Parents play an important role in environment consciousness

While reinforcement must come from school education, says Aurovrata Venet
Aurovrata Venet is of French descent but has lived for most part of his life in Puducherry, among other places in south India. A ‘green consultant’, he works extensively with small and medium enterprises in the country to enable sustainable growth and processes.
He’s optimistic about the awareness that young students in Chennai have about sustainability.“There are schools here that ask their students to collect plastic bottles which are then handed over to the municipality to reinforce roads in the city,” he says. But, he’s also clear that education at home is equally, if not more, important. “When children see their parents throw away plastics out of a car or train, they’re likely to pick this as a sign that this sort of behaviour is okay.”
What’s also interesting is that he terms the terrible power cuts that the state faces as an important aspect of public awareness about sustainability. “People have now become aware of where energy comes from — solar, biomass energy, all of these are being talked about because of the power cuts!” he says. “Awareness is the most important aspect,” he says. “Most entrepreneurs want quick profits, but when we ask them ‘Do you want to create a product that people will still want to buy ten years from now’, they come to understand sustainable practices.”
Not all green people are from mars
Recently, just ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, Aurovrata got together with 28 ethical and sustainable ventures from 11 cities across India to form the ‘Green People of India’. Their aim? To create awareness for an organic, ‘green-conscious’ lifestyle and to provide a common platform for small eco-businesses to work together to promote green goods — from organic foods to organic cotton clothes and even paper made from elephant dung. Actress Kalki Koechlin, a passionate advocate of all things reusable, has become a fellow Green People.