'Recycling' ideas from developed to developing nations

Over the last few years, the 'green' movement has picked up a lot of momentum. If you haven't heard of it already, which is almost impossible, 'going green' is essentially means being environmentally friendly. While it initially used to be confined to recycling your Coke cans, it has now expanded to almost all walks of life. And being a capitalist nation, USA (and pretty much most other developed nations) are cashing in on the new-found concept. Companies are competing with each other in trying to be 'greener' than the other, proclaiming support to green movements, funding challenges to come up with the 'greenest' idea and so on.

But this is not a new idea. In fact, it is literally going back to the past. Pretty much all countries started being green, became non-green due to the industrial revolution, which demanded mass production of pretty much everything with little regard to the impact it could have on the natural resources, and then are now trying to be green again, although with a higher price tag.

Having born and brought up in India, a 'developing' nation, it is kind of ironic to see the new green competition. I lived through the times when things were in fact as green as they could be, witnessed the systematic destruction of the same due to 'modernization', and having come to a 'modern' world, seeing the good ol' ways being promoted as the next 'modern' thing to do at a much higher price point!

To prove my point, let me give you some examples.

Cleaning Supplies

Probably the most obvious and the most immediate idea that is being recycled from the 'developing' world to the 'developed' world is that of cleaning supplies.

When I was young, my mom used cleaning products that were pretty much based on Grandma's recipes - ones that used all sorts of natural ingredients like lemon, coconut fibers, etc. As time progressed, the more chemical based solutions such as bleach and phenyl became the norm and those who did not conform to the new standards were shunned, ostracized, and termed as 'ancient'. Ironically, now I see Chlorox and 3M coming up with a whole bunch of 'green' products that use - guess what - the bloody same ingredients that the 'ancients' used to use in the past.


Source: http://www.ecosherpa.com/green-home/chlorox-green-cleaning-products/


Source: http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotchbrite/greenerclean/

Sadly, in the process, the chemical products have become the norm in the developing world causing harm, which is further complicated by the fact that the population of the developing world is much more than the developed one. I am sure the concept will recycle back to them, but I wonder if it will be a little too late.

Bagging

The next obvious section is that of bagging.

When I was a kid, my mom used to give me a cloth sling bag, which was primarily used for groceries. Optionally, we had a variety of other cloth bags or worst, plastic baskets. There were no department stores as we see today, but rather, a local grocer. The grocer would pretty much have everything in bulk and would measure the ones we need, wrap it up in newspaper, and tie it with a jute string (natural fiber, made of coconut tree, I think). Once I come back, my mom would unwrap everything and put them in respective jars.


Source: http://trak.in/Tags/Business/mall-culture/

As times changed, department stores started emerging. The biggest advantage they had against the grocers (which as a much more personalized service as we would shop with one grocer for decades) was that it was reliable (no skimping on weight or suspicion of adulteration) and it came individually wrapped in plastic, which was more convenient for storage. Eventually, even the grocers started adopting the plastic wrapping concept except for a few products, combined with an extravagant use of plastic bags (thankfully constrained by the general stinginess of the grocers to give too many plastic bags).


Source: http://www.indiansamuraimovie.com/visual.html

In pretty much all supermarket stores (Wegman's, Kroger, Path Mark, HEB, you name it), there is an option to 'buy' a cloth bag that's sold at a premium (say, $3 or $4) compared to the free plastic bags. The products are still being sold in individually wrapped packets, but then again, in some areas, more 'mass' versions are being suggested compared to individual wraps.


Source: http://www.thisnext.com/item/058EAD5A/Wegmans-Easy-Shopping-Reusable

Once again, we see the idea of recycling being recycled from developing nation to developed nation and back, hopefully, again to the developing nation.

Such recycling does not necessarily stop just with household products. It seems to be prevalent across all facets of life.

Teaching

Ancient India had a fairly robust and comprehensive educational system known as 'Gurukulam' - a Sanskrit word that roughly translates to 'teacher's community'. Per the system, a student would literally be under the tutelage of a chosen teacher along with his fellow students, live in his quarters (kind of like a boarding school) and learn the skills necessary for life. In the process, the student was expected to perform household chores while getting education.

Studies were not limited to rote learning. It was comprehensive in that it included both textbook learning as well as practical learning and focused on leading a balanced life, while excelling in one's area of expertise. The philosophy was centered on learning that involved teaching, group studies, self study, and experience over time.

Of course the system was transformed during the British Raj into changing the educational system so that it reflected the British system. The intent of this change was less of bringing good education than in 'civilizing' the natives so that they can be assimilated better in their world if required. This transformation led to the Gurukula system transformed into a more structured, albeit rote-based learning that we have today. This process also led to the shift in importance from being all-rounded to being memory-prioritized.

Recently, Sir Ken Robinson, a British educator, gave an excellent lecture in TED on how schools should allow students to be creative and be able to pick their passion instead of being forced to memorize stuff and pass exams that value memory more than skill. The same debate is being made in the USA as part of the educational reform - to get rid of the 'standard tests' and replace them with better ways to judge students.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

I cannot help but see the idea making a full circle.

My intention is not to sound like a 'Western World' basher. There are numerous other aspects that current developing nations can learn from the developed ones. Rather, my rant is more about opportunities that are missed both by developed and developing countries just because we perceive something to be 'old school' or what our parents did and hence, 'uncool'.

