately and causing a huge problem of waste disposal apart from the pressure on the existing land for its disposal. As per one report,more than 1400 sq. km of land would be required by the end of 2047 for waste disposal only .

The interesting thing about municipal solid waste is that around 50 % of the waste is of bio-degradable category, so if it is handled with little care and efforts, half of the waste being generated in our cities can be converted into manure by composting. This is possible only by one simple but sensible action of segregating waste at source and its proper disposal. While the first involves the initiatives at individual level starting at home, the later involves proper planning and practices at Municipal level. This should be followed by self discipline of not throwing any kind of waste whether industrial, building or household without proper disposal. Then only we will not be blamed as insensitive towards community cleanliness.

Following simple but practical tips can help further.

1. Generate less waste (reusing and recycling).

2. Take your own bag (Reduced plastic consumption will reduce the problem of disposal).

3. Segregate waste at home.

4. Promote two bin system (one for bio-degradable and other for no bio-degradable like plastics) in your society /colony.

Key words: Plastic, Municipal solid waste, conservation, recycling, cleanliness, community.