A campaign to cut carbon footprint during polls

PUDUCHERRY: The global average is that a two-wheeler emits 43g of carbon dioxide for every km and a car emits 180g carbon dioxide for every km. And if all 10.23 lakh voters in Puducherry walk to the polling booths on April 19, they can prevent the emission of 40 tonnes to 180 tonnes of carbon dioxide, says the Union territory’s chief electoral officer P Jawahar.

Puducherry has started a ‘CountTheCarbon’ campaign that is measuring the carbon footprint of election related activity -- plastic and other waste generated, electricity and fuel used, and material consumed from the date of announcement of polls till the results on June 4. Puducherry’s election department has roped in the forest department and Pondicherry University’s department of ecology to help run the campaign.

The campaign has a three-pronged approach – measuring emissions by the election machinery, political parties, and voters before polls, during polls and after polls. Voters are being encouraged to share their photos with the hashtag #walktovote on social media.

On its part, the election department has reduced use of single-use plastic, replaced plastic water bottles with stainless steel tumblers, and started packing all stationary, food and refreshment supplied to offices and polling booths using green materials. The department has issued advisories to political parties to use vehicles that adhere to latest emission norms, opt for bicycle rallies instead of motorcycle rallies, use e-vehicles, reduce use of plastic flags and water bottles during rallies, and switch to eco-friendly paper/cloth.

“Climate change and carbon emissions are the defining issues of our age. Every activity needs to be filtered through the prism of carbon footprint and efforts should be made to reduce carbon emissions,” said Jawahar. “We have increased our social media presence and have reduced our reliance on traditional systematic voter’s education and electoral participation (Sveep) methods such as banners and flexes,” he added.

To neutralise carbon emitted for the poll process, the Union territory’s agriculture department will plant saplings near the polling stations and name them after booth-level officers to promote ownership and ensure they survive and grow into trees.