The very word
Eco-friendly brings lots of things in our minds; the most prominent thing would
be Nonplastic and recycled. In A broadway, eco-friendly defines our culture,
the thought of being conservative in our needs, the thought of avoiding
anything plastic. The culture which we have inherited from our elders.
We are in a fast-paced era
where takeaways are the new normal, surgeries are quick and one can walk of a
hospital the same day, Marriage events have clean dining halls but the plastics
and non- bio-degradable we leave behind have never been thought.
The discovery of PVC was a
key event in the history of mankind. PVC has given way for tubes, forms of vessels which we have never
imagined that could be possible, the ease of mass production of bottles and
other retail which occupy our homes.
This is a moment where one
needs to pause and look back at the number of plastics we have ditched in
rivers, oceans and also the number of trees which have been felled to make that furniture and daily useable like boxes and pencils.
The concept of reducing,
recycle and reuse has caught up in the developing world as well as the advanced
nations. Recycling those products which depend on trees to be cut for new
materials is of the importance now. The reason for saying this is broad again.
Where one can avoid deforestation and promote afforestation, we should as we
have already amidst global warming which itself is going to take us to the
brink of extinction.
Reports of ocean
temperature rising by a degree and a half has already wiped out many
marine species to extinction, besides changing the weather which we see on land
due to El-Nino and la-Nina effects. The warming seas and the effect it has on
the land has been well documented to show much large scale destruction to the land
dwelling animals and plants apart from humans and our creations.
Tree covers in the most
safeguarded forest reserves are also facing the threat of deforestation by
illegal activities and corrupt government policies. Fast-paced
industrialization and real estate expansion is creeping into the green cover of
reserve forests. This industrialization, although necessary needs to be
regulated and that’s a slow process.
As humans, our needs are
growing day by day, starting from tyres to plywood for construction. We depend on
nature for our needs. However, with very little being done to replant the trees
as we use them. A forestation is a key to bring back the balance between what
we use by cutting trees and replant the land to make up.
Having covered the issues
we are facing today in terms of depleting green cover and disposal of used
plastics into oceans, the only thing in our hands as an individual is to be
responsible for our choices when we buy products.
Multiple products are now
emerging in the markets which are bio-degradable and eco-friendly. The core of the idea behind eco-friendly here is to ensure that as much as possible, use of
recycled paper and paper products to substitute the products which depend on the felling of trees.
Products like pencils which
are made from recycled newspapers have more strength compared to the ones made
from wood and mass-produced. Even in the case of recycled and eco-friendly
pencils, one can always choose the darkness of the lead and thickness of the
lead, or even colors. The point is, one need not sacrifice anything when they
switch over to eco-friendly products.
Similarly, A4 sheets which
we use for printing in offices, Eco-friendly products are replacing the latter
with the same quality, thickness and without any blemishes as one would expect.
Paper cups and food
packaging is now being made out of recycled paper. The quality of the process
related to manufacturing has improved to reduce the smell which we all have
noticed with recycled paper products; the strength and integrity of the
packaging material have also been improved to adhere to strict industry
standards. Eco-friendly paper cups and food packaging again reduce the use of
new paper hence helping the environment.
This can also be taken up
as a corporate responsibility where the management can shift to eco-friendly
products. The cost factor variance between a regular reel of A4 sheets in the
market and an Eco-friendly – recycled paper for printing is almost negligible.
