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'I'll go out for a breath of fresh air' is an often-heard phrase. But how many of us realize that this has become irrelevant in today's world, because the quality of air in our cities is anything but fresh.
The moment you step out of the house and are on the road you can actually see the air getting polluted; a cloud of smoke from the exhaust of a bus, car, or a scooter; smoke billowing from a factory chimney, flyash generated by thermal power plants, and speeding cars causing dust to rise from the roads. Natural phenomena such as the eruption of a volcano and even someone smoking a cigarette can also cause air pollution.

Air pollution is aggravated because of four developments:

The Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 19th century saw the beginning of air pollution as we know it today, which has gradually become a global problem. Air pollution is nothing new. Ever since the discovery of fire, less-than-desirable substances have been vented into the air. Every Govt. is trying to minimize this problem. But regardless of the efforts, air pollution continues to be a serious local and world-wide problem.

Although environmental issues influence all human activities, few academic disciplines have integrated green issues into their literature. This is especially true of marketing. As society becomes more concerned with the natural environment, businesses have begun to modify their behavior in an attempt to address society's "new" concerns. Some businesses have been quick to accept concepts like environmental management systems and waste minimization, and have integrated environmental issues into all organizational activities.

One business area where environmental issues have received a great deal of discussion in the popular and professional press is marketing. Terms like "Green Marketing" and "Environmental Marketing" appear frequently in the popular press.

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* Contributed by: -
Ashish Ohlyan,
Program-MIB (2005-2007),
Institute of Management Technology,
Ghaziabad