Olive Earth - Latest Features, Blogs and Pledges

Consumers show strong preference for sustainable practices by organization

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 23:45:45 +0000

Recent Neilson survey found that while 69 percent of global online consumers say they are concerned about climate change/global warming (up from 66 percent in 2009, but down from 72 percent in 2007), concern for...

Malkha Eco friendly Cotton - Freedom fabric

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:27:42 +0000

Move over hemp. Here is India's indigenous organic fabric. Claimed to be 5000 year old Indian fabric, Malkha manifests thousands of years of Indian experience of cotton. When organic cotton and eco-friendly clothing is becoming a...

How to choose green and eco-friendly hotels

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:58:55 +0000

Ecotourism is defined by Wikipedia as responsible travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strive to be low impact and (often) small scale (as an alternative to mass tourism). Its purpose is to...

Installed and potential capacity of renewable energy in India and associated investments

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:05:08 +0000

India is the fifth largest consumer of energy in the world, and it is projected to surpass Japan and Russia to become the world’s third biggest energy consumer by 2030. At the same time, the...

Google invests in Solarcity

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:58:27 +0000

Earlier this week, Google opened an electric vehicle charging network at its Silicon Valley headquarters, which now stands at the world’s largest workplace charging system and underscores the company’s low carbon drive. Now, as Bloomberg...

Stop wastage ...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:48:38 +0000

Will work for avoiding waste of all kinds and motivate others for the same ... Also work for waste disposal and treatment projects

Let us celebrate an eco-friendly Diwali - minimizing environmental and noise pollution

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:08:33 +0000

If we can get a bit more careful on how and what we buy for the celebration, we can also wish a little more joy and prosperity for the earth that we inhabit. And do'nt get me wrong, it is not a blog post on how we should cut down on our consumption. Each of the articles we usually buy has an alternative greener and more eco-friendly option and they may be available in a store near you. A few pointers below: Fire-crackers - Crackers contain a lethal cocktail of copper, potassium nitrate, carbon, lead, cadmium, zinc and sulphur, which emit noxious gases like carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide causing immense air pollution and creating several health hazards. Eco-friendly crackers are made up of recycled paper that produce light in multi-hues but are low in sulphur content with noise produced being under the decibel limit defined by the Pollution Board. Many of them are also bio-degradable and when lit up they illuminate and then blossom out into colourful paper fluffers. In Lucknow, you can buy them from Mr. Gulsher Azad in Lucknow Azad Fireworks Address: 49-B, Azad Lane , Water Works Road, Bhadewan, Bazar Khala, Lucknow and reach him through 9839051501. The other two numbers 9839051502/3 do not seem to work. Also remember, crackers are often produced by child labors which devoids them of their right to education. There are some manufacturers which declare their crackers to be child labor free. Make an effort to buy such crackers. Diya: If you are in the US, you can buy eco-friendly diwali diyas here . If you are in or around Florida you may be interested in the following link: http://www.ruralhandicrafts.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=23 . If in india, vendors in almost all neighbourhood make-shift stalls are selling earthen diyas for prices as low as for Rs two to three. Try buying the earthen ones instead of the ones that use synthetic colour and non-biodegradable components. They take lot of time to degrade. There are several artisitc versions available of earthen diyas and with a little scouting around you can find several classier versions. Eco-friendly Gifts and Candles: We can not imagine Diwali without exchange of gifts. You can choose your diwali gift plans from several eco-friendly concepts listed here . I have summarized a few of them below: Antiques are great gift items which promote the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle. Quirio Antique Shop is pretty well-known in Bangalore. You can plan to gift plants which is a clear post-modern fashion statement. Nurturing Green will have a store near you and help you deliver your plant gift in the delivery location. You can connect with them by calling Annu or Mayank (9953244630/9711208934). You may find there store in a near-by mall in your city. Call them and check out. Haathi Chaap has brought out a range products with pronounced organic funk. It is a whole new material from which paper is being made after a lot of research and experimentation. You can check out their funky products here. They sell their products around the country. You can check them here . In bangalore they are available at the Kormangala mother earth store. In Mumbai, check them out at Tappu ki Dukan. Tappu ki Dukan also stocks the Clean Planet bags. You can also check out http://www.conserveindia.org/ which offers a range of products made of "upcycled" plastic. By buying a Conserve bag, belt, wallet, shoe, or necklace, you not only get to be a trend setter with a beautiful, funky piece of high fashion - you will also be helping some of India's poorest people and its environment. Diwali has quintessentially been a celebration of good's triump over evil. It is onto us to plan out the ghosts we want to get rid of this diwali. In many of the Indian states, diwali marks the first day of the year. Coincidentally, Green is also the color of wealth. There may not be a better day to be inspired by eco-frindly funk. The joy you spread will certainly be a few degrees higher.

Let us recycle those beer bottles and other glass containers and avoid them reaching landfills.

