Diapers, bitcoin, cars, bank loans, phones, IPL, cooking oil, colleges, cough syrup, refrigerators, insurance, matrimony websites, pain balms, movies, furniture, electrical switches, house paints… I’ll stop now.
What do all these have in common? They are all products that are advertised to you and me. We live in the age of noise. It is estimated that on average, 5,000 ads are shoved in front of our eyes every single day. So what happens when something truly significant to all our lives comes along, and proceeds to get drowned in the deluge of diaper ads?
Don’t get me wrong. Diapers matter! But when I say important, I’m referring to the kind of thing that is an existential threat to the human species itself. Like climate change for example. Here’s an interesting question. When was the alarm first raised about climate change and global warming?
- That’s the year an article was published linking the warming of the Earth’s surface to humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. Climate change could very well lead to the extinction of our species. But we have barely done anything to stop it after six decades! Why? Let me go out on a limb here and say that it is probably because our attention and priorities are occupied by everything from ash trays to ziplock bags.
I’m not on an advertisement-bashing spree here. On the contrary, I am now about to sing paeans to the benefits of ads because in the last three months, I have seen how advertisements can in fact be a medium for tremendous positive transformation.
In January, I learnt about the Conscious Planet organisation, which was spreading awareness about soil extinction. I learnt that the United Nations estimated we only have 50 years of cultivable soil left. I found out that 52 per cent of the world’s agricultural land is already degraded. Billions of people will face hunger, drought, war and forced migration in the next couple of decades because the soil they depend on to grow food, is dying. There is no microbial life and nutrients left in it that can nourish crops.
The founder of Conscious Planet, yogi and mystic Sadhguru, had a plan. He – a 65-year-old man – would ride 30,000 kilomeres over 100 days, as a lone motorcyclist, from London, through Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and finally India, to create awareness about this issue and get governments to setup policies to save soil before it was too late. The name of this campaign was aptly, Save Soil.
My first reaction was to label this plan as audacious, risky, and frankly, insane. But the stakes were so high. Humanity’s future and the future of life as we know it depended on it. This was right up there with climate change in terms of potential extinction events. So I reconsidered, and made a financial contribution to support this bold movement, hoping that Sadhguru would succeed but expecting the whole campaign to peter out.
There is no greater joy than seeing your worst nightmares crash into oblivion, while your fervent hopes cross the bridge from being fantasy to becoming reality. That’s exactly what happened to me about 3 months after I first learnt about Save Soil.
Sadhguru’s campaign had been a resounding success. 3.91 billion people had supported what became the world’s biggest people’s movement. 74 nations had expressed intent to shape soil revitalization policies. The United Nations had hosted Sadhguru at its land-related COP conference. There were many more decisive shifts in the public perception of soil. All this in just 100 days.
I was glad to have played a small part with my contribution. But I was saddened to see that there were some who took offense to an ecological cause spending money on promotion. Name calling and loose remarks were directed at a 65-year-old man who risked his life for the future of my children and yours.
What exactly was their objection? It seems to be the fact that Conscious Planet spent 1,500 dollars a day for 90 days, on social media advertisements to rally support for government policies to save soil. The horror! Perhaps we should wait 60 years before actually doing something about it like we did with climate change. Or better yet, let’s allow soil to die and follow it to the grave. Never mind that millions of dollars a day are spent to get you to try everything from pornography to alcohol to drugs.
Thankfully, such short-sightedness is in the minority. I for one am proud that I contributed to saving soil. If I had gone with my first impulse and ignored Save Soil on that day, there is no way I could have held my head high in my children’s presence again. If I stood by while the next generation hurtled towards a world where they would have to fight for their daily bread, I would die of shame.
Fortunately, I don’t think they will see such a world. The corner has been turned. The European Union has already announced the process for a robust Soil Health law. The Commonwealth of 54 nations stands in solidarity with Save Soil.
But we’re not done yet. We still have to save soil. As citizens of democratic nations, it is our duty to keep telling our governments that we want this to happen on priority. The way to do that is to come together and make a lot of noise. Because noise is not a bad thing. When we make a lot of noise together, it is no longer noise. It becomes a resounding call – to leaders, to business, to industry, that it is time we change the way we are doing things and build a sustainable future.
So let’s make a whole lot of noise – together. For our children. For life on the planet. For soil. They deserve it.
Aren’t we glad and grateful for a noisy Sadhguru!
The author is Director of L'affaire Designs. Views are personal.
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