Voluntary Environmental Initiatives

K. Vijaya Lakshmi      Email: kvl@sdalt.ernet.in

As societies grow, implications of human activities on environment can take place mainly in three ways. The way in which we produce our goods (Production), the way we consume (Consumption) and the way we provide service (Services) to ourselves.

While there has been a greater understanding and much greater emphasis on preventing or managing the environ-mental implications of the manufacturing sector, the same is not the case with the other two — the consumption sector, the service sector. Currently, there has been an acceleration in the pace of growth of urban and service oriented economies. As a result, the environmental implications of consum-ption and service oriented activities are reaching far greater heights and almost the same proportions as that of production activities, thus nullifying the benefits of pro-active approaches adopted by the Production sector.

Therefore, our efforts to build sustainable societies should address all the three aspects of production, consumption and services, in a balanced way.

This article focuses on analyzing the trends in service sector and the opportunities for addressing the environmental issues in this sector.

Majority of the developing nations currently are switching their economies from goods-oriented to service-oriented economies. The acceleration in the process of globalization also contributed significantly to this shift. Trade not only in goods, but also in services has gone up with the advent of globalization. It is expected to continue to raise, assuming an ever larger role in the world economy. Particularly, as a source of new jobs and world trade.

While the service economy world-wide grew by only 2-3% per annum from 1990-1996, it has grown by 6-8% per annum during the same period in the low income economies.

Service sector in India however, currently accounts for more than one half of India’s GDP i.e., about 51% in 1998-99. The rise in the service sector’s share in GDP marks a structural shift in the Indian economy comparable with a developed economy.

This sector has grown at the expense of both the agriculture and industrial sectors through the 1990s. Service industries often use or supply material goods in the course of delivering their services. The growth of service industries also signifies the increased rate of urbanization associated with the changing consumption patterns.

By definition, service industries create value by performing a service for individuals or businesses rather than by producing material goods. The term covers a wide range of businesses and other activities, including construction, trade, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage, telecommunication, audio visual media, information portals, finance, insurance, real estate, public administration, municipal/city administration, legal, defence, retailing, health care, cleaning, service stations, vehicle repair, printing, tourism, education, banking, dry cleaning, computing, advertising, engineering and consulting…. The list is a vast one.

Environmental Impacts of Service Sector

The environmental impacts of the service sector are neither visible nor concentrated like in the case of industrial activities, due to their widespread nature across the urban fabric.

Although individual service units may not contribute significantly to the air emissions or effluent discharges, the cumulative impact created by them could be more or less the same as that of a large manufacturing unit. Many instances of soil and ground water contamination are reported to be emanating because of the non-point, multiple source leakages from service units. Some common examples are the oil leakage from the under ground storage tanks or through the leakage of cleaning solvents and other hazardous materials (commonly used at service stations) into the adjacent sewer lines.

Services such as printing, dry-cleaning, etc., may have direct environmental impacts as they use materials and generate wastes that are hazardous in nature. Some services have impacts through their supply chain and the manner in which they distribute and perform their services. Other services such as banking, finance, consulting, material / equipment suppliers etc., may have indirect impacts through their decisions on other businesses. Still others such as tourism, education and retailing, power distribution, training etc., may have both direct and indirect impacts.

The main aspects of many service sectors like a water supply or power distribution service etc., involves the use of resources such as water, energy or generation of large quantities of waste from the use of material and supplies. These may have little or no impact on the spot but can have large impacts far away at the site of the power generation, waste disposal, and so on. Tools such as life cycle assessments are used for a better understanding of impacts and for deciding on the less damaging options.

Some services have impacts far beyond their own direct effects on the environment. For example, services provided by engineering and consulting firms, architects, urban ( city/town/ regional) planners and management consultants will have far reaching effects. As they influence the technology choices, material choices or strategic management choices. Their decisions can have far reaching impacts on environment either positively or negatively.

Currently, relatively little analysis exists regarding the extent and magnitude of environmental impacts and the management strategies of India’s service sector industries, as compared to the industries in primary production such as mining, oil and gas extraction and refinement, power generation etc.

Traditional methods of controlling the impacts of service sectors have often proved to be impractical, just because of their sheer numbers and smaller sizes, reduced visibility and diffused effects. To tackle this ever growing, not so visible, yet gigantic problem, new approaches are certainly needed along with information, education, training and sector / activity specific guidelines.

Existing environmental management tools should be customized and can be adapted to many service industries. Application of tools such as :

need to be promoted and should be taken up voluntarily by service industries extensively. Service industries, as they act as conduits between consumers and manufacturers and other businesses, are well positioned to influence as well as respond to the increasing demand for sustainability initiatives.

Role of Cities and Municipalities / Townships – a Conglomeration of Service Providers and Consumers

Urban economies being service oriented economies, have the potential to create livelihoods on a massive scale, thus encouraging larger population shifts from rural areas. If in future, our cities and towns need to be sustainable, both the service users (consumers) and the service providers should join hands in making a city sustainable.

For example, the urban / municipal services such as housing, water and electricity supply, solid waste management, sewerage treatment and disposal, construction, transportation, marketing, service stations, banking, education, health care, recreation and an array of other facilities and services have the potential to consume large amount of resources and generate disproportionate amounts of wastes. And very often, the consumers and the service providers lack knowledge on conservation and proper environmental management systems. Much of the opportunity to control impacts will be in the areas of hazardous waste materials management, waste reduction, and minimization of energy and water use.

Sustainability of a city is much dependent on what choices the people of that city make, not only about which products and brands to buy but also which life styles to follow. Many consumers are now realizing that single product choices are not going to change the world. So a growing number is also beginning to make conscious lifestyle choices, which include opting for recyclable containers, less packaged consumer items, organically grown food material, bio-degradable, non-phosphoric detergents, organic, naturally grown farm products and even ethical investments and telecommuting etc.

Therefore, future sustainability can only be assured if the service industries and urban local bodies, along with the manufacturing sectors, come together to implement voluntary environmental initiatives in the areas of waste minimization, prevention and control of solid waste, energy efficiency, renewable energy promotion, recycling, water and sanitation, public health services and a variety of other such areas.

In summary, it may be concluded that, sustainable societies can become a reality if only Clean Production, Green Consumption and Greener Services are adopted by all of us. q

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