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:46:04 +0000

Glass bottles are non biodegradable would stay for millions of years in the landfills. Glasses should rather be recycled as it is very easy to recycle glass. Glass can be more easily reused and recycled than PET (non biodegradable) and tertapack (uses metal and paper). Recycling by using old bottles as cullet helps to achieve up to 40% saving in power consumption. Currently a lot of glass is being reused by informal organizations making tghem unhygenic. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without losing its quality or purity. It does not create any additional waste as by product. recycling bottles means manufacturers use less sand — the primary raw material for glass, along with other minerals such as feldspar. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light to power a 60 watt bulb for four hours, a computer for 30 minutes and a television for 20 minutes. 10% increase in recycled glass equals to: 1. 10% reduction in sulphur dioxide 2. 6% decrease in nitorgen oxide 3. 17% reduction in carbon dioxide 4. 2.5% reduction in use of electricity energy 5. 9% reduction in use of raw materials Source: http://www.hngindia.com/downloads/leaflet.pdf As per earth911, Every ton of glass that is recycled results in one ton of raw materials saved to process new glass, including: 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash and 380 pounds of limestone. While the primary end product of recycled glass is new glass bottles and jars, there are some other uses for recycled glass, including: Fiberglass production (second most popular use of post-consumer glass behind beverage containers) Frictionator for matches and ammunition Abrasives in sand-blasting Ingredient in concrete and highway reflective paint Ceramic tiles and picture frames around the house (source: http://earth911.com/recycling/glass/products-created-from-recycled-glass/) The broken pieces are crushed, sorted, cleaned, and prepared to be mixed with other raw materials like soda ash and sand. One of the first steps in glass recycling requires you to crush the glass and produce a product known as “cullet.” building recycled glass goods from cullet consumes 40 percent less energy than making fresh glass of raw materials, due to the fact cullet melts at a much decrease temperature. The raw materials and glass pieces are melted in a furnace and then shaped into moulds to make new bottles of different colours and sizes. New recycled bottles and jars are made in this way. Project ideas for Glass recycling are available at the source: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/project_ideas/recycling_glass/ You can see some of the great uses of the recycled beer bottles here: http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/eco-delight-ten-ways-to-recycle-beer-cans-and-bottles/ eHow describes the following practices to recycle glass: Collect containers such as bottles and jars only. According to the Glass Packaging Institute containers such as food jars and beer bottles, for example can be recycled, while heat-resistant items, drinking glasses and window glass are not very effectively recycled. You should remove any lids and rinse out appropriate glass items. Put them in a plastic container where they will not easily break, until you are able to deliver them to the recycle facility or put them directly in the correct bin for curbside pick up. If necessary, separate clear, brown and green glass from each other. As per earth911 most recycling programs in US typically accept only glass containers, as other glass products such as drinking glasses, lightbulbs, mirrors and Pyrex are treated with contaminants when manufactured. There are some pioneering organizations like Hindusthan National Glass Industries which have make it a policy to promote glass recycling. But the channel to reach the recyclers is limited. Most of the glass waste either ends up in land-fills or get unhygenically reused. Some organizations like E-Parisaraa Pvt. Ltd, provide services around handling, recycling and reusing of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment(WEEE) and other glass products in eco friendly way. You may want to give them a call at 080-28360902 / 080-32906684 or email them at recycle@ewasteindia.com and check it out. While some organizations provide the right bins to help recycling, publlic recycling channels are virtually unavailable. We need more access to recyclers. Let us pledge to recycle our beer bottles and other glass containers. This will require creation of an effective public channel for the reverse logistics of glass to recyclers. We as citizen should help facilitiating in establishing that.

Let us switch off our gadgets without putting in stand-by and unplug them once fully charged.

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:12:06 +0000

Our entertainment system, desktop and laptop computers continue to draw power even when left as stand-by. On average a traditional a CRT TV uses 100 watts of power when in use and about two watts on standby. Newer LCD and plasma screens are higher users of energy, with the largest models consuming up to 400 watts when in use and about four watts on standby. Activating sleep mode settings can save $50 a year on electricity bill, yet less than one-third of computer users have it set. Here you can find the tips for managing the power in computers. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/russel_02march25.mspx Power Options in Windows XP allow you to control the power management features of: Your display Your hard drive Shut Down, Hibernate, and Stand by Low battery warnings The various units that draw power during stand-by are as below: Coffeemaker – 332 watts on/ 2 watts off Desktop computer – 69 watts on/ 2 watts off Monitor – 43 watts on/ 1 watt off Small stereo – 32 watts on/ 4 watts off Laptop – 30 watts on, 1 watt off Cell phone charger – 4 watts on/ 0.1 watts off Let us take the pledge to switch off our gadgets without putting in stand-by and unplug them once fully charged. This will be economically and environmentally prosperous for India.

Let us ride the Bicycle. Bicycle to work, to grocery, everywhere possible.

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:41:16 +0000

Bicycles do not burn fossil fuels, contribute to air pollution, or cost as much to operate as a car, and they provide health benefits to the rider. Even in India, under the right conditions, biking can actually be a faster means of getting around short dashes in our cities. It’s certainly getting cooler than fighting traffic and contributing to global warming. A 62 kg bicyclist go ten miles per hour / 16 km per hour, burns about 25 Calories per mile (1.6 km). It is healthy. Bicycling results in less pollution and fewer GHG emissions than driving a car. Producing a bicycle also generates much lesser carbon compared to cars. A four mile bicycle trip keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe. A study in UK says that by each mile of bicycling, the total healthcare cost for the country reduces by 4 pounds. You’ll lower your environmental impact, save yourself some money and increase your physical activity from the get-go. Give it a serious thought. If you are convinced pledge.

Organizations must come up with their own Environmentally Preferred purchasing plan.

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:39:54 +0000

For long purchasing organizations have looked at several parameters like efficiency, productivity, minority development etc. in vendor selection. To drive a sustainable behaviour it is high time we start driving sustainability as a key metrics as well and come up with our respective Environmentally Preferred purchasing plan.

Let us avoid purchasing food and other items with unnecessary packaging

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:36:45 +0000

Packaging causes a lot of wastage and eventually lands up in our land-fills. By having optimized size of packs, the packaging waste can be reduced. Similarly lot of times we observe that the food and stationary are wrapped in un-necesssary packaging. Most manufacturers will want a flashy packaging to attract customers to their products. But as consumers we can do a lot. Some of our options are: Buy large sized detergent and buy concentrated detergent in stead of diluted detergent which uses more packaging material Buy big boxes of cereal instead of individually packaged cereals. Never buy individual “snack-sized” boxes or bags. Reduce use of tea bags and prefer loose tea Use refill packs for hand-wash, toilet-wash etc rather than buying fresh plastic cans Lets shun such wastage. Let me know what you think. If you think this can impact your personal footprint, pledge below.

