May
26
How retailers can cut shopping bags usage
Filed Under Green Dioxide | 3 Comments
If retailers can cut down on use of shopping bags, a cascading positive effect can take place. But it is rarely seen to be case, with retailers only too happy to give out any number of bags when they make a sale. With a bit of thought, bags usage can actually be cut down without causing any inconvenience to customers. Here are some ideas.
Start Charging
Be a brave retailer. Start charging for bags. Sounds a preposterous idea? You think customers will make a dash to your nearest competitor, not being used to paying for what they felt were perks that came with shopping? Ok, lets change the plot a bit: Start charging for re-usable bags made of friendly materials like jute. Fair enough, but why will customers pay even for that when they can get the other bags for free as always?
Try some of the following tricks (no, tricks is not about pulling a dishonest one on customers; sometimes one has to be smart to get a good thing done): Read more
May
23
No shopping bags please…
Filed Under Green Dioxide | 4 Comments
Would you believe it if you were told six billion people on this planet manage to consume 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags between them every year. That is a million a minute, according to reusablebags.com.
And each of these bags can take between 20 to 1,000 years to biodegrade. In other words, they just stay put for almost forever in landfills, water bodies, sewage systems, in cities and beyond. They are like ghosts who just hang around. Extrapolate this over years of use, and you have a problem running into trillions of bags. It will not take you to be a Newton to just imagine the impact of it all. Read more
May
21
Travel with me on Kunzum.com
Filed Under Travel | 3 Comments
If you are not aware already, I also publish a blog based on my travels in India called Kunzum. I am on the road most of the time, covering the length and breadth of India creating content for this blog as well as for some planned travelogues. I invite you check out my experiences on Kunzum.com, and even join me on any of my trips. The blog if full of the written word, photographs and videos.
And if you have anecdotes, pictures and videos of the kind I have on Kunzum, I would be happy to consider them for publishing on the blog.
May
21
Drugs Tourism in Himalayas: Are visas being restricted to Israelis?
Filed Under Public Interest, Social Issues | 2 Comments
Is the Indian Government getting more stingy about the duration of visas it issues to backpackers who supposedly come to stay in the Himalayas for months to enjoy the easy access to cheap drugs? And with a good number of these from Israel, is the Israeli Government getting worried about the image of its country?
During my recent trip to Mcleodganj and surrounding areas in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh I met Nimrod, one of the thousands of Israelis for whom this region of the Himalayas are Shangri-La - not mythical but real; many of them are supposedly here to unwind after undergoing the rigours of compulsory military training. Or at least this is what a lot of people told me. The Israeli Government seems to be getting concerned about the image of their country with its citizens ‘reveling’ in the Himalayas according to an acquaintance of mine; while consumption of drugs was commonplace, he claimed to have seen them having an orgy in the jungles once. But nothing seems to have been done to date. Read more
