Over the past few years, companies have become more conscious of their effects on or contribution to the well being of the environment. This sudden awareness among companies to become eco-friendly may be due to the sudden increase of pressure from their customers who want to do business solely with companies that are environmentally responsible. Customers can question where products come from, what kind of labor was used and so on. For instance, huge clothing companies that are chosen by the masses for their brand name and popularity will eventually find their reputation going down in the market drastically due to the use of sweatshops where workforces may be over exploited to a great extent.
It could be said the sudden change in the mindset and actions of corporate entities to become more responsible with regards to the environment is solely for corporate social responsibility and to maintain positive public relations to keep their image intact. However, there are other institutions apart from just manufacturers and retailers who are slowly being urged to move to more environmentally friendly solutions.
A revolution is taking place in the educational system where text book content is being digitized. While this seems like a huge investment it should be seen as a long term investment and a long term solution for the betterment of the environment. It is also being recognized that digitizing the syllabus also produces great results as far as providing a rich learning experience is concerned. This happens through the use of technology such as the electronic interactive whiteboard that is now being implemented in classrooms across the globe.
Apart from improving the children’s learning experience, going digital helps the environment in so many ways. Let’s take a look at some of the problems that the Paper production industry is causing on a large scale.
India has spent several decades destroying trees and wildlife habitat for the purpose of producing paper. As we all know, bamboo is no longer used to produce paper because this resource has already been plundered to a great extent. Nowadays, eucalyptus trees are used widely. These trees do not need to be full grown either. While hundreds to thousands of trees have been chopped down for road widening, the need for producing paper also comes down harshly on the environment as it is an essential element of our educational system.
Apart from this, the Indian paper industry uses technology that is the oldest in the world. A chlorine-based technology is used that emits a lot of toxic mercury. The dioxins released are carcinogenic. It is not just trees that are wasted to produce paper but water too. Paper production is a water-intensive industry. Because a lot of the paper mills across the country don’t have effluent treatment plants, this in turn creates health hazards in the surrounding communities.
All of these issues have opened the eyes of communities across the nation and they have chosen to adopt smart technologies like the electronic interactive whiteboard. Schools have realized the benefits of this product which allows children to learn efficiently while providing the teacher with relevant analytical details along with the option to gather resources from the World Wide Web. With audio-visual content, the option to save the same, educational games and so much more, the electronic interactive whiteboard backed up by strong digital learning software seems to be any educational institutions best bet in this age of change. Out with the paper, in with the screens!