We should insist with the shopkeeper to give paper bags made of recycled paper, best avoid paper bags and use jute bags.

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 19:11:43 +0000

Paper bags are a huge drag on the environment. No plastic grocery bags would save ~12,000,000 barrels of oil per year. No paper grocery bag save about 14 million trees per year. We should shun them.

We must carry our own water bottles (ideally renewable)

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 18:40:32 +0000

Rather than buying more and moreplastic bottles which are not very effectively recycled, we must carry our own water bottles and refill them with clean water where ever available.

We should insist with banks to use only pdf or email account statements.

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:19:11 +0000

Banks and financial institutions should scrap using paper statements, for people who have access to emails or smart phones. India is a vast country where universal Financial services access is yet a dream and leaves a lot to be desired. There are 187 million people without bank accounts. There are several innovations happening to take financial services to the grassroots level which is extremely commendable. But for the people who have, for each bank account banks send out an average 3 pages of account statement every month. If we assume around 350 Mn people have bank accouns, that translates to around 1 billion pages on paper (excluding the envelopes). If we move to a completely electronic format of bank statements, this will help remove this enormous usage of paper.

Demystifying the diesel debate – Should Mr Minister mind his own business?

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:47:30 +0000

Recently Mr Jairam Ramesh termed use of Diesel SUVs on Indian roads as criminal. This has been welcomed by the pro-environmentalist lobby in India while Germany has taken strong objection stating the supremacy of german diesel engineering. Some automotive industry associations have also taken exception to this. We have tried to demystify the debate. Comments are welcome.

Let us first look at whether diesle prices are really subsidized now. On June 25, the government had freed petrol price from its control, resulting in a hike of Rs.3.50 a litre. Rates have subsequently been raised twice by almost a rupee, in step with the rise in international rates. Petrol currently costs Rs.52.55 a litre in Delhi. Diesel prices were raised by Rs.2 a litre on June 25 and it was stated then that they would be gradually freed. Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministryin the last week of October said that the government was not considering deregulation of diesel prices yet as the move could lead to a rise in inflation. A move to deregulate the rates now would mean a further increase in the price of the fuel by Rs. 2.87 a litre. Diesel currently costs Rs.37.71 a litre in Delhi.

The retail prices in bangalore (they vary from state to state) on Nov 2010 were ~ Rs. 43 and ~ Rs. 60 per liter of diesel and petrol respectively. Diesel includes excise of cess of nearly 4 rupees and petrol has it at around 14 rupees. At current crude levels this may not be hugely subsidized. (Source: http://www.indiapolicyforum.org/node/28) This additional cess on diesel is kept lower because of its use to transport goods in trucks and people in buses.

Let us look at how diesel is used in India. (image)

Source: Kirit Parikh Report

The Kirit parikh committee recommended that an additional excise duty on a diesel vehicle corresponding to the differential tax on the petrol should be levied as per the following formula: Additional Excise = (Rate of Excise on petrol – Rate of Excise on Diesel) x (Petrol consumption per year by an average petrol car user) x [{(1+r)/r]} x {1-(1/(1+r)10 }] where ‘r’ is discount rate and 10 years is assumed lifetime.

At a discount rate of 5 per cent this worked out to be an additional excise duty of Rs. 80,000 should be levied on diesel driven vehicles. There was a lobby from CSE that such calculations were not accurate, but it does not look very logical in refuting the Kirit Parikh report. In last budget, there has been a hike of 2% in excise tax on prices of large cars, sports cars and MUV’s.

So it may look like that already the impact has been passed on as one time costs to the MUV owners and hence it is a level playing field, suggesting that the environment minister was irresponsible in his comment.

Firstly 2% is not necessarily compensates INR 81000 for the larger vehicles.
Second there may be a possibility that the panel has also extrapolated the incidence of additional excise on SUVs on the basis of petrol cars.
Another catch is in the fact that this calculation is done based on an average run of 8000 Km per annum for such vehicles, which is actually much higher for SUV and MUV owners who end up taking their vehicles for offroading. So purely in terms of incentivisation, there may be still quantitative incentives for Diesel. But the committeequalitatively suggests that people may still opt for the diesel vehicle but that should not be discouraged because of the fuel efficiency that diesel brings in.
There are reports that diesel may have higher polluting impact on the environment. As per reports emissions data available from the Automotive Research Association of India has already shown that diesel cars, on an average, emit seven times higher toxic particulates and three to five times higher nitrogen oxides.

The fact that besides trucks, the largest % of vehicles using diesel are in fact Cars, for whom the incentive is not intended, it is most ideal to use non-discreminatory taxes for petrol and diesel leaving the market to decide the prices. But after all trucks consume 37% of diesle used in India and it can be presumed that deregularization of diesel will result in significant inflation leading to price rises and disruption in economic activity for Indian population. Earlier this month Mr. Deora has ruled out putting in place a dual pricing mechanism for diesel as of now because of administrative burdens. In a free economy, government ofcourse can not dictate what you buy or not.

No wonder Mr. Ramesh feels helpless in such a circumstance and has used strong words to express the immince of a policy overhaul. While we respect his intentions, he could have been a little more subtle. The government is incurring huge revenue losses due to dieselisation of the private car fleet.

This diwali let eco-funk inspire your celebrations and footprint

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:16:57 +0000

Green and Eco-friendly Diwali

The celebration of the festival of lights with the traditional abandon, accompanied with gifts, sweets and firecrackers around the corner. The festival spirit that originated during the dussera has permeated into the wind that is getting chiller, as the inviting malls get glitzier, the thick-ness of the city-edition pages tom-toming all the deals around the stores gets thicker. And we ready to welcome joy and prosperity for ourselves, friends and relatives and finalize the plans to buy our coveted possessions during Dhanteras. I often get nostalgic, conjure up child hood days of “Diwali sans any worries” vividly when we awaited for the innocent evenings filled with diyas, candles, fire crackers, sweets and of-course the new clothes.

