Topic by Damodaran
Are we using our resources wisely?
Responses
Ganesh
Whenever we discuss about using the resources wisely, I like this saying that is very catchy "The natural resources are something that we have not inherited from our ancestors, they are something that we have borrowed from our future generations". This helps to remind us that we need to preserve them for the sake of our own kids and grandchildren!!
Whenever I hear this song with Vairamuthu's lines "Thanga Mazhai Peyya Vendum", I used to think that "We then will have to use gold to buy a bottle of drinking water?"!
Surya
The earth was so vast from our perspective, that for centuries our conception of resources was that it is limitless. And that our industrial development, waste generation, pollution, deforestation would have no impact. All of a sudden after a century of break-neck, global development - suddenly we realize that we can tax resources far more than we ever imagined.
It is also an immeasurable tragedy how much pollution we dump in oceans and impact marine life.
I am desperately hoping that our generation raises the consciousness on these matters, like you did here in this forum. And that the next generation takes decisive action through politics, law, technology and culture to reverse this trend.
To answer your question - what can we do, here are some thoughts:
A. Don't be shy about discussing this. It is no longer ok or look the other way to pollute or wastefully consume. Point it out.
B. Share best practices - we read the news, we watch movies. We should also be looking for simple and best practices and get on twitter feed and other sources that keeps you in the flow of information. On twitter, I follow Water.Org, World Bank, Guardian Environment, Sierra Club, Audubon Society etc.
C. If we are in roles of responsibility at work as either managers or entrepreneurs, we should initiate simple rules for resource management. btw, it is a strong hypothesis that resource efficient companies are more profitable anyway!
D. Initiate a global ENV tax.
E. Implement a credit-system through the WTO such that countries and companies can trade credits with each other. For example if my company pollutes a little more and S. Babu's company pollutes a little less, I can 'buy' credits off him for the year.
F. Educate investors that they can earn a healthy return and insist that company's follow rigorous Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) standards. Dump the stocks of those companies from major portfolios like pension funds if companies violate ESG principles. For example many pension funds are dumping 'fossil fuel' stocks. Almost all Catholic Foundations do not invest in Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm companies.
G. Ensure that that KG through High School curriculum has three important classes beyond Maths and Science. They are i) Financial Literacy, ii) Health and Wellness Education and iii) Environmental Care
H. Make it part of the culture. We give FilmFare awards to movies. Pulitzer Prize to Journalists and Nobel Prize to Scientists. How about each country and the world coming up with a VERY prestigious ENV prize. Not that some don't exist today - but at the level and prestige of a Nobel prize.
I. Plant a tree. Every person on the planet who is capable, should plant and care for a tree or two. There are 7 billion people on this planet. Let us say a quarter of them can plant a tree. Let us say a tenth of them can plan 2 trees. That is is 3+ billion more trees on this planet.
J. Can we please (please!) stop polluting the rivers and the sea??
Bharani
he old adage Waste Not, Want Not is very pertinent for this topic. Siru thuli, peru vellam - if each of us consciously save on the usage of resources, collectively we would end up saving a lot. We can mitigate Global warming, and make life-sustaining resources last longer.
We signed up for an Energy Audit program called MassSave sponsored by our Utility companies, the State Dept of Energy, and the Conservative Services Group. An Auditor came home and did an hour's assessment of our entire home - attic to basement - physical structures, heating/ cooling systems, appliances, etc. Then he printed off a report with his recommendations for Air-sealing, insulation, weatherization, etc. The estimated cost was $2300, the estimated incentive was $1900, and the estimated annual savings was $150. Out of the total cost, guess how much our share was - $300 only!! The rest is borne by the sponsors. They arrange contractors to come and do the work, and they inspect the work, and pay them. The justification is - by helping existing customers conserve energy, the energy companies can hold off on the need for new power stations/ plants which is a much bigger investment. Such Win-Win ideas should be used widely around the world.
My husband later teased me that the crisp dosais, tomato chutney and masala chai I served the energy auditor actually saved us quite a bit of money!!
