GOING GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As usual I was flipping channels yesterday, and came across a program on Discovery Channel. Well I just saw the tail end (thanks to flipping channels every minute), but what I saw was very interesting indeed. It was something to do with vertical farming. Vertical Farming weird  I thought.........but I could really see our future in it!! Very innovative and forward thinking I must say. Theoretically the concept really works. According to it a 30 floor building can produce food for a population of approximately 50,000, right in the cities. Great !!!! this absolutely reduces the transportation costs and not to mention the energy consumption as well as the carbon emission in the process. So I guess the cost of the products also comes down. And with that much greenery (if there are such farms spread throughout the city) the oxygen levels will increase and the temperatures will decrease to some extent. For your information, this project was a competition winner (Romses Architects), which was held by the City of Vancouver" to address climate change plans and to guide greener and denser development,reducing carbon emissions for the future". 


This was about the future maybe the next 20 years or so, and that too only the "rich and developed countries" might be able to afford the technology behind it. But what about today???? are we doing enough ......so that our children can breathe purer air, drink safe water or not have to deal with the ever soaring temperatures. I guess not, its sad i know. I am sure we all try to use less water, save paper, use less plastic, use energy saving electrical equipments  etc.. but the question is, is it enough? Maybe in a minuscule way...... thats all I can say !!
One of the reason I think is coz being eco-friendly is costly.....lets admit it. Plastic bags are cheaper than eco-friendly ones, at supermarkets we pay to get the eco-friendly bags but plastic ones are free.....this is just one example if one looks more closely we will find many more!!!
And double standards, last weekend we went out malling (hehe window shopping in a mall), and bought coffee from a famous coffee joint ( its really hip and has branches all over the world). While they served the coffee in plastic cups, they also spoke about saving trees and provided recycled tissues!! I didn't know if I should feel good about the recycled tissue or bad for using plastic which if not treated properly could end up in a landfill or even worse .......pollute the oceans. But atleast they are trying.



And during one of my flipping through the channels sessions I had come across another program which featured eco-friendly homes. Well that was something I really liked, people had actually cultivated gardens (it needed really solid water-proofing) on their rooftops. They harvested rainwater and some even had arrangements to recycle used water from the kitchen and washing machines for watering this garden. They claimed that the temperatures in their homes had reduced and the view on the roof was refreshing!!
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I would love to have such a home myself( though I do not posses a green thumb so to speak). Install a solar panel (supplemented by normal electricity of course) , and definitely grow my own veggies!!! Wow I am thrilled already ..........hypothetically speaking its really good( in reality its all about money honey!!) Needless to say these installations and all don't come cheap. Which makes me ask these questions.......why can't eco-friendly products be cheaper? Solar panels, biogas installations , rainwater harvesting equipments, hybrid cars etc..etc..do not come at subsidized rates (enlighten me if they do). Why don't supermarkets give out reusable carry-bags and no bags for smaller items or easy to carry stuffs. And why can't we take our own bags while shopping ( I rarely do it myself ...but will work on it). All these change will be unwelcome initially, and not convenient (convenience is the main culprit actually) but sure we can all get used to it. As consumers we do enough damage already!!

To sum it all up, I think the Vertical Farming is a great idea and we can all take inspiration from it. Lets not wait for some multinational to implement it, rather we do it all in our own backyards. As far as I am concerned , I try to follow the three R's ......reduce,reuse and recycle.
Reduce- Try my best !!
Reuse- Do all the time (an entire new blog topic!)
Recycle-Try to use the right coloured garbage bins (if they are available) 

Hope you do the same!!!