If we can get a bit more careful on how and what we buy for the celebration, we can also wish a little more joy and prosperity for the earth that we inhabit. And do’nt get me wrong, it is not a blog post on how we should cut down on our consumption. Each of the articles we usually buy has an alternative greener and more eco-friendly option and they may be available in a store near you. A few pointers below:

Fire-crackers – Crackers contain a lethal cocktail of copper, potassium nitrate, carbon, lead, cadmium, zinc and sulphur, which emit noxious gases like carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide causing immense air pollution and creating several health hazards. Eco-friendly crackers are made up of recycled paper that produce light in multi-hues but are low in sulphur content with noise produced being under the decibel limit defined by the Pollution Board. Many of them are also bio-degradable and when lit up they illuminate and then blossom out into colourful paper fluffers. In Lucknow, you can buy them from Mr. Gulsher Azad in Lucknow Azad Fireworks Address: 49-B, Azad Lane , Water Works Road, Bhadewan, Bazar Khala, Lucknow and reach him through 9839051501. The other two numbers 9839051502/3 do not seem to work.

Also remember, crackers are often produced by child labors which devoids them of their right to education. There are some manufacturers which declare their crackers to be child labor free. Make an effort to buy such crackers.

Diya: If you are in the US, you can buy eco-friendly diwali diyas here . If you are in or around Florida you may be interested in the following link: http://www.ruralhandicrafts.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=23 . If in india, vendors in almost all neighbourhood make-shift stalls are selling earthen diyas for prices as low as for Rs two to three. Try buying the earthen ones instead of the ones that use synthetic colour and non-biodegradable components. They take lot of time to degrade. There are several artisitc versions available of earthen diyas and with a little scouting around you can find several classier versions.

Eco-friendly Gifts and Candles: We can not imagine Diwali without exchange of gifts. You can choose your diwali gift plans from several eco-friendly concepts listed here . I have summarized a few of them below:

Antiques are great gift items which promote the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle. Quirio Antique Shop is pretty well-known in Bangalore.
You can plan to gift plants which is a clear post-modern fashion statement. Nurturing Green will have a store near you and help you deliver your plant gift in the delivery location. You can connect with them by calling Annu or Mayank (9953244630/9711208934). You may find there store in a near-by mall in your city. Call them and check out.
Haathi Chaap has brought out a range products with pronounced organic funk. It is a whole new material from which paper is being made after a lot of research and experimentation. You can check out their funky products here. They sell their products around the country. You can check them here . In bangalore they are available at the Kormangala mother earth store. In Mumbai, check them out at Tappu ki Dukan. Tappu ki Dukan also stocks the Clean Planet bags. You can also check out http://www.conserveindia.org/ which offers a range of products made of “upcycled” plastic. By buying a Conserve bag, belt, wallet, shoe, or necklace, you not only get to be a trend setter with a beautiful, funky piece of high fashion – you will also be helping some of India’s poorest people and its environment.

Diwali has quintessentially been a celebration of good’s triump over evil. It is onto us to plan out the ghosts we want to get rid of this diwali. In many of the Indian states, diwali marks the first day of the year. Coincidentally, Green is also the color of wealth. There may not be a better day to be inspired by eco-frindly funk. The joy you spread will certainly be a few degrees higher.

You can click here to PLEDGE that you will make an effort to reduce your footprint this Diwali.

Times they are a-changing and getting Ecovative(TM)

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:06:25 +0000

Ek Jodi Kapda

The Times They Are a-Changing. Economic growth and environmental management are often seen to be at odds with each other. But slowly consumers are asserting their choices as citizen, where environmental concern is increasingly becoming a key part of their consideration-set. Consequently, winds of change are slowly sweeping most corporates in India, where they increasingly want to be identified with a growing environmentally-responsible mind-set of consumers and capture their mind-share in a growing greener world. And this is manifesting itself both in their core operations as well as their CSR activities. Siemens in association with IBNLive.com, has come together to acknowledge this effort of change by India Inc with the Siemens Ecovatives (TM) Award, a showcase of the best of sustainability effort by businesses. Elsewhere, when Whirlpool recently wanted to give back to the society as part of their CSR initiatives they picked something which is very close to their hearth – clothes.

Ek Jodi Kapda initiative launched with Goonj intends to help recycle clothes and make them available for the under-privileged section of the society, a testimonial how the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle are increasingly getting wider corporate attention.

Kiran Antony, from the Ek Jodi kapda team suggests that the short term objective of this initiative is to collect at leat 5 million clothes and the long term objective is to eradicate clothing as an issue in this country. In true sense, “Ek Jodi Kapda” is an initiative that goes beyond donating clothes to the needy and poor. The organizers intend to re-positioned cloth beyond charity; by adding dignity to it and turning it into a potential resource for economic development of the under-privileged. The associated activities are intended to create a sense of dignity amongst the under-priviledged by generating their livelihood through the clothes.

As the modus-operandi, Kiran states that they have collection vans running across 20 states and 80towns of the country. These vans will be going to schools, college, corporate offices, clubs etc and collect clothes. The collection boxes are kept in more than 1000 dealer outlets of Whirlpool. All those who would love to support us in in this movement can walk into these outlets and drop clothes here. The details of the outlets where donation boxes are kept can be got at the Ek Jodi Kapda website or sms EJK to 58558 and customer support executive will call you and guide you to the nearest donation centre.

This is based on the Vastra-Samman movement pioneered by Goonj, spreading awareness among the urban masses about the relevance of their unused cloth and other household material as a resource for rural development. Whirlpool has closely worked with them for the past 8 months now, and it has given Whirlpool the understanding how legitimate this cause is and that they are an authetic and genuine organisation working for the betterment of this country.

