Cooperative ecoharmony
SOMETIMES, eco-support comes unexpectedly from the most unlikely quarters -- this time round, cooperative movements. The pathbreakers are already here: the Kooperativa Forbundet, a large production, manufacturing and distribution cooperative in Sweden has an environment secretariat and a monitoring mechanism; the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool in Canada has established a Responsible Stewardship Programme; the Cooperative Bank in the UK has propounded an Ethical Policy under which loans are linked to environmental care; cooperative projects in the Maho and Welimada divisions of Sri Lanka have been set up to demonstrate the role of agricultural cooperatives in safeguarding the environment; and IFFCO in India is undertaking the dry farmland project in three states of the country.
The Japanese Consumers' Cooperative Movement has also done impressive work. The Japanese have relentlessly pursued industrial development since the Meiji restoration in 1868 and the warning bells about blindly galloping use have started ringing. A number of disasters have taken place: the Ashio Mine tragedy and its gas emissions, the Nilgata Minamata disease along the Agano River, the Itai-Itai disease on the Jinzu river, where petroleum complexes have played havoc with the environment -- the instances are legion.
Pollution archipelago
Japan retains the unenviable title of "the pollution archipelago" despite a plethora of laws and government institutions. But increasing consciousness about pollution has alerted the different branches of the cooperative movement -- agriculture, forestry, fishing and consumers -- and has initiated corrective measures. The consumers' cooperative union, the national apex body, has proposed an Ecology Programme prompting several affiliated organisations to enunciate their own programmes. Coop Kanagawa in south Japan, whose programme is aimed at rendering "the lifestyles of each of the Coop's members more ecologically sensitive", has been particularly active.
I visited a consumer cooperative store organised by Coop Kanagawa in Zama city, on the way to Yokohama. Opened in 1992, it is a neighborhood shopping centre called Harmos Zama (harmos means harmony in Greek). Harmos Zama has initiated a number of steps to protect the environment. The coolant used in the display of frozen products is eco-friendly and predates the regulations to come into force in 1996. The exterior lighting is sun sensitive, garbage is confined to an isolated area to prevent unpleasant odours and a special resource recycling site has been erected where milk cartons, aluminium and steel cans from vending machines, Styrofoam trays, glass bottles, button and nickel-cadmium batteries are stored.
Similar activities are being introduced in stores all over Japan. Coop Tokyo has opened one. Cooperatives in Kobe and Saitama are also promoting such stores. Solar powered air conditioning for the common rooms and solar panels in the outer walls are also being built in these stores.
S K Saxena was the Director of the International Cooperative Alliance, a London-based NGO. He now lives in Canada and works as an consultant to several national and international agencies, writes extensively and undertakes research on cooperatives. He has recently published Cooperatives in India and Pakistan: Some Issues