Krishnan
Are we using our resources wisely:
A case in point:
The new Bangalore airport is 30+ kilometers from the city.
On the positive side, the multi-lane highway to the new airport has opened up the northern corridor of Bangalore for real estate, shops, business establishments and business is booming.
Poetically put, where road goes, people go. Where people go, business goes. Where business goes money grows.
On the flip side, every day there are 3000 cabs making the to & fro trip of 60 kms atleast 5 times a day. This is 900,000 kms of travel per day. At a mileage of 12 kms to a liter of fuel ( diesel ) this consumes 75000 liters per day or 472 barrels per day of diesel. This would translate to 589 barrels per day of crude, or 215000 barrels per year. This is 0.017% of the total crude import of India on a small 30 Kms stretch of road !
The Volvo buses introduced by the local transport authority go empty when the cabs are running full. This is a case of the resources being used unwisely. Some years back, in order to reduce congestion, Singapore challenged the right of the citizens to drive a car and introduced the concept of purchasing the license to drive through an auction. The cost of this license was sometimes higher than the price of the car itself.
Similarly, it is time to challenge the right of the use of cabs and cars going to the airport, and make it compulsory to travel by the Volvo buses from a specific point from the city. Travel to this specific point could be by local conveyance. By the use of Volvo buses 400 barrels of crude per day could be reduced only on this 30 Kms stretch of road !!
FYI, I travel by Volvo bus to the airport unless I am travelling at untimely hours and/ or with lot of luggage/ more persons.
Srinivasan
I have this crazy idea of inflatable / deflatable road dividers like say oblong balloons placed a foot from each other all along the length of busy roads, by which you could shift the road dividers by one lane say out of six lanes, four will be for people going towards electronic city in the mornings (two in the opp direction where hardly any vehicles would ply in the morning) then you deflate them and inflate another row of balloons so that in the evening it is four lanes from electronic city to bangalore and two in the opp direction. It may cost a millionth of what flyovers would cost.
Are we using our resources wisely?
Responses
Ganesh
Whenever we discuss about using the resources wisely, I like this saying that is very catchy "The natural resources are something that we have not inherited from our ancestors, they are something that we have borrowed from our future generations". This helps to remind us that we need to preserve them for the sake of our own kids and grandchildren!!
Whenever I hear this song with Vairamuthu's lines "Thanga Mazhai Peyya Vendum", I used to think that "We then will have to use gold to buy a bottle of drinking water?"!
Surya
The earth was so vast from our perspective, that for centuries our conception of resources was that it is limitless. And that our industrial development, waste generation, pollution, deforestation would have no impact. All of a sudden after a century of break-neck, global development - suddenly we realize that we can tax resources far more than we ever imagined.
It is also an immeasurable tragedy how much pollution we dump in oceans and impact marine life.
I am desperately hoping that our generation raises the consciousness on these matters, like you did here in this forum. And that the next generation takes decisive action through politics, law, technology and culture to reverse this trend.
To answer your question - what can we do, here are some thoughts:
A. Don't be shy about discussing this. It is no longer ok or look the other way to pollute or wastefully consume. Point it out.
B. Share best practices - we read the news, we watch movies. We should also be looking for simple and best practices and get on twitter feed and other sources that keeps you in the flow of information. On twitter, I follow Water.Org, World Bank, Guardian Environment, Sierra Club, Audubon Society etc.
C. If we are in roles of responsibility at work as either managers or entrepreneurs, we should initiate simple rules for resource management. btw, it is a strong hypothesis that resource efficient companies are more profitable anyway!
D. Initiate a global ENV tax.
E. Implement a credit-system through the WTO such that countries and companies can trade credits with each other. For example if my company pollutes a little more and S. Babu's company pollutes a little less, I can 'buy' credits off him for the year.
F. Educate investors that they can earn a healthy return and insist that company's follow rigorous Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) standards. Dump the stocks of those companies from major portfolios like pension funds if companies violate ESG principles. For example many pension funds are dumping 'fossil fuel' stocks. Almost all Catholic Foundations do not invest in Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm companies.