Formed in 1999 by Anshu Gupta, together with his friends from the mass communication background, GOONJ has now created the logistics chain to enable material reaching to parts of 21 states of India. As per the concept propounded by Goonj, the under-priviledged get this material not as charity or Daan, they work on their community issues and get the material as motivation, keeping their dignity intact. Goonj, based on its experience and expertise also ensures that based on the category of the product, the necessary value addition happens before being extended to the community. They also ensure, the necessary framework and mechanism is in place to transform the clothes to be used as resources motivating the needy to earn them and in turn generating valuable work. The various type of clothes they handle through different mechanisms are ready to use clothes, waste material, school material, washable/repairable, export surplus etc.

As the world’s no. 1 home appliances manufacturer, Whirlpool believes that this is a way of giving back to the society; by bringing a little joy into the lives of the less privileged. Noble indeed. Here is to many more such corporate sponsored initiatives, to make India more sustainable, both economically, socially and environmentally.

Green Noise gets an unfortunate burial

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:34:56 +0000

Compostable SunChip Bag

How much time does it take for polythene bags to decompose? Some researchers feel that plastic bags may never fully decompose; instead they gradually just turn into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic – but continue to litter the surface of earth. The most common type of plastic shopping bag is made of polyethylene, a petroleum-derived polymer that unfortunately microorganisms don’t recognize as food. But these may may photo-degrade due to the ultra-violet rays from the sun. Estmates vary, but it may take at least ten years to be gone. The other option is to recycle plastic bags, but the statistics are not very encouraging there either. A recent studysuggests that americans recyle only 0.6% of the 100 billion bags that they consume each year.

In this back-drop, Frito Lay’s Sunchip bag seemed to be a sweet baby step in the right direction. They announced the arrival of the eco-friendly sunchip bag, with a sense of deliverance on the environmental imperatives and their continued effort to reduce polluting packaging. “These innovative bags are designed to compost in about 14 weeks when placed in a hot, active compost bin or pile. So you eat the chips. The earth eats the bag. And we all live in a cleaner world.” their page claimed. The SunChips bags are made from corn-based polylactic acid, and in fine print they mentioned that it is industrially compostible. It is a separate matter that there is controversy on whether industrially compostible material really makes sense as compostible material when it comes to consumer products, when customers may not always have access to industrial composting facilities all the while.

Nonetheless, it was a significant innovation. But, while environmetalists and the earth welcomed the bag behind the news, seemingly many of the Sunchip fans were not impressed. While there were praises from different corners, it was muted compared to the negative reaction it evinced, bacuse of inconvenience. The lound crinkle that the package used to make did it in. I have never used the compostable bag, but understand some consumers went to the extent of describing it as the sound of a revving motorcycle. I am sure this was an over-exaggerated, emotional out-burst from individuals, who were unsettled by the differential noise that they had to undergo, in the act of being sensitive towards environment. Frito-lay did it part in being patient that such ruckus will eventually die down. But sadly it conflagrated and reached the hallowed social sphere through facebook and youtube. Eventually Frito Lay had to scrap the current version of the bag.

As Mr. Funnybone Dubner sums up in the Freakonomics blog, surely this is not as massive as the bird-killing windmills, or the species-endangering Endangered Species Act. But we do agree that the SunChips affair gives us enough dope to crystal-gaze into our increasingly green future.

This case-study makes it evident that customers even in countries like the USA have not crossed the rubicon when it comes to sustainability vs. convenience. While many may pay slight to significant premium for a more sustainable product with comparable benefits, a sustainable concept which is inconvenient is still a mega no-no. Which is ok, if you look at innovation as a continuum. Economic and environmental prosperity to co-exist, industries need to innovate products and services which need to straddle the constraints of economic benefit vs. environmental conformism. While targeting the segment, that will pay the premium for products with cradle-to-cradle design, recyclable material and eco-friendly ingredients as raw-material, they absolutely can not overlook the basics of economic value.

But is that a disincentive to put brakes on the journey on this innovation continuum, because the existing consumer behavior suggests otherwise. As Senge argues in his book Necessary revolution – you’re never going to learn latent demands from focus groups. Toyota didn’t introduce the Prius because of a focus group. They were convinced that cars needed to change. In his interview with Businessweek, he identifies two critical success factors for the innovators to be successful. The first is obvious: People have to be passionate. These are innovators in a fundamental sense, and innovators innovate because there is something that they are passionate about. Second, they all in different ways were able to step back and see a bigger picture.

To take a que from Don Ariely in his book “Predictably Irrational”, the pricing behavior shifts definitively when the additional (emotional) appeal is bundled at the same price and people are not really too good at comparing two different plains, despite their rational decision making drive. When the consumer bahvior takes that leap of faith, organizations who have invested in a sustainable product pipe-line will draw inordinate value from their sustainability orientation.

What is heartening that the original flavor SunChips, Frito-lay’s top seller, will continue to be packaged in the biodegradable bag. The company is already at work developing the next generation of biodegradable bags. As pointed out by their spokes-woman – to get it to the next level will take more invention and more creativity across the continuum. Kudos to FL for this irreversible commitment.

OE Remembers Lennon – Featuring “Child of Nature”

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:49:25 +0000

Olive Earth Remembers Lennon

Olive Earth Tributes Lennon

On the road to Rishikesh

I was dreaming more or less,

And the dream I had was true

Yes, the dream I had was true

I’m just a child of nature

I don’t need much to set me free

I’m just child of nature

I’m one of nature’s children

Worth of that used beer bottle – trashonomics is good for environment

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:01:41 +0000

What is the worth of the beer bottle after you used it up last night. Glass bottles are non biodegradable would stay for millions of years in the landfills. Glasses should rather be recycled as it is very easy to recycle glass. Glass can be more easily reused and recycled than PET (non biodegradable) and tertapack (uses metal and paper). Recycling by using old bottles as cullet helps to achieve up to 40% saving in power consumption. Currently a lot of glass is being reused by informal organizations making them unhygenic.

Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without losing its quality or purity. It does not create any additional waste as by product. recycling bottles means manufacturers use less sand — the primary raw material for glass, along with other minerals such as feldspar.

Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light to power a 60 watt bulb for four hours, a computer for 30 minutes and a television for 20 minutes. 10% increase in recycled glass equals to:

10% reduction in sulphur dioxide
6% decrease in nitorgen oxide
17% reduction in carbon dioxide
2.5% reduction in use of electricity energy
9% reduction in use of raw materials

Source: http://www.hngindia.com/downloads/leaflet.pdf

As per earth911, Every ton of glass that is recycled results in one ton of raw materials saved to process new glass, including: 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash and 380 pounds of limestone.

While the primary end product of recycled glass is new glass bottles and jars, there are some other uses for recycled glass, including:

Fiberglass production (second most popular use of post-consumer glass behind beverage containers)
Frictionator for matches and ammunition
Abrasives in sand-blasting
Ingredient in concrete and highway reflective paint
Ceramic tiles and picture frames around the house
(source: http://earth911.com/recycling/glass/products-created-from-recycled-glass/)

The broken pieces are crushed, sorted, cleaned, and prepared to be mixed with other raw materials like soda ash and sand. One of the first steps in glass recycling requires you to crush the glass and produce a product known as “cullet.” building recycled glass goods from cullet consumes 40 percent less energy than making fresh glass of raw materials, due to the fact cullet melts at a much decrease temperature. The raw materials and glass pieces are melted in a furnace and then shaped into moulds to make new bottles of different colours and sizes. New recycled bottles and jars are made in this way. Project ideas for Glass recycling are available at the source:

You can see some of the great uses of the recycled beer bottles here. eHow describes the following practices to recycle glass: Collect containers such as bottles and jars only. According to the Glass Packaging Institute containers such as food jars and beer bottles, for example can be recycled, while heat-resistant items, drinking glasses and window glass are not very effectively recycled. You should remove any lids and rinse out appropriate glass items. Put them in a plastic container where they will not easily break, until you are able to deliver them to the recycle facility or put them directly in the correct bin for curbside pick up. If necessary, separate clear, brown and green glass from each other. As per earth911 most recycling programs in US typically accept only glass containers, as other glass products such as drinking glasses, lightbulbs, mirrors and Pyrex are treated with contaminants when manufactured.

There are some pioneering organizations like Hindusthan National Glass & Industries which have make it a policy to promote glass recycling. But the channel to reach the recyclers is limited. Most of the glass waste either ends up in land-fills or get unhygenically reused. Some organizations like E-Parisaraa Pvt. Ltd, provide services around handling, recycling and reusing of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment(WEEE) and other glass products in eco friendly way. You may want to give them a call at 080-28360902 / 080-32906684 or email them at recycle@ewasteindia.com and check it out.

While some organizations provide the right bins to help recycling, publlic recycling channels are virtually unavailable. We need more access to recyclers. Let us pledge to recycle our beer bottles and other glass containers. This will require creation of an effective public channel for the reverse logistics of glass to recyclers. We as citizen should help facilitiating in establishing that.

E-waste Management in India – Fool’s gold or McKenna’s?

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:04:36 +0000

Ewaste Management Flow in India and China

India is one of the earliest developing countries to come up with a draft e-waste management regulation. There are three key policies those are outlined in the framework:

In line with the principle of ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ (EPR), the producer of electrical or electronic equipments shall be responsible for the e-waste generated from the ‘end of life’ of their products and ensure that such e-wastes are handled without any adverse effects to human health and the environment. It requires manufacturers to take back the products after their life is exhausted and devise discount schemes for consumers who return the products.
Aside from making producers responsible for the lifecycle of the product from cradle to grave, the law makes provision for reduction of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The rules aim to promote green designs that limit the use of hazardous chemicals like lead and mercury in their products. While this has been criticized by the IPC who has urged for a more scientific method for hazardous material management. (Chapter VI)
Most importantly, it imposes a ban on the import of all used electronic equipment for charity purposes. This was a key loophole which was being exploited by different companies to illegaly import, refurbish and sell e-waste in India. (Chapter V)

The draft also proposes to centralize e-waste management by describing the roles of dismantlers, refurbishers and recyclers by getting them registered.But the rules do not detail the business model for collection of e-waste from consumers though it has references to guidelines for the e-waste collection centers.

There has been complaints that the new draft rules on e-waste management framed by the Government ignores the unorganised sector where lands up more than 90 per cent of nearly 3,30,000 tonnes of e-waste generated in the country. More than 90 per cent of the nearly 4lakh tonnes e-waste generated in the country lands up in the unorganized market, a mait-gtz report estimated. The government assumes it will be able to regulate the informal e-waste sector through its proposed rules on e-waste, which allow only registered com-panies with updated and safe techno-logies to recycle e-waste. Clients of the formal recyclers incl-ude multinational companies that do not want their products to enter the grey market and compete with their new products. BPO and ITO companies want their machines processed by formal recyclers to keep up an environment-friendly image. Scrap dealers got to know of the rule only recently. Some scrap players rue that getting registered means having a large area and and technology. The challenge is that only those with big investments can get registered. While some have alleged that he regulations only allow registered big investment companies to recycle the e-waste, this is a great step towards bringing in formal structure for a nation well-know for its rag-pickers. One of the most significant player in the Indian e-waste recycling scene has alleged foul play and has suggested to file a defamation law suit against CSE which published this report.

