The Challenges of Going Green

Let’s all be honest, there has been a time when the thought of “going green” has popped up in our heads, followed by a “Nah!” and continued laughter. It’s not the idea that we laugh at, it is the idea of us actually making that choice. 

Going green isn’t such a difficult thing, theoretically. It simply means to pursue ways to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles. The main idea is to protect and preserve natural resources and the environment for the current as well as future generations. The idea doesn’t sound so hard, does it? Well not unless you actually want to see it happen. The challenge or shall we say problems with following such a goal lies in the way we have lived and the way life has changed over the course of the many years that human beings  have adapted the concept of “co-existence” and development. Let’s check some of the actual problems with going green.

Individual efforts are only a drop in the ocean.
Changing a light bulb or switching to energy efficient options won’t save the planet. It won’t even do much to saving the current situation of the country. We don’t think that our actions will make much of a difference, so we never try. Small actions won’t do much difference, so we don’t try earnestly. 

Eco-friendly products? Where?
The only eco-friendly thing we can find in vast amounts is the word itself. Eco-friendly products are very rarely available, especially when modern technology has made all the non-eco-friendly products so much more reliable. Even when you do find some good ones, they are usually too costly to afford. 

False Advertisements and Scams.
The way products are marketed these days, it is easy to find an “Environmentally Friendly” label on products that are far from it. The packaging and the ads appeal to the mass which increases sales of products claiming to be chemical free and environmentally friendly while being neither. So it becomes extremely tricky to join an organic and green alternative.

Water Conservation? Here?
Nepal barely has enough clean water to quench the thirst of its people and not to mention the very long tenuous relationship with electricity. There is hardly any proper drainage and sewage disposal system and rain-water harvesting is a theory that is as hopeful as a good leader. Conserving the water that we do get would not help benefit the going green choice when we barely even get the bare minimum some days.

Poor, Poor Garbage Disposal.
We all know the familiar sound of the “garbage tractor” and trucks, don’t we? We don’t properly dispose garbage separately as biodegradable and non-biodegradable or the simple recyclable and non-recyclable. There isn’t a proper waste system implemented and that results in littering and poor garbage disposal. We all see the plastics and bottles and often orange skins on the roads and all we do is look away.

Lifestyles.
We’ve become massively dependent on technology.  No one is going to let go of all the perks that we get so soon and our life revolves around electronics. We use our phones, air-conditioners and refrigerators but we can’t reduce the uses either and that puts a dent on any other efforts.