Jasleen

Planned consumerism-its effect on environment

2014-08-04T13:21:00.000+05:30

"Planned consumerism"? o_0 okay there exists no such exact term and again it's just an understanding of the title. But there is something as consumerism that let's first see what it is.
The word consumerism refers to consumption of goods that are available in the market; by the consumers to satisfy their needs. However, in Vance Packard’s, “The Waste Maker”, a different and a bit negative sense is implied.
No doubt why.! Today we buy stuff not out of our needs but out of our wants.
The present scenario is such that a person is judged by the puma or the Nike shoes he wears, the rado or the lacoste watch, or the latest garments of the best brands. The ones who can afford them are thought as to be the happy people in the society and the ones who don’t keep cribbing about what they don’t have. It seems that the ultimate aim of everyone’s life is to just EARN- GO SHOPPING-Generate WASTE or some smart ones follow it as EARN-SAVE. Save why? So that they can shop for something better.
According to a project named “The Story of Stuff”, the lifecycle of a product starts right from the extraction to manufacturing to maketing to usage and finally to disposal which follows a linear chain that can sadly not run on a finite planet as ours. All through the cycle people are terribly affected.
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We cut down all the trees, poison the rivers, pollute the air and destroy the landscape to manufacture the goods for the humans’ ever increasing demands. According to the World Bank stats, the area under forest has declined from 31.3% in the year 2004 to 30.9% in the year 2011. We might complain about the naxalites and tell they are barbarous, they might be. But we are unaware that they act so because their environment is disturbed so that people * consumers* like us can get our products.
The ones whose lands are snatched, move to cities and live in slums. Here to quote a fact, “the population of the dharavi slum in Mumbai is thrice that of the population of Australia. Infact Mexico City's Neza-Chalco-Itza barrio has four times as many people as in Dharavi.”

Then at the production level, the synthetic chemicals and preservatives are another threat that we are exposed to. Industrialists and businessmen are so gripped by the concept of increasing the profit margins that they are cutting corners at every stage. This the reason why the trend of use and throw stuff has increased for refilling is definitely cheaper than buying a new object. Products are made in a manner so that they become disposable in a short
period of time ressulting in the increase of sales. Especially the IT-sector, that each day introduces a new technology compells you to buy a new gadget every few months. Because the new tecchnology has been deliberately designed such that it cannot be updated on your old device-leading to massive e waste generation.
Added to that the way a product is positioned and marketed through enormous advertisements and strategies creates a compulsive need among the people to possess the product which otherwise they could have avoided buying.
According to some statistics, on an average 99% of the things become waste just after sixth
months of their productions and all this waste isn’t even properly treated. They put them into
incinerators and what happens is the toxics and synthetic chemicals and enzymes become double toxics- dioxins which is even more dangerous.
It seems as if we are determined to destroy all that was carefully built.!
Its not that we should stop buying and using the stuff. Yes we all are consumers, we need the stuff to sustain us. But there should be certain *conditions applied.
*The problem is not that we consume; but that we consume more than our share, more than what is needed.We are extracting resources at a far greater rate than they can replenish themselves. The concern about what will be left for our future generations simply doesn’t exist.

We should know the difference between our needs and wants and should buy only that which is of utter importance and must limit our demands. Buying things that last for a long time, rather than going for cheap use and throw stuff is a smart option.
For e.g. An L.E.D. bulb might cost more than a normal bulb but ultimately it is more durable it runs for years and years, therefore less waste is produced.
We should not discard the gadgets and other stuff just because, apple has launched a new I
phone or there is this latest trend in the market that urges us to replace our wardrobes.
One thing that must always be remembered is Waste generation is inevitable, but the quantity of waste generated, kind of waste generated and its eco-friendly disposal in a way to convert it into the resource is under our control..
What one must not forget is that our position is not only of a dumb consumer of the capatislistic world but of a smart responsible citizen of the nation and as a preservor of the environment.!

Just for TECHNO-FUN

2014-05-19T20:28:00.003+05:30

For all the tech-savvy people out there, if you are bored by your latest ultra-books, highest version android phone, and all your old gadgets and technology; so here is the time to try out something new-"Augmented Reality".

The term literally means " enhanced reality" and since it is something something related to technology, it could be referred to as the SIXTH SENSE OF TECHNOLOGY. Did I just mention SIXth sense.? Indeed the sixth sense created by technology.

You might have seen in the science fiction movies, the actress moving her pen through the air, and magically whatever she rights is on her e-book. Well i must say the directors of these movies are futurists, they could predict that a few years after their movie releases the technology might be available for people in reality.! Rather i think they were the masterminds behind such a technology. Whatever it might be, this new kind of " augmented reality is just diminishing the gap between the real and the virtual world.

Its just like i want to play a piano and do not have one. But Thanks to the augmented reality technology, i can draw a piano on the piece of paper, and simply download an Augmented reality piano play app, and by using the piano drawn on paper can enjoy the music.

Wow.! this was just one example, you may check the app store for many more such wonderful apps. Just type in " augmented reality apps" in the search bar of your google play store and get set go with some freekingly amazing astonishing apps.
In fact oh.. you might have heard about those google glasses,another masterpiece of technology..!!
Although this comes with some limitations but then who could have imagined seeing a black and white mobile a few years ago that in coming years the colorful android phones could even replace computers. all the technology fans shall await more such wonders. well for now, it is at the cutting edge of this technology where the "real meets virtual".

