Yesterday while watching the televised debate between the UK Prime Ministerial candidate I happened to view a TV spot announcing a new contest known as "World Challenge" which focuses on sustainable practices which are today changing the world.
One of the first contestants to be featured was a vegetable market from Indonesia. Now whoever has been to a typical vegetable, fruit market ( not the supermarkets ) would easily recognize that on a daily basis these markets produce a humongous amount of organic and inorganic waste. Apart from the fact that most of this waste makes its way to open landfills where it rots and releases greenhouse gases like methane, it is also a breeding ground for diseases. The solution which the Indonesian market has come up with is to segregate the organic waste, process it and convert it into fertilizers. This is used locally by the farmers and the crop yield has grown by almost 30%. The produce from the local farms is then sold again in the local markets setting up a cycle of reuse and thus a sustainable business model.
This is one example which goes to show that many times sustainable activities also make sense economically and when ever they do they are adopted faster by people. The example I quoted was from Indonesia but I believe the model could be replicated in many places and probably is being followed in other places in some form or the other.
As a foot note, I found the UK Prime Ministerial debate very dignified. Should something similar be initiated in India for the next general elections? Interesting thought but might be difficult logistically as there are so many parties in our country.
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1 comment:
I would actually flip your assertion and say "It's imperative for sustainable practices to NOT be altruistic". Anything that's altruistic is almost never self-perpetuating, and hence never sustainable.
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