Eco-friendly habits a passe in city

PATNA: Patnaites are unwilling to use green products like disposable bags and adopt eco-friendly methods of living. This was revealed during a survey conducted by Class X students of DPS-Patna at different localities in the city recently.
"People are using poly bags instead of disposable bags," said Anushri Maskara, one of the six students of the group which has taken an initiative to promote eco-friendly habits with a motto, "Think globally, act locally".
The group of six, called "Eco Comrades", include Saumya Anand, Deeksha Devendra, Neha Singh, Zoya Fatima and Arpita Goya besides Anushri. Their four-day survey from January 6 covered a number of residents in Anisabad, S P Verma Road, Bhattacharya Road and Nageshwar Colony localities. The surveyors said the common refrain among the residents was "We do not want to spend an extra penny just to buy eco-friendly products. It is quite unusual for us".
According to the survey report, awareness towards green building codes is extremely low among the people. "We have asked the people to plant trees on the southern side of their buildings. This will keep the buildings cool in summer and warm during winter," one of the Eco Comrades said.
Most of the persons surveyed did not have any idea about certified standards of furniture. "We have suggested to them to use wood which is certified for furniture under the standards established by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC certification involves third-party evaluation and monitoring of sustainable forestry practices," the Eco Comrade added.
To explore the issue further, the Eco Comrades are trying to cover more and more people in the survey. "We want to motivate youngsters towards using eco-friendly products. We'll organize several informal awareness programmes to spread the message," the Eco Comrade said and added one such awareness programme was organized near Patna Junction on Thursday.