Conspicuous Consumerism
Consumerism has been engineered over several centuries, internalised by many societies and shifted cultural norms, values, symbols and traditions across the globe. In fact consumerism has become such a natural part of our daily lives, that in the words of senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute Erik Assadourian, ‘expecting people to suddenly curb consumption
One man’s trash, is someone else’s treasure is often the adage used, applicable to plastic bottles. It was Albert Einstein who is quoted as having said ; “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” How true of the major challenges we are faced with as a society in so far as plastic waste is concerned. We created these problems we now complain about, even if most would argue it is the conglomerates with their thirst for profits and dis regard for the environment that have brought us to this point. Whatever your views are, we must solve this problem.
Background
According to the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), this Gashaki Green Village is part of the Rwandan government’s efforts to build a climate resilient nation. Rwanda, of course, has a blueprint for achieving excellence in green issues, as per the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy. The country is not alone in this regard as
No matter how nice you try to turn it, the business of raw sewage is not ‘cool’ – but this could be the solution to the electricity menace in Africa. Roughly 645 million people on the continent do not have access to electricity, a key component in pushing Africa’s development agenda ahead.
On a recent trip to Mauritius, I was impressed by one golden thread that wound its way through all my interactions with the people, places, and products in the country – redemption. Maurinet reports that “the first Europeans to have visited Mauritius were the Portuguese at the beginning of the sixteenth century (most probably in 1510). The Dutch who settled on the island in 1598 named it Mauritius after Prince Maurice of Nassau.
