Author: joothika

A talk about Laws

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Tanya had a question; what about policies? Who makes them? Who enforces them? Who impacts them? Eileen, a Law student, had some answers for us.

The constitution governs environmental laws; mostly enforced by the central government. Smaller, state governments or municipalities can do a better job at enforcement and implementation.

But who monitors what companies produce? ” As long as a company is registered, they can make anything”

So, if you want to know more about anything in India, you can go to the ‘Right to Information Act’. It is taken pretty seriously in India. Plus, it is anonymous.

But there isn’t a government body that monitors all products. There is a Bureau of Indian Standards though, the one that has an ISI mark. But beware, if ii is not accompanied by a 7 digit code, the claim might be fake.

Image result for isi mark

We asked her if she can help us contact someone who knows more about Indian standards. That is one lead.

But what about government policies? I remembered Shubhra Verma, an Environment management professional working in the e-waste sector. She told us a few things

-E-waste is an unorganized sector. Most of it is illegal work. Many groups are trying to get into legalizing and organizing.

-70% of waste in India is CRT, Cathode Ray Tubes. It follows a 3 step process

-MEiT, Karo Sambhav, Reverse Logistics Group are a few organizations looking into this.

-Different countries have different laws, some are strict, some are lax

Field Visit: Alpha One

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27.3.19: We decided to visit the big bazaar store to check out the offer. The offer said, ‘The Great Xchange’.  In reality it was just a marketing gimmick. They simply gave it all away to scrap.

While walking through the aisles, I felt the familiar euphoric feeling accompanied by a desperate need to own those things. So many bottles, attractive labels, delicious looking colours, textures, great promises on packages of making you healthy, of satisfying some tastebuds  etc. I realised that inspite of reading about consumerism, thinking before buying, I still wanted to own those things. Of course, if you teach generations of designers to work on making people buy things, that will be the result. What if we can use the same knowledge to make users buy the right things? Consume Right? How would I be as a business person? Would I also say ‘20% free’ or urge my buyers to buy more than they need just for profit?

Here are a few ads published by them. The trap in the deal? The customer could avail the offer only on purchases above 1000 Rs/- So wait a minute, Arent we gonna consume more things just for the sake of redeeming the offer ?

Field Visit: CEX

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Image result for cex

15.3.19 : We visited the shop Computer electronic exchange in Ahmedabad One mall to learn about how their business works. CEX is a UK based company with many outlets around the world. Now, it deals mostly with mobile phones. Their shop contained so many models of electronics that were used for some time and disposed off. These were the lucky pieces though, that would get a second life. They would only take the electronics that were in perfect working condition after a 45 minutes test.

Insights:

-A good system for material complex products which are not easily recycled or disassembled? Or is it encouraging consuming newer gadgets, sooner than you require?

-Combines video games and electronics. They identified the audience

-Has in trend products

-Extends the life span of a product

-Good returns promotes exchange, which in turn ensures cycling of goods

We decided to look a little deeper into how things might work at the back end. How do such models of business affect consumption? Do they ensure a good system for material collection? Are they economically viable?

Talk to Experts #1

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Pratibha

“We used chemical laden products in our childhood because w had no idea. Now that we have safe and better options, why not use them? Remember, organic doesn’t mean it will suit everyone.

We talked to Pratibha, who is an eco blogger and a green living enthusiast. We found her online, where she was talking about organic products that she tries out and recommends.

When we approached her, she was initially surprised that students from NID were interested in things like green living or sustainability. Here we get a clue of how design students are perceived by some of the outside world. Praveen nudged us to consider how we might change that narrative of NID in the outside world

She started looking into natural and organic cosmetics when she came across one such product in a store. She thought it would be a good idea to use such products for her twin boys which were just one year old. As she read more about these products, she got the environmental impact of the things we use. She started to made changes in the rest of her life too. Simple small products seem to have big changes. An example she gave was, a detergent that she used to clean her dishes and floors created waste water, which was harmless enough to water her plants with.

How do you know products are actually what they claim to be?

-Be a responsible consumer

-Contact the owners, demand for answers

-Genuine companies will not hesitate to give an ingredient list

You can contact Pratibha here:
https://pratsmusings.com/