Hug the trees, kiss the earth for sake of future generations

Green is the catchword. The media constantly talks of the need to conserve the planet, its precious resources and promote sustainable development. These are words and adjectives that would crop up during our daily encounters with stories, and one almost took them for granted.

But after spending over a decade in China amid fluctuating weather patterns, encountering pollution and watching with trepidation the wanton destruction of natural resources across the globe, I have enough reason to be concerned as to whether the future is indeed bright for my children or their children.

Most often I am torn between hope and despair. Happily, however, I am no Cassandra, and there is still that lingering positive streak, and two recent developments point to a silver lining.

During recent trips to Manila in the Philippines and Hong Kong, I was surprised to find several restaurants opting for edible and environmentally friendly cutlery. Imagine my surprise when I was served starters on edible spoons and told that I should eat the whole thing up.

“It is a small way that we can contribute to protecting the environment,” said Belen Gracias, the owner of a popular eatery in Manila. My friends told me that such efforts have already made considerable progress in China and India and many other nations.

On a more positive note, I came across the report that German footwear giant Adidas has sold more than 1 million pairs of shoes made from ocean plastic. The company apparently uses a yarn that can turn ocean plastic into a polymer, which can subsequently be used to make knitted footwear. According to the company, each shoe uses an average of 11 plastic bottles and incorporates recycled plastic into the laces, heel webbing, lining and sock liner covers.

Allbirds, a San Francisco startup that makes environmentally friendly footwear, said that it will make shoes from eucalyptus tree fibers. The company said the new fiber is much more sustainable than other products. Another United States’ shoe giant, Nike, is making shoes from recycled leather fiber.

The word “eucalyptus” did bring back memories of an experiment gone wrong in several southern Indian states during the 1980s because of mass eucalyptus

planting. The trees were everywhere, and there was very little that could be done with them other than extract oil for medicinal purposes. I hope some Indian entrepreneur will soon find a way to add value by using this in shoes or some other green product.

The second interesting fact that I stumbled upon recently was an initiative by Freelancer.com, the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and jobs. The company has recently come out with a contest that runs until May 10 and urges its more than 32 million users to clean up the world, one beach, park, garden, road, car park at a time, with a $12,500 carrot to the winning cleaner.

“We wanted to help, and have put up $12,500 to the best cleanup effort on the planet,” said Matt Barrie, the CEO and founder of Freelancer.com.

Efforts are also being made in China. Agriculture scientists have developed new rice varieties named “Green Super Rice” for developing Asian and African countries.

The project, which has the backing of the government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has developed 78 GSR varieties since 2008, and its efforts are expected to benefit 30 million small farmers in Asia and Africa.

GSR varieties need fewer chemical fertilizers, pesticides and water, and are more tolerant to pests, diseases, drought. etc, Li Zhikang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said in a recent interview.

Ruminating over these aspects made me realize that though there have been pioneering efforts, very little is being heard about them. “Green is still not a trend that is in sync with most of the younger generation or the older people. It is a habit that needs to be cultivated with some urgency, as we are fast approaching a tipping point,” said T. B. Nair, an independent analyst based in Bengaluru, India.

Munching into the edible spoons in front of me and downing a mint cocktail, I realized that somewhere one has to make a small beginning.