Progressive India’s Environmental Initiative Green Credit Card Support
2015
The Paris Agreement presents a framework for avoiding climate change by keeping global warming below 2°C. It also seeks to improve countries’ ability to deal with climate change’s effects and assist them in their efforts.
It is a legally binding agreement that India has signed. But, ironically, as the energy demand in India surged, the consumption of coal and petroleum products increased.
Present Day
India’s energy demand is rising. By 2030, it has been predicted to overtake European Union as the third largest energy consumer, after the U.S. and China. This means our reliance on fossil fuels must be reduced, or else we could fall short of our commitment to the Paris Agreement.
Unfortunately, most of India’s power plants are coal-based. Coal is required to produce steam, which is used in electricity generation. Burning coal has a lot of fly ash which hampers the environment and affects human health. Installation of renewable energy plants or nuclear energy requires significant investment and participation from the Government and the private sector.
Furthermore, a lot of domestic waste is generated in India daily, which is not segregated at home and eventually ends up unutilized in landfills or on streets and water bodies. Though the Government is working hard to recycle it, it proves to be a daunting task until the general public gets actively engaged in recycling. The waste should be sundered at the domestic level and then could be recycled accordingly. Waste that cannot be recycled could be incinerated to produce steam for electricity generation. Active public engagement is required to carry out this intent properly.
The plan
The easiest way to engage the public is to give them incentives for plastic recycling. There are a lot of companies that have a contract with Visa, Mastercard, and Rupay. There are numerous cards to choose from which give extra points on travel, dining, regular shopping, etc. With this view in mind, what if there are points awarded for recycling per kg of plastic? Instead of garbage bins, there could be recycling bins with a weigher installed, which only accepts plastic products. One can get points accrued on his credit card upon recycling per kg of plastic, which can be redeemed at various restaurants, bookings, airlines, dining, etc.
Similarly, the wet waste of vegetable peels, fruit rind, seeds, and food waste could be weighed and sent for compost production. Then, against each kg of wet waste, points can be credited to the owner’s credit card or wallet, which can be suitably redeemed.
This concept would not only increase public participation at the grassroots level, but it would also contribute to a cleaner, greener & safer environment. Corporations, through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing, can actively participate in this mission.
Evirocor’s step
As an environmentally conscious organization, Evirocor can help raise awareness about biodegradable food packaging products options. They can also form a partnership with a bank and launch their own Green Credit Card. This would be a one-of-a-kind initiative that would undoubtedly promote biodegradable food packaging, plastic recycling, wet waste composting, and garbage-powered power plants.
