What an Idea

 Discovery Channel aired a very interesting program about sustainable agriculture. It was something to do with Vertical Farming. Very innovative and forward thinking. Theoretically the concept really works. According to it a 30 floor building can produce food for a population of approximately 50,000, right inside the city. This absolutely reduces the transportation costs and not to mention the energy consumption as well as the carbon emission in the process. So the cost of the products comes down. And with that much greenery (if there are such farms spread throughout the city) the oxygen levels will increase and the temperatures will decrease to some extent. This project was a competition winner (Romses Architects), which was held by the City of Vancouver” to address climate change plans and to guide greener and denser development, reducing carbon emissions for the future”. 

This was about the future maybe the next 20 years or so, and that too only the “rich and developed countries” might be able to afford the technology behind it. But what about today? Are we doing enough, so that our children can breathe purer air, drink safe water or not have to deal with the ever soaring temperatures? Being environment friendly is costly. Plastic bags are cheaper than Eco-friendly ones, at supermarkets we pay to get the Eco-friendly bags but plastic ones come free. This is just one example. A well-known coffee joint serves the coffee in plastic cups, while speaking about saving trees and provided recycled tissues. Another program featured Eco-friendly homes. People had actually cultivated gardens on their rooftops. They harvested rainwater and some even had arranged to recycle used water from the kitchen and washing machines to water these gardens. They claimed that the temperatures in their homes had reduced drastically.

 Hypothetically speaking its really good, but in reality it’s all about money. Needless to say these installations and stuff don’t come cheap. Which makes one think, why can’t Eco-friendly products be cheaper? Solar panels, bio-gas installations, rainwater harvesting equipments, hybrid cars etc. do not come at subsidized rates. Why don’t supermarkets give out reusable carry-bags and no bags for smaller items or easy to carry stuffs. And why don’t we take our own bags while shopping? All these changes will be unwelcome initially, and not convenient but sure we can all get used to it. As consumers we do enough damage already!

Vertical Farming is a great idea and we can all take inspiration from it. Let’s not wait for some multinational to implement the idea; rather we do it in our own backyards. Or at least follow the three R’s ……reduce, reuse and recycle.
Reduce- Reuse – Recycle.