Responsible retail

are celebrating World Environment Day today by planting saplings,taking part in bike rallies and conducting awareness drives. But there are a few who work beyond the annual gimmick to

adopt eco-friendly practices in their daily dealings.

Good news is some business establishments are making an effort and taking baby steps towards eco-friendly practices. A case in point are hotels like Renaissance Powai,ITC Grand Central in Parel and Courtyard by Marriot in Andheri. While it’s impossible to do away with electronic appliances such as air-conditioners,it is possible to set up a water-recycling plant and recycle green waste,cooking oil,paper and wood within the premises,feels Saied Heidari,GM,Renaissance. “We also offer the option of green meetings,where we use 100 per cent recycled pens,paper and files and use energy-saving lighting as well as audio-visual options,” he explains.

The Lower Parel-based cafe The Verandah shows how a few basic changes — sometimes in the construction of offices and stores — can make a big difference. The eatery,with windows towards the south-east,gets a stream of sunlight pouring in through the day,saving electricity.

The premium leather brand Hidesign has been employing eco-friendly practices ever since their inception in 1978. “We adopted these practices way before it became fashionable. Our factory in Puducherry is a green workshop made from bricks. The interiors are designed using eco-friendly materials. And we use vegetable dyes on our products too,which ensures everything is biodegradable,” says Dilip Kapur,the company’s president.

The challenges in sticking to eco-friendly ways can be plenty. Tibrewal points out that sometimes,these measures can turn out rather costly. “Though expensive initially,most people don’t understand that systems like water and waste recycling help save cost in the long run,” Heidri points out.

For many others,such as Anurag Tyagi,the brand manager of the skin care brand Kiehls,it’s about “returning to Mother Earth what she gives us”. The world over,Kiehls stores have an eco-bin where they encourage customers to return the empty product containers for a discount and then use a unique technology to recycle the bottles into bags. The famous limited edition bags are not for retail and are given as

tokens of appreciation to

selected guests. “It’s about imbibing and passing on these values to our customers. If we promise to be natural with our products,how can we show hypocrisy when it comes to packaging?” quips Tyagi.

In spite of these instances,it would take a long time before such methods are adopted by all. There is a law in place that bans plastic bags but retailers continue to use it. “We give in to customers’ demands,” admits an employee at Hypercity,Malad,“If the educated customers don’t care,then we cannot help it.”