There are 17 organized recyclers/dismantlers in India currently including Harit, which is an association of 70 kabadi-walas in bangalore. One of the complaints of the organized recyclers have been that they are unable to make profits because of competition from the unorganized market. Other two major challenges in this business are low awareness level among the companies and individuals about the recycling and the collection of the waste products. Because of low infrastructure, collection of electronics for recycling becomes much more costly affair. Even now most of the organized recyclers are not getting enough waste to run at full capacity. As per them they are suffering because they cannot match payments of the unorganized sector. Unlike them we scrap all that we get from the companies and hence the returns are very low. Informal dealers usually sell any part of a computer that is functional and it fetches them more money than what they would get if they broke it into metal and sold it like the formal recyclers.

According to the CSER report the only way to sustain formal business in the given situation is the licence to import. Of the 17, only Attero currently has the licence to import. Applications from other formal agencies are pending with the environment ministry. Importing e-waste makes financial sense for the exporter country. For instance, waste traders in Europe or usa, who would have to pay US $20 to recycle a computer safely in their countries, sell it at half the cost to informal traders in developing countries illegally. According to environmental agencies worldwide, dumping of e-waste in India is likely to go up by 500 percent in the next 10 years. Government needs to ensure that the policy loop-holes are not exploited to make it the primary mode of operations.

So at this stage, it seems the e-waste management environment that is evolving in India is neither liked by the informal recyclers nor enthusistically accepted by the formal guys. There is a lot of consolidation and professionalization to be expected in this market. This heart burn is a short term collateral damage. While IT industry has protested the EPR and the levy that has been contemplated in the draft, that is going to be the reality of e-waste management in days to come. We can hope to see a lot more structure in the present chaotic market. After all the CWG fiasco has set our expectations, really low.

Opportunities for India in a greening toy market

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:08:20 +0000

When the controversy over lead paint in toys first erupted, global companies were under pressure to stop sourcing from China. Mattel recalled more than 10 million toys manufactured in China because of lead contamination. But then they realised there was nowhere else they could shift base for these products. China continues to be the hub of toy exports.

The toy market in India is estimated at Rs.2,500 crore. About 70 percent of all toys sold in India come from China. Most of this market is unregulated. Twenty large units produce toys worth Rs 1,500 crore. Their sales are growing 18% annually and exports touched Rs 500 crore in the current fiscal. The rest of the market at Rs 2,500 crore is catered to by 2,000 factories that range from micro to medium-sized units, according to Toy Association of India. Indian customers tend to pay more for toys manufactured in China for their perceived better quality.

The issue of India for traditional toys is of developing responsible sourcing points in India, and manufacturers in India. As perceived by large scale retailers, developing that responsible base, which is compliant to global standards in terms of the kind of labor which is used, the manufacturing practices, and finally the quality of the product, is critical. It is a slow process; it doesn’t happen overnight. All we need to do is be patient and work through those processes to ensure that Indian small and medium manufactures come to that level. There are very high quality manufacturers in India who are supplying other categories to Walmart already. Toys are not yet high on the agenda when it comes to traditional toys.

But India can develope its niche in eco-friendly toys which is not depndent on the tranditional. There are already some organizations dealing in eco-friendly toys who are getting rave reviews outside. Earthentree is one such organization. They ensure that the wood does not contribute to deforestation, only natural dyes are used in making its products and also absolutely no form of child labor is employed in its production process. Sustainable and fast growing Hale wood (Wrightia Tinctoria) and Rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis), is used for its fine grain and lightweight. Earthentree toys are colored with natural and vegetable dyes. You can get more details on the manufacturer here.

Greening of Toys – Inducing innate sustainable behavior in Kids

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:29:35 +0000

Green Toys

If you get kids thinking about sustainability from the time they can walk, it’s more likely to be an innate behavior when the grow into adulthood. In that perspective, greeneing of the toys is great news for our beloved earth. While green toys account for less than 1 percent of the market, the number of products is growing. As reported in Businessweek, Researcher NPD Group, based in Port Washington, New York, estimated the toy industry’s 2009 retail sales at $21.5 billion. This report suggests the market for “green” toys may hit $1 billion over the next five years, or roughly 5 percent of all toy sales.

While made f recyclable materials, the raw materials for green toys come cheap, the growth of earth-friendly toys has been hampered by the higher prices that accompany sustainable manufacturing, or making products while using renewable resources, less energy and creating less waste, particualrly as we are coming out of the recession. But the fact that Wal-Mart has been pushing the category, is helping build awareness. As Wal-Mart makes a bigger push into green toys, the supplier industry will have to respond. Toy sales accounted for as much as 7 percent of Wal-Mart’s $258.2 billion in annual U.S. revenue last year. The results of such push from Wal Mart are already visible. Mattel has been working on reducing the size and amount of materials used in packaging and increasing the use of recycled content where possible. Several companies dedicated to green toy making are also emerging like Green Toys.

The materials that these toys are made out of — wood, minimal paints, recycled plastics — are what makes them greener than the competition. Green toys are also made from recycled materials and pose no threat to the environment. All materials that are used in green toys are natural, like bamboo. These toys are hardy, very durable and surprisingly lightweight, especially the ones made from bamboo. Some green toys are even being made from the recycled plastic of already used plastic bottles. This has also lead to the very low cost of making green toys since materials are very easy to come by. For example green toys claims the following about its toys:

They are made from recycled milk containers
They are battery-free.
They are non-toxic with no lead paints.
They are BPA and Phthalate free (harmful plastics).
They are packaged in recycled and recyclable materials.
The Toys are 100% recyclable
They are environmentally friendly and create less green house gas.

It is estimated that every pound of recycled jug that is used in the making of the green toys, saves energy equivalent to 3000 AAA batteries which is equivalent to the energy required to power a TV set for 3 whole weeks. This energy can run a laptop computer for a month.

So what is the opportunity for India here? Can we aim to be one of the leading players of this potential USD 1 Bn market in the US. We will discuss the same in the next blog post.

