What does going green mean?

Jul 08, 2018 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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In an address at the ceremony to open Guyana’s Trade and Investment Exposition (GUYEXPO), on May 13, 2016, President David Granger said, “Guyana’s Green Development Strategy will be developed as a template for the ‘greening’ of Guyana. Guyana will have a ‘green’ economy. We will transition our economy rapidly towards renewable, clean and cheaper sources of energy. We will craft a comprehensive Coastal Zone Management Plan to protect human habitation, our coastal economic sectors and coastal ecosystems. We will create ‘green’ enterprises and jobs and we will inculcate ‘green’ education.”
What does all of this mean to the man or woman in the street and how exactly will this ‘green’ wave impact their lives? What does going green mean?
‘Going green’ means to pursue knowledge and practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles, which can help protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for current and future generations.
To put it simply, going green means to care about the environment and make a deliberate attempt to help use as little resources as possible. People who do this limit their footprint on the environment and encourage others around them to do the same. Going green is not limited to recycling. It is so much more than that. The idea is to live the kind of lifestyle that is sustainable in the long run.
It includes making a lot of small changes in your everyday routine that will help you achieve that goal. So what are some of the things that are easy enough for us all to include in our lives?
One of the things that we all can do is to minimize polluting the environment. Be a little more aware of the products we buy. Things like shampoo and cleaning detergents are some products which if not chosen wisely add a lot to the load on the environment. They run off into our drainage and eventually into the water systems around our cities causing water pollution. Buy green products and then use less of them. Find out more about these things and help teach others in turn too.
Over the past 50 years, consumerism has run riot, evolving to create a culture in which individuals lean towards items, which are convenient, disposable and low-cost. Suppliers are meeting this demand with products that are intentionally designed and manufactured to have a limited lifespan after which they are discarded or replaced, giving rise to single-use items.
The convenience of these items comes at a cost however, and as far as the consumer is concerned this is a financial one. Though often overlooked, it should be evident that in purchasing a product multiple times more money will be spent in the long run. In addition, there is an environment cost: an increase in consumption leads to pollution and resource-depletion, while more waste is generated. Thus, if we were to curb these habits of convenience we could reduce our consumption and waste.
Many of us have become blind to the environmental hazards we create engaging in activities of daily living. Many of us consume coffee and other beverages at work using disposable cups. If you drink just one beverage each day you consume on average 240 disposable cups per year; and even if you only drink one once a week, that still totals 52. The most environmentally friendly alternative to the common coffee cup is packing a reusable mug.
Plastic bottles for water and other cold beverages are a big problem and a major source of pollution. If you have to buy a beverage, select one that is in a reusable bottle and for personal rehydration carry a water bottle that can be refilled.
It is recognised that plastic bags are bad for the environment, yet it is estimated between 500 billion and one trillion are used worldwide each year, the bulk of which end up in landfills (taking up to 1,000 years to decompose). We should refuse plastic bags, using a durable, foldable and inexpensive reusable bag that can be carried around in your car, pocket, or purse.
Many of us use a new set of disposable cutlery each day if we get lunch on the go or order a take-away. Just think about how much damage this can do to the environment. Keep a fork, knife and spoon from home wherever you need it most or invest in an inexpensive reusable set of cutlery. Then remember to ask the restaurant not to include a disposable set with your take-out.
With blades made from inexpensive steel and handles made from cheap plastic, disposable razors have always been made for single-use. Billions of them, along with the paper and plastic packaging, are discarded each year; and because most of it can’t be reused or recycled the disposable razors and blade cartridges find their way into landfills. If you want to shave daily, invest in a durable electric shaver, refillable razor, or straight razor or get one that can be recycled.
This is just the tip of the iceberg where going green is concerned. We have a responsibility to educate ourselves and others. What we might not realize is that even though we recycle and compost and turn off our lights and try not to use our air conditioner unless it’s really hot, there are lots of sneaky ways we might be hurting the environment and not even know it—because some significant environmental damage is caused by everyday products that seem harmless; leather products, paper, disposable plates and food containers; paints and varnishes; insecticides and pesticides; cigarettes; soaps and detergents; motor vehicles and cell phones; to name just a few.
Today’s lifestyle is brutally damaging our environment in one way or the other. Not only the scenic beauty, like forests, rivers etc is getting disturbed but also animals, birds and humans are adversely affected by our own actions. Almost every day, we harm our surroundings at a minor level, which in turn accumulates and damages the environment at a major level.
The need of the hour is to observe our own activities that are posing a threat to our environment and rectify them. We generally ignore our duties towards the environment in which we live thinking others would work on it, but if there is to be change it has to start with us at the individual level. We must first educate ourselves by understanding what going ‘green’ means and what steps we can take to get us there.

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