I wonder how many more such 'inventions' are made before someone realizes the pattern, steps back, and says, "Gosh! Why don't we take a look at what people used to do before we invented all the toxic junk and improve on those practices to suit our improved needs and stop messing up the world in the process."

Lord Ganesha and the Super Brain Yoga

Source: http://clip-art-free-clipart.blogspot.com/2009/04/free-cliparts.html

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi - the birthday of 'elephant-God' Ganesha, worshipped by followers of the Hindu religion (myself being one of them). Hindu religious festivals are mostly based on the lunar calendar. This one is no different in that the festival is celebrated on the 4th day - (sukla) chaturthi in Sanskrit is 4th day of the (waxing) moon - of the Bhadrapada masa (which is the 6th month in the lunar calendar), which roughly comes mid-August - mid-September in the Julian calendar.

While I tend to be religiously neutral, I cannot but help appreciate and admire the various intricacies and profundity embedded in various religions. Hinduism, probably due to its age, contains numerous nuggets that, when looked with a skeptical (but not cynical) eye, holds a lot of treasures that are relevant even today. It is sad that such important lessons are lost today because most of these symbolisms are taken literally.

Ganesh Chaturthi is one such festival in the Hindu religion that holds a number of interesting symbolisms that are relevant today. Here are a few to my knowledge:

Eco-worshipping
Ancient Indian practices have been amazingly eco-friendly (possibly because plastic hadn't been invented yet!) In temples, food used to be served in containers made of leaf and other plant products, which are biodegradable. In Ganesh Chaturthi, eco-friendliness is taken to another level, where Ganesha being worshiped is made of clay and then dissolved in water once the festival is over, leaving no harmful residue.

The other beauty of this is that anyone with a little bit of clay can create the image quickly and worship Ganesha (Ganesha, by the way, is one of the easiest Gods to draw or sculpt!). This notion brings a level of equality that is seldom seen in other festivals or practices.

Unfortunately, over the years, both these symbolisms seem to have been lost or at least diluted. Nowadays, the size of Ganesha idol constructed and worshiped during the festival has become a status symbol, especially with political parties vying to have a big statue to show their party's affinity to the God. The eco-friendliness has also lost its meaning over the years, with Ganesha being painted in potentially harmful paints that may be water soluble, but not necessarily bio-degradable.

Super brain yoga
Recently, one of my friends forwarded a video in YouTube called Super Brain Yoga. Supposedly based on the works of Chinese accupuncturist Choa Kok Sui, the video shows how a certain action can potentially increase memory and brain power.

What is interesting is that this pose (or exercise), has been associated with Ganesha for hundreds of years. We have been taught as children to perform this 'exercise' a minimum of 9 times whenever we pray to Ganesha. Alternately, this has also been associated with Indian schools as a form of punishment!

While it is sad that neither the video nor Sui's website mentions Ganesha, there are some stronger symbolisms that I could not help but notice.

Ganesha has been associated with education in Hinduism. Moreover, Ganesha has an elephant form. Elephants, as we know, have an extremely strong memory. While I am not jumping to conclusions here, it is interesting that an exercise form supposedly proven to increase brain/memory power is associated with a God who is associated with education/learning and is symbolized as an animal that has strong memory!

I wonder how many other such interesting aspects are there embedded in every religion that has since been diluted or outright dismissed as superstition or blind-faith.

Hybrid Government

Here's an open-source idea that I am more than willing to donate to anyone who wants to implement it.

Of late there has been a lot of interest in renewable energy sources, more due to the sudden spike in gas (or petrol, as it's called in India), than due to any major concern about the environment.

Coming from India, pollution has been a part and parcel of my life, and so was fresh, clean air when I was young. When I went back to India from US for the first time (after 3 years), Bangalore and Madras suddenly seemed way more polluted and Bangalore more than Madras. I guess it's probably due to the sudden IT boom, resulting in elevating a number of folks to the upper-middle class sector, and consequently increasing their spending on vehicles that consume gas.

While politicians wax eloquently about how citizens should mind their carbon footprint and help the world, they seem to have ignored a carbon giant that they can control - the mass transit system (which includes taxis and buses).

To me, a citizen-based carbon-footprint is good, but is not necessarily the best solution for the following reasons:

1. Normal usage of personal transportation is much smaller in a day compared to a mass transit system, which typically runs for almost the whole day.
2. People tend to take better care of their own vehicles, such as constant maintenance, better gas mileage, etc. while the care is relatively less for a government-owned vehicle.
3. People, while they tend to travel mostly near their locality, occasionally take a longer trip that needs more speed and significant refueling.
4. Not all individuals can afford the relatively higher costs of owning a hybrid vehicle (at least not now)
   

On the other hand, a government-owned, sponsored, or subsidized mass transit system is a more controllable entity that can do with a lot of improvement.

I would argue that you can save quite a bit of the environment if the taxis in New York or the autos (kind-of like 3-wheeler coupes in India) are fitted with a hybrid engine, as they satisfy all the criteria above.

If you want to start a company, here's an idea: Create a hybrid engine that can be easily retro-fitted to existing taxis or autos at a reasonably affordable price. The resultant product can potentially be sold to multiple cities and hence can generate a reasonable revenue stream. If the government can be convinced, then you can always hope for some subsidy and even a portion of the initial investment - provided the government is interested and willing. Probably there-in lies the key.