What is your carbon-footprint?

I’m sure everyone in Delhi must have been baffled and to some extent annoyed by the recent dust storm hitting Delhi and other parts of North India last week.

Baffled, because a dust storm of this magnitude and force has not been witnessed in these parts for some time now. And annoyed, because the inconveniences caused were not limited to lack of visibility and the strong winds – Delhi’s biggest commuting service, the metro was shut down and many parts of Delhi NCR witnessed power outages that lasted well into the night.

This is Mother Nature just showing a small glimpse of what it can do. If it can procreate, it can very well finish life, as we know it. We can very easily accept it as change and give it a fancy name like evolution, but the question to be asked is – how are we contribution to this change? Do we have the power to stop it or are we helpless at the hands and whims of nature?

We all know how greenhouse gases and other man made anomalies have the capacity to change the very nature of earth and its environment. But, do we take that point into consideration when we use products, which create these gases? We always think it’s the big industries and corporations who are to blame when it comes to environment damage when the harsh reality is that we at a personal level ignore the environmental impact of our usage of products and services which generate these gases.

The Wikipedia describes a carbon-footprint as "the total sets of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person." When you drive in your car instead of utilizing public transport services – you are leaving behind a carbon footprint. Do you want to know what your carbon footprint is for the last month or the last year? You can check that here:

http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/

We need to motivate ourselves to make the small changes to our lives, which can make a big difference to the environment. Reducing our personal carbon footprints will go a long way in ensuring that we live in a safe and clean environment that is capable of sustaining life for a long time to come.

Think green!

Active Commuting - Walk towards a better future

The speedy growth of India's urban population has put massive pressure on all transport systems. Growing travel demand exceeds the limited supply of transport infrastructure and services. Public transport, in particular, has been completely overwhelmed.

Gurgaon is a fast emerging suburb of Delhi, the national capital of India. The city offers world class business opportunities particularly for IT and related industries. Public transport supply in the city is characterized by array of modes ranging from two seated manually driven cycle rickshaws to fifty seated buses compatible with local conditions and demand patterns available for use. The level of blending of the two types of systems in a city is determined by the prevailing city’s socio economic fabric, travel patterns and road network.

It is very important for us to understand the annoyances, risks and costs incurred on cab and bus fleets that companies are forced to run to compensate for the absence of walking, cycling and city bus infrastructure.

We should aim to create awareness and encourage people to choose sustainable transport over personal vehicles. There is an urgent need to catalyse the creation of high quality footpaths, cycle paths and public transport alternatives. If our industry is able to create enough ‘force & demand’ infrastructure it will further encourage the Govt. to look into these asks and provide continued support. Over the last few months, various workshops for HR Admin & Transport managers have been organized in various companies. Companies are making efficient use of public transport & have also been able to drastically reduce their fleet size. Through these repeated interventions, the message of walking, cycling, and using public transport on a more frequent basis is being spread. Going forward we should all plan to conduct - company sensitization programs regarding use of public transport, cycling rallies heavily participated by employees of IT-BPM industry and pay more emphasis on the last mile connectivity.

The IT-BPM industry comprises of a fair share of challenges; one of the most important being safety to its employees and in particular women employees. This industry is already familiar with the facts & stands poised to provide adequate safety & security to its employees. They have shown strong commitment towards providing for Safe and secure working environment to all of their employees especially women employees. As a routine practice, this industry as a whole maintains, manages and upgrades comprehensive security program across regions which is indicative of its commitment to the cause.

Organizations have also understood the importance of ‘active commuting’. NASSCOM had organized “CEO’s Walk to Work” which was attended by over 500 executives from the IT-BPM industry - signifying that top corporate professionals can walk & inspire their fellow colleagues to follow their steps. Similar ‘green’ initiatives by other corporates in the future will increase the awareness and willingness of the workforce to take the choice of opting for more environment friendly ways of commuting.