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Environment friendly city
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How much are we doing to save our environment? Serish Nanisetti and Renuka Vijay Kumar find out on World Environment Day
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CLEAN AND GREEN The small but assertive steps taken by Hyderabadis will help safeguard the environment Photo: Satish. H
Small can be big, even a David can slay a Goliath. But can small contributions save the environment? Maybe yes, maybe not. A few Hyderabadis (this includes the Secunderabadis) are offering their small change to save the environment. Today, let's take a look at what's happening with the environmentally conscious citizens of the city.
`Nakko' to plastic bags
As the rest of their pals flaunt which shopping mall, there have been a few conscientious citizens who have started refusing to take the plastic bags which shopkeepers are using as a packaging tool as well as brand promotion trick. "Yes. A number of our customers refuse to take the plastic bags and prefer to walk out with a bill and whatever they have bought in their hands," says an employee of Walden at Somajiguda. In contrast to the shopping malls, the bustling sari shops have already switched over to environment friendly jute bags.
The Citizens for a Better Hyderabad (CBH) is a major Anti- Plastic bags campaigner. Founder and Secretary of CBH Dr. Sudhakar Krishnamurti says, "I think that more people are involved than we might imagine, but a concerted effort is required and a lot more needs to be done. Nobody's really achieved anything demonstrable yet. But with MCH spearheading the campaign, I am very optimistic." Their slogan is `Nakko to Plastic Bags' and they strive to inform people about the hazards of plastic bags, urge them to minimise their usage and teach proper disposal if use is inevitable.
Safe paper cups
Another small contribution to the environment is being made by the big IT companies as well as the big restaurant chains with their use of ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) paper cups. "These paper cups are biodegradable and are rated as food-grade. Though there is a price difference, a number of companies like IRCTC, Oracle, Dell, Lipton and Google are using our paper cups in their offices," says Y.A. Prasad of Sree Sai Paper Products. His small enterprise in the Nacharam manufactures 5 lakh paper cups each day, all made out of ECF paper. The paper cups carry a small logo with the legend: ECF paper cups
E-Bikes
Hyderabad based company Cynosure Enterprises Ltd has launched an environment friendly Yash E-bike. The bike is more like an electric motorcycle that is noise and pollution free. The trendy looking scooter, or scooterette to be more precise, is only two months old and comes in two different horsepower capacities. It runs on a battery that is to be charged just like you would charge your cell-phone— plugged into a regular 220V socket. With a full charge of four hours, the bike can run 60kms. So far 200 E-bikes has been sold since its launch.
Environment friendly inhalers
Across the globe, other things are rapidly being put into force. Hybrid cars are already on the roads and environment friendly inhalers for asthmatics seem next on the agenda. Inhalers often contain that is responsible for the gaping hole in the ozone layer. With pressure on drug manufacturers to replace this with substitutes, the `unfriendly' inhalers may be out of the market by end of 2007.
World Environment Day was first declared in 1974 by the United Nations to encourage awareness of the environment. With each passing year, the need to be conscious about the environment seems to be more important than before. It's a good day to sit up and to put things into perspective, as they are. Are we actually doing something to save the environment? Well, yes, it seems like we finally are taking the initiative, but still have a long way to go.
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