Has New-york Times Spotted the Black Swan – imperatives for the news paper industry

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:39:57 +0000

Idea Many of us have viewed and loved the Idea series of ads on going paperless where a tree-incarnated Abhishek plots to save his fraternity. This post is a peek into the realities of the newspaper industry’s future, its implications on sustainability and the imperatives for the industry in India.

Newyork times ran an article on April 21 suggesting Ten Ways to ‘Go Green’ for marking the Earth Day. In this they suggested to shun papers as one of the methods in your personal effort to go green. As if they were setting up the tone for what was to come next. At a conference in London in the second week of September, Arthur Sulzberger Jr conceded that someday the New York Times Company will be forced to stop publishing a printed paper.The

Future of Paper

economics of the online news business will not support the infrastructure or newsroom that the printed paper supports. It is more of a financial decision. As Mashable reports “As newspaper circulation continues to fall, so do newspaper revenues. All told, losses amount to 27.2% or ad revenue lost year-over-year between 2008 and 2009. More and more consumers are using the web to stay updated about current events; in fact, in a poll earlier this year, only 21.7% of Mashable readers said they got their news from a newspaper. “The newspaper industry across the globe has been bleeding(in India the debate on whether it is floundering or flourishing still continues but undeniably new models of delivery are evolving) due to the migration of the readers to the web-sphere. With link sharing sites like Twitter and Facebook, news spread fast. The necessity of news papers as channels to analyze news and provide detailed coverage is being fulfilled by various websites, blogs and citizen reporters. The consumer preferance has also been shifting on the reding habits. It is as if students, professors, readers and universities are rebelling against the weighty — and wasteful — books. Stanford University’s brand new physics and engineering library is advertised as “bookless”; relying almost solely on digital material. Free and downloadable textbooks are at the heart of the growing “open educational resources” movement that seeks to make education more available and more affordable.

While it may be a pure financial decision on part of Newyork, for environment it is good news. As Sulzeberg admits the web costs are no where near the print costs where the investment in the capital equipments can run into billions. News consumption will not recede in its importance. Writers and editors are being challenged to find new and creative ways to tell stories. Newyork times which excels in that and ensures honest news is brought out will continue to be a formidable post. The reputation enjoyed by newspapers is far more trustworthy and reliable than that of any other mass communication medium. Newspapers are still the primary and at times the only source of news available. Especially in India, people have a certain sense of loyalty towards the paper they read, and that’s the relationship that’s hard to be cracked.

But consumer behavior shifting towards more sustainable reading models will just enable a shift away from the wasteful paper. The average age of readers of the New York Times print edition is 42, Sulzberger says, and that hasn’t changed in 10 years. The average age of readers of its Internet edition is 37, which shows that the group is also managing to recruit young readers for both the printed version and Web site. The same trend is visible in India as well. As reported in The View paper Declining readership(of Indian Newspaper) in no way means declining demand. The only reason for the publications calling quits being the high fixed cost of print publishing, making the major metro newspaper business model unsustainable in a world that increasingly wants information to be free.

As suggested by Selzeberg, Newyork times will move towards an online licensing and fee based model, most probably by 2015. Some reports predict that the web-based revenue could be as big as 30% for NYT. The Times from the group signed a deal with Microsoft to distribute the paper through a software program called Times Reader, Sulzberger says. The software enables users to conveniently read the paper on screens, mainly laptops. When you sign-up at the New York times website you are made to sign-up for the Times Reader as well, which makes it extremly easy to share content on the web.There is a revolution brewing to enable a paperless world. Shelly Blake-Plock runs this amazing blog that tracks how a paperless teaching methodology can be enabled. Several websites are cropping up which enable several work that we did with paper to be done in a paperless environment. Below is an interesting list of sites with more generic usage to reduce paper, as taken from this blog:

Use a site like mindmapping Mindmeister for brainstorming without white-paper boarding
LiveBinders is a great tool for Web 2.0 servers to a virtual 3-Ring Binder you can gather resources and use for the presentation inside.
You can also use Microsoft OneNote or http://notebook.zoho.com

While the debate continues on whether removing paper is really that green as it is touted to be, the news paper industry has been responsible enough to embrace practices to improve their sustainability footprint. Driven by publisher commitments to increase the recycled fiber content of their newsprint, and producer investments in paper de-inking infrastructure, the US industry average more than tripled from just 10 percent in 1989 to more than 35 percent in 2006. Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator. For more information visit http://www.papercalculator.org. This is a great resource to see how you can reduce the impact on environment even while continuing to use paper.

Consumption of paper in India, which is only 9 kg per capita, is low compared to paper consumption by countries like the US (250 to 300 kg per capita) and China (40 kg per capita). This is godd news. But it can be great. 40% of the waste produced in India is just paper. In India only 30 percent of waste-paper comes for recycling rest 70 percent goes in garbage. While in US 90 percent of waste-paper is used in recycling. IARPMA projects the demand for paper in India to reach 28 million tonnes by 2025. If we were to reach China’s current level of recovery, then we should be recovering 8.3 million tonnes of waste paper for reuse by then. While the production of recycled paper has increased approximately three folds from just 13% in 1985 to nearly 40% in India, the potential is much larger.http://www.dare.co.in/opportunities/energy-environment/business-from-waste-paper.htm. As reported by DNA every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.But our larger goal should be to reduce use of Paper. If each child saves one sheet of paper a day, then 40,000 trees are saved per year by students alone!

Give it a thought and get involved in the cause. One of the best ways to participate is to introduce a recycling program. Olive Earth will shortly be launching its community recycling program. Keep checking back on this space. Schools, colleges, cooperative societies and apartments can collect their paper waste on a daily basis, go to a nearby recycling centre and make new paper that can be used for customised printing such as for Lesson Plans, Birthday cards, Invitations, posters and other such purposes. Paper recycling can provide great education value for kids in developing their creativity, old newspapers can be recycled into products such as boxes, file cartons, pencil barrels, grocery bags, cellulose insulation materials, and many more diverse products.