Tuesday, January 16, 2018

My City My Responsibility - Cradle to Cradle

Dear All,

Do you know that the rate at which we are using our resources to produce new stuff everyday, we will require three Earth like planets to fulfill our needs by 2050. Is it possible to get more planets? Are there any other Earth like planets from where we can get more resources?

The answer is NO, we have only ONE EARTH and we have to fulfill all our needs within the boundaries of this planet only. Its just like having a savings account in a bank from which you can withdraw only what you have deposited not more. Unlike a credit card where you can use more but then you are in a debt and for which you have to pay extra interest as well. If you cannot pay back the debt with interest, you are going to go bankrupt! Currently we are in a debt to our planet in terms of resources, in order to compensate we have to take some conscious measures.

Measures like conscious consumption and efficient consumption by using the 4R's i.e. refusing, reducing, reusing, and recycling can save our resources to an extent. But we will be more effective if we take certain measures while we are producing the stuff.


We saw the concept of lifecycle which  is the entire journey of any product right from the time its born till its death, also known as Cradle to Grave. However, there is nothing like death in nature, everything that dies is used up by other organisms as their food and is thus part of a natural cycle. For example we all learnt about the food chain in our schools. After the predator its the decomposers or bacteria who mix with the soil and help in the growth of the plants or producers. 



Can we produce or manufacture, using this Nature's concept also known as Cradle to Cradle by making industrial processes more innovative and efficient, where the waste of one product becomes source for another product. 

As consumers can we demand such production pattern? If yes, please comment with an example if you know of one!

Pournima Agarkar.



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