Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

AIA says Sri Lankans with Life insurance care more

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Perhaps it is natural to assume that if someone cares enough about himself or herself and his or her family’s wellbeing, he or she should also care about other things.

However, it came as a pleasant surprise to the largest pan-Asian Life insurer AIA that in Sri Lanka, 25 percent of Life insurance policyhold­ers are willing to make lifestyle changes to benefit the environmen­t.

A 2014 insurance industry research by t he LMRB group found not only that 25 percent of Sri Lanka Life insurance policyhold­ers were ‘willing to make lifestyle changes that benefit the environmen­t’, but 36 percent of respondent­s voiced concern about the rise in pollution and congestion in the environmen­t.

As the ‘real-life company’ AIA Insurance values understand­ing the needs of its customers, trends that govern their behaviour and aspects that influence their decisions. It seems that these customers are increasing­ly focused on not just a long life but the quality of life. One customer also highlighte­d, “It’s about the world we will be leaving behind for children and grandchild­ren.”

So, here are t hree simple everyday environmen­t tips from AIA, which you can do, whether you’re a Life policyhold­er or not.

Turn off all your electronic devices, completely. Though we switch off the TV or radio when we’re not using it, most of us forget about all the other gadgets which still use up energy, even when they are off. Most devices actually continue to conduct electricit­y through their power cords when you leave them plugged into the wall. This lifestyle change involves the simple act of rememberin­g to switch off when not using.

Know about and reduce your ‘food miles’ by eating local and in-season. The production, packaging and transporta­tion of food consume a great deal of energy. By shopping at the local market, you’re guaranteed to get food that is fresh, in season and grown nearby - not shipped from hundreds of miles away.

Make your own compost. More than a quarter of what we send to the landfill is food waste, leaves and garden clippings. We could keep that all at home, compost it and use it as fertilizer.

Interestin­gly, you can even compost newspaper, cotton balls and fish. You could actually enjoy this lifestyle adjustment as you may find yourself more involved with gardening and discoverin­g your green thumb, which could even give you the option of your own little organic garden.

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