Ever heard about the green
economy? Well, rolling your eyes in confusion or stretching your jaw in
amazement isn’t going to help you much. The rave of the moment…the place to be
and work…is in the Green Industry!
We’ve heard about the
blue and white collar jobs. Descriptions from the business environment indicate
that white collar jobs represent office jobs and the corporate professionals.
Blue collar jobs, on the other hand, refer to manual labour. In those days,
labourers, artisans, stewards, etc, wore uniforms with blue collars. Recently,
I came across the phrase, ‘pink collar jobs’, referring to workers in
entertainment, sales and customer service jobs. Denoting jobs by colours seems
to be increasing.
The green collar
industry comprises activities and businesses that are focused on proper environmental
utilization, protection, conservation and sustainability. They include
agriculture, environmental development, renewable energy, waste management,
pollution control/abatement, etc. With so much pressure on the environment
through a high and growing global population stretching the earth’s resources;
and economic activities negatively impacting the environment with the resultant
effects of climate change, the green industry is looking like an answered
prayer.
But if we were to
think deeply, the foremost industry ever created was the green industry. In
Genesis 1, the Bible describes the creation of the earth – day and night, sky,
land and sea, vegetation, sun, moon, and stars, seafood, birds and every kind
of animal, then man and the Garden of Eden. The Garden provided man’s first job
– he was the Farm Manager.
The Garden had all
that is required for sustainable living. There was food (both in plants and
livestock); recreation; irrigation; solid minerals; marine logistics; job
creation and wealth creation, just to mention a few. With good stewardship, the
Garden would support and sustain all life, provide a means of livelihood from which
we can meet our needs, those of our families and communities.
But we failed in our assigned
duty. Over the centuries, we have abused the land and caused so much damage to
the land we were given the responsibility to care for and protect. We have
contaminated the land, polluted the air we breathe and the water we drink. Our
economic activities have churned out nylons and plastics with dangerous effects
on the land; industries emitting dangerous chemicals into the air and water; and
anti-social habits that are destroying plant and animal life and bringing up
new and perilous diseases affecting our health. We battle with flooding, heat
wave, tsunami, earthquake, disease, pestilence, drought, mud slides, horrendous
forest fires, acid rain, etc. We’ve gotten to our rock bottom!
The Green economy
therefore, is a return to the basics, to the activities that will help us
recover the environment and ensure its sustainable development. It calls for
people with vision for the future; taking responsibility; the deployment of the
arts, science and technology, etc, to salvage what we have and ensure sanity in
the utility of the environment.
So we have projects
like smart farming, precision farming, etc, in agriculture; solar, wind, etc,
energy; recycling in waste management with the slogan – reduce, re-use, recycle,
etc; the battery, gas and solar-powered transportation as opposed to fossil fuel
use, etc, all in a bid to drive positive behavioural change towards the
environment. In so doing, a lot of skills, talents and abilities are being
discovered and developed, jobs are being created, communities are being
restored and wealth is being created in more healthy ways.
Why should this
development interest teenagers? Because the Green economy is the most
sustainable enterprise for the future and you are a part of that future. As you
go through your schooling and career, you need to pay more attention to how you
can be a part of the Green economy. In which areas are you strongly desirous to
contribute to improvements and/or provide a solution? What knowledge, skills
and abilities will be required for you to succeed? These should occupy you,
physically, mentally and emotionally. Teenagers, in many parts of the world,
are blazing trails in contributing to the sustainability of the environment.
Your participation is desperately desired!!!
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