Parental Justice

2014-05-16T01:30:00.002+05:30

Okay.! this might sound quite weird and you must be like "is it some kind of law ? oh were the already existing laws less that we have a new one ? it might be some kind of tagline of some ngo ?"
Wait..Hold on..Before your mind travels at the speed of 200 miles per hour, put the breakssss.....
This is nothing new. We all might have read about the Social Justice guaranteed to every citizen in the constitution that states " the gap between the rich and the poor should be bridged. " ( Though this law too, is not implemented seriously, just like the others. Thanks to great leaders and thanks to the history that they have made with all those *As great as them* scandals. And as a result, to the contrary of the law the rich is getting richer and the poor poorer.) But still no denial that there exists the existence of such a law.
And just as social justice delivers a meaning of bridging the rich and the poor gap,PARENTAL JUSTICE aims at narrowing the gap between "the parents" and "the children".
Now there may be three kinds of responses to such an idea as of parental justice.
1. narrowing the gap ? what is the writer talking about ? what kind of gap ? 2. O my God.! parents and us with the same mindset and no gap. the writer is certainly an oldie.? 3. yeah that's a good thought. good that someone has talked about it.
Okay.! so i guess that you have guessed these three questions represent the reactions at the three stages of our lives-childhood, teenage and adulthood respectively.
While we grow the maximum problems and complaints we have from the parents is in our teens.

Parental justice is basically about the teens like you, teens like me.

We hide all our stuff from our parents, our boyfriends or girlfriends, about alcohol, about hukkah, about dates, about some friends and all that we should not be doing according to them, and then when they any how find out about this and scold us we blame and rebel as like- You don't know anything about the life it is now. You haven't been to a school as good as we do, or come on we are grown ups trust us. We don't care what the people talk about us. Can't help there's a generation gap...and so on and so forth.

woah..!! yeah they don't know anything about the life now because they have long back shifted to Mars. or they made a mistake of sending you to a good school and offered you a good lifestyle. and yes they don't trust you because you never gave a chance to do so.

They are your parents, dear friends, THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE IN THE WORLD-marks my works, THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE,Who love you and who want to see you happy. and in return the only thing that they expect is respect and love.Think on their behalf and try to understand whenever your mom tells you to be home early, she trusts you but not the other people who you are with. whenever she asks you not to go crazy over a girl or a guy, she means that this is the time to establish a life, and don't distract yourself because the distraction is certainly inevitable. whenever they tell you not to consume alcohol or any intoxicating stuff, they want you not to lose your health and to enjoy the life in your complete senses.

They are parents. they care about you. They can't help it. But you definitely can, you claim you belong to a smarter world and that to you no challenge is a challenge, so please take up this challenge to talk to your parents and try to narrow the differences. and convince them that you are wise.

Rights and Duties go hand in hand. They have performed all their duties the best way they could have. now its time for them to enjoy their rights as being a proud parent. Make them feel proud and despite the differences stay calm coz you know neither of you is at fault and you can explain it to them too.

Go for it coz as I said earlier they are the only ones who love you.! Show them that you love them.

2014-03-27T02:40:00.001+05:30

For all the parents who say "HUM BETA BETI ME FARQ NAI KARTE",
For all the people who say, " HUM LADKA LADKI ME BHED BHAO NAI KARTE" :
# ladki ka janm : "Acha ladki hui hai .! "
ladke ka janm : " Badhai ho ladka hua hai. chalo bhagwan ka shukra hai ek beta to mil gya. ghar ko waris mil gaya. ! "
# Bhed bhao to wahi shuru ho jata hai, jab Gulabi rang unpar thop dia jata hai. Jise aage chal kar wo apni pehchan hi man leti hai.
# Bhed bhao to wahi ho jata hai jab ladko se kaha jata hai : " Ladkio ki tarah mat ro. ( kyunki roti to bas ladkia hai kyunki wo kamzor hai) "
# Beti ke lie :
" DECENT kapde pehno, DECENT bat karo, DECENT behaviour rakho. "
APNE BETO SE KAHO LADKIO KO *DECENT* NAZRON SE DEKHE.
# har mata pita kehte hai unki beti koi object nai hai insaan hai.
Par bhed bhao to tabhi ho jata hai jab "ghar ki izzat" bata kar "objectify" kar dia jata hai. Par apke hisaab se to wo kamzor hai. thoda izzat ka bojh bete ko b dedo.!
# ek aurat ek bache ko janm dete waqt utna hi dard sehti hai jitna 200 bones ek sath tootne par hota hai. jise Duniya ka sabse dardnaak anubhav mana gya hai.
Par tumare lie to wo hamesha kamzor hi rahegi na.
# Ek ladki ke sabse bade dushman na chahte hue b uske Maa-Baap hi hote hai, jo logo ke dar se uske pairo me saamaaj nam ki bedia bandh dete hai.
# Girls School ? Girls College ? Women reservation ?
aurat ko saamaaj se alag mat rakho. use saamaaj me rhete hue izzat do.!
# mard "MARD"(strong) hai kyunki ne "AURAT" ne khud ko aurat(weak) MAAN lia hai.