Bhoomika Singh
The world is experiencing exacerbated climate change and events that are causing global economic losses. The grave concerns about climate change are causing policymakers to reconsider environmental issues and implement change.
The best way to make this happen is to spread awareness, hence world environment day is celebrated on 5 June annually.
Little about the day
This day was first observed in 1973 and is characterised by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Fifty years later, in 2022, the theme of world environment day is #OnlyOneEarth, focusing on ‘Living sustainability in harmony with nature’. This motto emphasizes that time is running out to bring people and nature back into balance.
Now more than ever, we need to remember that we only have one Earth and are running out of time to save our planet. Which is why the theme for this year’s World Environment Day — only one Earth — fits the current scenario perfectly.
The campaign #OnlyOneEarth calls for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet. This year World Environment Day conference is being hosted in Sweden. It asks people to join from across the world, use events and actions to build their Earth Action Number, and share their impact with the world.
Significance of world environment day
Climate change, loss of nature and biodiversity, pollution and waste are the evidence that Earth is in “code red” condition, and becoming more ominous by the day. Simultaneously, billions of people lack income, food, shelter, health care, and education. Concerns are raised by energy and food crises following the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in conflicts around the world.
The solution to this dilemma is to transform our economies and societies so that they are more inclusive, fair, and connected to nature. We must shift from harming to healing the planet. To advance to a better, more sustainable future where everyone can thrive, we must protect what we have and restore what we have lost.
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What Indian SMEs are doing
World Environment Day can help accelerate the transition to sustainability, and SMEs in India are doing their best to serve mother earth.
Roshan Miranda, founder and director at Bintix Waste Research says, “It’s our small efforts in all dimensions that contribute to a larger positive impact on the environment. Be it managing plastic waste responsibly, managing effluents/sewage, supplementing with more renewable energy, or using electric vehicles for operations, our initiatives can be small but can mean a lot when a larger number of SMEs adopt such practices,”
He suggests that SMEs by adopting some sustainable and eco-friendly practices can make a huge difference. Speaking on the initiatives, Miranda tells, “One example of an impact we can have by recycling and reducing plastic waste. Responsible management of 1 kg of plastics can avert almost 3 kg of Carbon Dioxide from the environment. Each house produces almost 4-5 kg of plastics every month and industries produce much more than that. Imagine the positive impact we can have just by managing just the plastics from our own houses and our industry/trading premises,”
Be it managing the plastic waste responsibly, managing effluents/sewage, supplementing with more renewable energy, or using electric vehicles for operations, our initiatives can be small but can mean a lot when a larger number of SMEs adopt such practices, he adds.
Another MSME, Wudbox empowers other organisations to adopt eco-friendly actions. Its founder Charu Dhyani says sustainability is not just a requirement but a need of the hour now. And that also implies that the opportunities for start-ups in the sector are huge.
“We provide consultation on how brands can adopt eco-friendly and sustainability actions and provide products that are natural, organic, zero waste and earth-friendly. Through our experience of being in the sector for the last 6 years, I can say with a lot of confidence that the acceptance of the idea of sustainability has certainly picked up and will continue the upward trend,”
Another startup Future Step is trying to solve the problem of recycling organic waste. “Our main idea is to simplify the segregation, recycling, and composting of waste in a lesser time and in a hassle-free manner,” says Pavani Lolla, Co-Founder & CEO of Future Step Enterprise LLP.
With the recent government measure to ban single-use plastic to curb the plastic menace, Indian brands have come up with alternatives to plastic. The packaging business of UFlex Group Asepto come up with India’s first u-shape paper straw line for Aseptic liquid Cartons.
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Not only SMEs and startups, but big enterprises are also doing their part to involve sustainability in their operations and products. For instance, Dell Technologies has been taking significant steps toward protecting the environment. In fact, the company’s 2030 goals aim to use 100 per cent recycled or renewable material in all packaging, setting emissions goals across facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent per unit of revenue.
