Time to change!

          I love delicate things. I love candles, perfume and daisies, picnics and soft music. I love being a woman - I love being the softer and gentler species of mankind. A little effort given as an encouraging word, a smile or a pat on the back of those who need desperately makes me realize the power a woman has to put a smile on the face of many people. I enjoy knowing I have the power to change for the better.

        Change is good for us. Can you imagine having Christmas all year, or summer? It seems just about the time we get settled in to a season, another comes along. Maybe it is to remind us that life never stays the same. And I think it’s high time for change: change to make Earth a better place to live in.

         It hurts me to the core to see Mother Earth being squandered unlimitedly. It’s been several years that we have been deteriorating the health of our planet by changing the climatic conditions leading to global warming. We, the human beings sustain due to the presence of natural resources on earth. Due to rapid increase in the population and standard of living, we are faced with energy crisis. If we deplete it by industrial or human activities, we would not leave anything for our grandchildren to survive here.

            On Earth, human activities are changing the natural greenhouse. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities have increased concentrations of greenhouse gases. The consequences of changing the natural atmospheric greenhouse are difficult to predict, but certain effects seem likely to devastate the total human race if drastic steps are not taken in the right time.

            In order to survive and let our future generation to survive and enjoy the resources, we need to take greener steps right now. Since conventional sources of energy are increasingly depleted. Hence, Non-conventional Energy Sources have emerged as potential source of energy in India and world at large. The demand for energy is increasing day by day. The ever increasing uses of modern means of transport, changing lifestyles and mechanization of labour have led to a sudden and very large spurt in energy requirement. There is still a considerable potential for alternative energy sources. Increased use of renewable energy sources for energy generation will not only meet the energy demand but also result in substantial environmental benefits.

            Some industries have already taken steps to use greener technologies, while some are on their way to be green. All companies should start a programme that helps the environment in some way or the other. If we are benefited by the environment by so many means, it’s our moral obligation to return something back to the environment. And what we can give back is: the normal climatic condition of environment for all to live healthily.

            

As a young leader who beliefs in being HUMAN (Helpful, Understanding, Mingle, Amuse, Nurture), I think I should encourage employees, clients, consumers within my network to think and work in a greener way and the products/services should be designed following a green technology. If every one of us thinks the same way then this will help making our planet green!! Besides, I would also like to suggest that if we consume the sources of energy more effectively from the first itself, we’ll need to put less effort to conserve the energy resources for the future. Prevention is better than cure, as we know it.

             “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. I shall be doing my part for the Blue Planet. What about you? Your planet needs you. Just saving energy on the Earth Day would not make much difference for the past damage. Treat every day as Earth Day. Go green!

Green Economy: Does it include you?

         How to grow green? This is the question for which we are trying to figure out solutions. It’s a global issue! Recently, we have become more conscious about how to generate economic activity that preserves and enhances environmental quality while using natural resources more efficiently. Our concern has suddenly shifted to link the three E’s (environment, economy, and equity) of development. This happened as we have realised that we have been deteriorating the health of our planet by changing the climatic conditions leading to global warming. We, the citizens of our own world sustain due to the presence of natural resources on earth. Due to rapid increase in the population and standard of living, we are facing the energy crisis. If we deplete it by industrial or human activities, we would not leave anything for our grandchildren to survive here.

         Hence, emerged the concept of “green economy” several years back. A green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. The green economy is the clean energy economy, consisting primarily of four sectors: renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal); green building and energy efficiency technology; energy-efficient infrastructure and transportation; and recycling and waste management.

         As citizens of the world, we have a moral responsibility to take green steps right now. We can halt and undo our prior environmental damage to survive and let our future generation survive and enjoy the resources. But, while taking mammoth steps to do this, we also have to figure out ways to benefit our economy, of which we are a part. So we need a “Green Economy”, which harnesses the productive potential of nature to increase Earth’s bio-capacity, and thus to ensure greater human well-being and its equitable distribution.

       Discussions on climate change must encompass not only “how much” we will reduce, but also “how” we will get there. By utilizing the solar, wind, water and other natural renewable sources for power we can protect the earth and its non-renewable resources such as oil and coal; and also stop chopping our rain forests. If employees, clients, consumers are encouraged to think and work in a greener way and our products/services be designed following a green technology, this will help to make our planet greener. The green economy is not just about the ability to produce clean energy, but also technologies that allow cleaner production processes, establishing growing market for products which consume less energy, from fluorescent light bulbs to organic and locally produced food.

        Green jobs also provide the opportunity in green growth by doing good while doing well. Green jobs are those positions in agriculture, manufacturing, research and development, administration, and the service sector that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality. In the transition to a lower-carbon, green economy, the lines between environmental jobs and jobs in more traditional sectors is becoming increasingly blurred. Advancements in the green economy are closely tied to investments in green technologies: wind, solar, biofuels, and biomass and waste-to-energy.

  

         Technologies are available to go green. We have solutions to make the products eco-friendly, but how far will the industries implement them? Not all, only a few of the companies are adopting greener technologies. If some companies could forget their individual profits for a second and have the vision for profit that our generation next will gain, then we can imagine of a greener world, reaching the pinnacle of growth in green economy. Because “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”