Our air is polluted and water running low; the weather is a havoc, our forests are dwindling and the environment is on sale. Environmental conservation/sustainability, today and in the years to come, better begin playing a larger role in our decisions or we are setting ourselves up to suffer dire consequences.
Whats stopping us from going green? First and foremost, it is the cost involved. Environment-friendly solutions to our business and lifestyle problems are expensive. What do sellers do when they want to capture a larger share of the consumers’ wallets? They create trust in the product. They brand them more effectively.
Interestingly, the most harm to the environment is caused by deep-pocketed corporate giants, who are also the most well-equipped to make good branding a reality. They can, for instance, aim at messaging that associates pride and stature to being associated with sustainable solutions. Another way to go would be to pair tech-savviness with reduced use of paper, thus drawing a link between conservation and fashionability.
Not only must environmental conservation be well-branded but it must make monetary sense to the end consumer. If it isn’t possible to create green products that are cheaper than their non-green counterparts, at least attempts must be made to produce them at costs as close to to non-green products as possible. Ideally, as a result of changes in branding and production technology, consumers must on the one hand demand environment-friendly products, and companies must favour the production of the same for their lower costs.
Companies – large ones in particular – should develop greening campaigns which, if adhered to, can result in tangible and significant results for the environment. Further, they should publicise the same skilfully. The underlying assumption here is that consumers will make changes to their lifestyle, but only if they are convinced their drop of contribution is in fact making a difference to the ocean that environmental conservation is.
Students too can become agents of change if they are encouraged to take up conservation studies at the school level, and then take these lessons and implement them at home. This will not only inculcate the habit of sustainability practice in children and young adults but also give them a sense of ownership through the conservation projects they take up. Moreover, it’s difficult for the adults involved – the parents – to not be shamed out of their chronic environment-unfriendly practices when they child is adopting a different stance; change a child, change a home !
Thushara Reddy
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