Aug
20
There are enough companies who take care to make their employees and customers feel good on their birthdays. It could be in the form of a cake or a day off for the birthday boy or girl at office, or a card sent to a customer. How about making these occasions more memorable?
Plant a tree. And ensure provision is made to ensure it is nurtured over the years. No point having dead saplings and half trees lying around, right? Read more
Aug
19
Let’s get into a car pool
Filed Under Green Dioxide | Leave a Comment
Living in an urban space? Drive to work? Is the drive fun? If the answer to the first two questions is yes, the third is more likely to be in the negative.
Naturally. For one, traffic is on the rise in cities and towns worldwide, making driving a pain. And rising fuel costs are not really adding to make such journeys sound like fun either. Enter car or van pools.
Not a new concept, but its practice is highly limited. Company vans and buses are usually used to pick and drop staff who are way down in the pecking order. Anyone higher up in the hierarchy tends to use their own transport, if they can afford it. Does one need a tutorial on the carbon footprint left behind by the millions of cars zipping up and down to work? Read more
Aug
17
What are Apple, Big Bazaar, Motorola, Pepsi, Kellogg and Pizza Hut in the business of? Selling, among other things, computers, groceries, cellphones, beverages and pizzas respectively.
What are they not in the business of? Selling waste.
If both of the above are true, why are brands leaving a litter trail behind in their pursuit of business growth? In the form of pizza boxes, shopping bags, aluminium cans, plastic containers, hazardous e-waste and more? Our streets, garbage dumps, landfills, water bodies, mountains and parks are full of these and other brands resting in shameful glory. Do companies have a right to internalizing profits and externalizing problems? Read more
Jun
4
Have you noticed how many paper cups get used by delegates consuming water and beverages at conferences and other events? Depending on the size and duration of the gathering, the number can run into hundreds and thousands. What a waste, would you agree?
As a part of the BlogCamp Delhi recently, I personally decided to set an example by writing my name on the paper cup I was using, and used the same one most of the day till someone trashed it. When I suggested other attendees do the same, it was heartening to see some doing so. Read more
Jun
2
Retailers, give away fewer bags; improve image and save money
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Do we really need so many shopping bags on this planet? If we as customers cannot change our habits fast enough, maybe the retail industry can take a lead to reduce consumption of these bags. Not only can they make higher profits but also improve their image with customers and other stakeholders. Without causing any inconvenience to customers. Here’s the business case for it: Read more
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
Nov
4
Can the planet afford so much bottled water?
Filed Under DIY Activism, Green Dioxide | Leave a Comment
This post was triggered after reading an interview in the New York Times featuring Kim E. Jeffery, CEO of Nestle Waters (owner of brands like Poland Spring and Perrier). This is also the first in a series of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Activism posts - it’s about small things you can do to make a much better world out there.
The health conscious and the thirsty on-the-go may be opting more and more for bottled water, but imagine the colossal amount of plastic waste it is adding in the landfills.
Ok, we all drink bottled water for various reasons – most justified – but there can be ways to reduce if not eliminate this waste altogether. Environmentalists have been targeting bottled water companies but we cannot expect them to stop selling at the expense of their business interests. Here are some suggestions to make a difference: Read on…
