By Mehul Kashmiria, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (Year 2020-21)
One of the studies conducted by Hoornweg and Laura in 2000 stated, which was quite ahead of its team that, “greater the economic prosperity and higher the percentage of the urban population, the greater is the amount of solid waste produced”. With the rising urbanization and industrialization in India, there is a rapid increase in the population in metropolitan cities. More and more people coming to cities have led to added clustering of the city and a rising need for effective waste management.
Adding to this is the issue of the polarisation of society between the young and the old generation. Recently, while casually scrolling my Instagram, I came across one of the social media influencers shopping for their ‘Holi attire’ and buying a shirt worth 1500 bucks and the whole thing took me by surprise. With growing global markets, people’s purchasing power has increased. Today, every second person is a YouTuber. While this may appear to be a good incentive in the backdrop of the rising unemployment, it has increased people’s desire for every new product just because of their ‘ideals’ or influencers is using. India’s obsessions with their film stars are something new and with social media influencing becoming a gimmick by businesses, people are consciously made aware of the products in a way that persuades them to buy them.
Would you not be tempted to try the latest vitamin C face scrub by a high-end brand that has brightening properties and can give you an instant glow? Now think for a second, is it viable to spend 400 bucks on it when the same is right there in your refrigerator and kitchens? Now the question arises as to how effective is it? We Indians are often mocked for reusing clothes and objects till the time the same cannot be used further. Indian housewives use things conservatively, for instance, the water used to wash pulses or rice is used to water the plants; students reusing their notebooks and books of their elder siblings, using old shirts for Holi and then utilizing it as a dusting cloth. The point here is that a commendable marketing technique can for sure contribute to the economy but surely at the cost of the environment. In addition to this, even the aspect of recycling and reusing has become a marketing tool for the business as they tend to sell organic and recycled products at an exorbitant price where the basics of which find their roots in the Indian society and it is traditional practices and one can easily do the same from their own homes!
There is a famous American Proverb that says that ‘we did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we have borrowed it from our children.’ We as a society need to understand that environmental protection is the need of the hour and that the aspects of recycling and reusing old products that lie in our Indian roots are something to be not ashamed of. Would you not find it rather cool if you’re able to make a beautiful rug out of old dupattas that you no longer wear or let’s say if you can wear your creative caps and make a durable pen stand using your mom’s old bangles?
AmrohaSay, a Not-for-profit Organisation was set up as a platform with the same mindset to create awareness among people with respect to the concept of recycling and reusing and do their bit for Mother Nature. Further, skill education has been the talk of the town for a while now. Despite not having a professional designing degree or having done any courses, the grass-roots women associated with the Organisation are utilizing their traditional skills to make the best out of the fabric cuttings salvaged from factories and creating wealth from the waste, literally! It’s high time, the world gets to know that the Indian women’s idea of waste management starts right from their own homes. It is time to raise the consciousness about Reuse and support such groups by buying their creative products. I Support Amroha Say!
-Mehul Kashmiria
