By Nivedita
New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS): Fashion designer Gaurav Gupta, who has come on board 'The Anti Pollution Riot Campaign', feels people lack knowledge about the "danger" related to environment. He has urged the public to stop consuming fast fashion as it creates more dump products, resulting in pollution.
"We are the most polluted country in the world and this is not just a November or Diwali problem. We are in an extreme emergency situation... It's like a danger state and you can't live in this situation as it's akin to a chemical warfare," Gaurav told IANS on phone.
The campaign that will be officially launched on Wednesday, is an effort by brand Vogmask and restaurant Olive to raise awareness.
At the launch event, the brands will emphasise on saying "no" to single-serve plastic; recycling at source and moving towards better waste management; carpooling; regular maintenance of vehicles; and switching to petrol or electric vehicles -- essentially, reducing our overall carbon footprint.
Many say that even fashion industry contributes a lot in air pollution, especially because of materials used, transportation and production.
Gupta says to tackle this, people have to stop chasing fast fashion.
"If we talk about the fashion industry, the Autumn/Winter collection that we did last, was a zero waste collection," he said.
"The main thing that we should look into is waste management," he said, adding: "Fashion industry has a lot to do with it. The main problem is that people consume fashion in a fast mode which then eventually end up in landfills.
"At an individual level, people have to stop consuming that much of fashion. You have to understand what is slow fashion. There are so many brilliant young designers in India who are making clothes of Rs 20,000 and not Rs 5000. It's not about money," Gupta said.
"At an industry level, community, society or at any level, we have to make choices. I am not okay doing cheap fashion. I would rather do slightly more expensive clothes, sell them lesser, but when the consumer buys it, it would be valued," added Gupta.
Even Jai Dhar Gupta, CEO of pollution mask brand Vogmask India, feels there's a need to keep pollution level in check.
"I have been an environment activist for the past two years, trying to lobby at all levels to get the problem checked. This is a complete emergency and public health crisis," Dhar told IANS on phone.
"This is a silent killer that can reduce our life span. I am personally affected," Dhar added.
"I have been running this campaign and holding sessions at schools... I think there are lots of myths around city pollution and most of India feels that this is just a Delhi problem. So, we are trying to engage anti-pollution campaign which will be pan-India," he added.
Gupta says he plans to take this initiative ahead in multiple ways.
"It is an evolving campaign and I just want the conversation to start happening amongst people and the media about this human health emergency," he told IANS.