Going green: the ‘environment’ way…

Just realised that half the year has rolled by…and the month of June ushered in World Environment Day – an annual event that brands always keep a watch out for. This time too, brands got engaged.

On June 5 when “environment” is top-of-mind, don’t we know that we must do our bit to ensure that the earth stays ‘sustainable’ for future generations?  The United Nations, since 1974, have dedicated this day towards raising awareness and encouraging action towards conserving the environment. To mark the occasion, Google turned its logo green with a new doodle.

On World Environment Day, global leaders did not lose out on this opportunity. In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote: “We are blessed to live in such a vast and beautiful land, and this year’s World Environment Day theme highlights both how important access to nature is for people, and how vital healthy ecosystems are to our global quality of life”.

Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged everyone to nurture a better planet and be committed to ‘protecting our environment’.  “This year’s theme of ‘Connecting People to Nature’ is nothing but getting connected with ourselves. #WithNature,” he tweeted.

On this day, some committed cosmetic brands highlighted the fact that the beauty routine can be eco-friendly.  Especially since their offerings were a mix of products that are vegan, organic, not tested on animals and not laden with chemicals to enhance beauty, the natural way, without harming the environment. Forest Essentials’ product range went from Ayurvedic potlis to lip scrubs and body oils; and then there was The Body Shop, which held forth that it does not test its products on animals and offers organic products and cosmetics; besides The Body Shop’s community trade program works with farmers and local communities around the world to create their products. The Indian home-grown brand Shahnaz Husain’s herbal beauty products (which included herbal sindoor) professed that their range pampered the skin and hair without harming nature. Oriflame tweeted – On #WorldEnvironmentDay, we bring you the Ecobeauty Skin Care Range with the goodness of nature to give you clear, glowing skin. #TrendingNow.

As part of its contribution, to the occasion, Uber released a ‘Green Index’, which showed that with the launch of uberPOOL, it had effectively managed to reduce congestion and pollution in New Delhi. Therefore, their carpool option’s objective is to tackle this problem and get people into the habit of adopting public transportation. Ultimately, Uber aims to significantly reduce carbon footprint in India and with 28 per cent trips in New Delhi being on the shared cab riding system, it is indeed, striking success at a decent rate. Another player – OLX India tweeted – Last yr OLX users saved 6.6 mn tons of Co2 – as much as 10.5 mn teak trees absorb in their lifetime! #GoGreenWithOLX#WorldEnvironmentDay

On a serious note, Gionee recommended this – take a pledge to choose an A1 future with your gang by preserving the beauty of nature around you. #Selfiestan. World Wildlife Fund UK agreed that we need to better protect the world that we’ve got, for our amazing wildlife & their habitats!

Again, in the news were certain brand innovations. Like Maruti Suzuki’s new introduction – the waterless Dry Wash System saves 216 mn litres of water. Waterless washing system with the use of various chemicals and minimal water are at a nascent stage in the country, but it seems that select Maruti Suzuki dealers, however, have adopted the new waterless system. The luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz’s gift to Delhi on this day was that they donated a state-of-the-art vacuum cleaning truck to the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) as part of its corporate social initiative. With road dust emerging as one of the key contributors to the capital’s air pollution, it is hoped this road sweeper truck’s deployment will assist in making roads and air cleaner. Renault India organised Free Pollution Check-up (PUC) camps across its dealerships in India to mark World Environment Day.

On the celebrity front, Bollywood star Salman Khan’s ‘Being Human’ brand had turned green, when he launched the brand’s latest product, the E-Cycle and personally rode the environment friendly bike from his residence on Carter Road to Mehboob Studios in Bandra.

The broad takeaway seems to be – go green, go the ‘environment’ way, not just for one day, but forever!

Shree Lahiri on EmailShree Lahiri on LinkedinShree Lahiri on Twitter
Shree Lahiri
Shree is the Senior Editor at Reputation Today and hopes to move from one focus area to another in the editions that will be released this year. Having worked in Corporate Communications teams, she has experience of advertising, public relations, investor and employee communications, after which she moved to the other side – journalism. She enjoys writing and believes the power of the pen is indeed mighty. Covering the entertainment beat and the media business, she has been involved in a wide range of activities that have thrown open storytelling opportunities.

She can be reached at: @shree_la on twitter

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