G. Ensure that that KG through High School curriculum has three important classes beyond Maths and Science. They are i) Financial Literacy, ii) Health and Wellness Education and iii) Environmental Care
H. Make it part of the culture. We give FilmFare awards to movies. Pulitzer Prize to Journalists and Nobel Prize to Scientists. How about each country and the world coming up with a VERY prestigious ENV prize. Not that some don't exist today - but at the level and prestige of a Nobel prize.
I. Plant a tree. Every person on the planet who is capable, should plant and care for a tree or two. There are 7 billion people on this planet. Let us say a quarter of them can plant a tree. Let us say a tenth of them can plan 2 trees. That is is 3+ billion more trees on this planet.
J. Can we please (please!) stop polluting the rivers and the sea??
Bharani
he old adage Waste Not, Want Not is very pertinent for this topic. Siru thuli, peru vellam - if each of us consciously save on the usage of resources, collectively we would end up saving a lot. We can mitigate Global warming, and make life-sustaining resources last longer.
We signed up for an Energy Audit program called MassSave sponsored by our Utility companies, the State Dept of Energy, and the Conservative Services Group. An Auditor came home and did an hour's assessment of our entire home - attic to basement - physical structures, heating/ cooling systems, appliances, etc. Then he printed off a report with his recommendations for Air-sealing, insulation, weatherization, etc. The estimated cost was $2300, the estimated incentive was $1900, and the estimated annual savings was $150. Out of the total cost, guess how much our share was - $300 only!! The rest is borne by the sponsors. They arrange contractors to come and do the work, and they inspect the work, and pay them. The justification is - by helping existing customers conserve energy, the energy companies can hold off on the need for new power stations/ plants which is a much bigger investment. Such Win-Win ideas should be used widely around the world.
My husband later teased me that the crisp dosais, tomato chutney and masala chai I served the energy auditor actually saved us quite a bit of money!!
Krishnan
Are we using our resources wisely:
A case in point:
The new Bangalore airport is 30+ kilometers from the city.
On the positive side, the multi-lane highway to the new airport has opened up the northern corridor of Bangalore for real estate, shops, business establishments and business is booming.
Poetically put, where road goes, people go. Where people go, business goes. Where business goes money grows.
On the flip side, every day there are 3000 cabs making the to & fro trip of 60 kms atleast 5 times a day. This is 900,000 kms of travel per day. At a mileage of 12 kms to a liter of fuel ( diesel ) this consumes 75000 liters per day or 472 barrels per day of diesel. This would translate to 589 barrels per day of crude, or 215000 barrels per year. This is 0.017% of the total crude import of India on a small 30 Kms stretch of road !
The Volvo buses introduced by the local transport authority go empty when the cabs are running full. This is a case of the resources being used unwisely. Some years back, in order to reduce congestion, Singapore challenged the right of the citizens to drive a car and introduced the concept of purchasing the license to drive through an auction. The cost of this license was sometimes higher than the price of the car itself.
Similarly, it is time to challenge the right of the use of cabs and cars going to the airport, and make it compulsory to travel by the Volvo buses from a specific point from the city. Travel to this specific point could be by local conveyance. By the use of Volvo buses 400 barrels of crude per day could be reduced only on this 30 Kms stretch of road !!
FYI, I travel by Volvo bus to the airport unless I am travelling at untimely hours and/ or with lot of luggage/ more persons.
Srinivasan
I have this crazy idea of inflatable / deflatable road dividers like say oblong balloons placed a foot from each other all along the length of busy roads, by which you could shift the road dividers by one lane say out of six lanes, four will be for people going towards electronic city in the mornings (two in the opp direction where hardly any vehicles would ply in the morning) then you deflate them and inflate another row of balloons so that in the evening it is four lanes from electronic city to bangalore and two in the opp direction. It may cost a millionth of what flyovers would cost.