Enough of us now

People from different walks of life, are increasingly aware about the critical situation called ‘climate change.’The change in the weather patterns, unusual medical perils traced to toxic pollutants and natural calamities world over, echoes the ruthless and immeasurable use of our environment. There could be millions of climate refugees, with the number of people soaring very year. The solution must be addressed in the plural, globally. Paul and Anne Ehrlich reports the issue of population growth on the Earth in the article, ‘Enough of us now’ published recently in the New Scientist science journal.

It is evident that the countries that consume resources at a larger rate as well as those with an appalling population census are more likely to be the worst hit by climate change. Paul and Anne Ehrlich points out that “the US with its population of over 300 million and high per capita consumption should be seen as Earth's most over populated nation.” They added that the estimated 2.3 million people in year 2050 will “have to be supported by scarcer, lower-quality resources imposing ever greater environmental costs,” alerting China and India of their population status.

If the number of people escalates over the next couple of years with poor quality of sustainable programs, a proportional death toll would be imperative. This could be an affect of reoccurring natural calamities, pathogenic out breaks or the lack of sufficient food.

Poorly educated women in the society failing to understand the weight of population on the economy and the environment, would beckon for a better fortified and supportive legislative system. The issue must be addressed observantly by the nation’s government assembly, to assure healthy population census.

In India, young rural women who move into cities in hope to find money, end up bearing a dozen children to add to the hands for begging. Little do they realise that they are as many stomachs to feed and shelter. Ehrlich mentions that if there are “opportunities for women to participate in [their] nations’ economies,” half the problem would be solved. In fact the article mentioned, at “the Grameen Bank offered credit to poor people of Bangladesh, especially women,” which “helped reduce birth rates there, simply by boosting grassroots economic development.”

In conclusion, in order to abate the affects of climate change, the industrial and corporate levels should find the need to cater to an environmentally conscious society. The decisions that are collectively made by the people can mitigate the effects of global warming. “Awareness is half the cure,” they say the rest depends on us and our choices. It’s important to leave a minimal, if not zero, carbon footprint before we welcome our future.

Reference: Paul and Anne Ehrlich (2009) “Enough of us now”, New Scientist, 26th Sept 2009. Page number: 36,37

Salam, Dr. Kalam!

On the dot of 10 am, we met him... The man who enthralled the audience with his very presence as he smiled and waved at everyone with a humble demeanour. I was overwhelmed when I met him face to face. I'm looking at the ex-President of India I reminded myself when his humility presented me with his smile.

"We are honoured to have among us today, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam..." and that was all it took for the crowd to roar with appreciation! "I know that this college, Mount Carmel College is known for showing their appreciation and happiness (loud cheer from the audience)... in here as well as in the area" he teased while he addressed the gathering.

He spoke of a vision he called 2020. One in which he believes that India would be referred to as a developed country by the year 2020. He said we must take inspiration from the likes of Mother Theresa, Vangari Mathai and Sister Antonia.

He said we must emulate from Mother Theresa for her loving, caring and giving nature, for as she had worded it in her acceptance speech, "when you learn to share with the others, you will learn to love. When you learn to love, you bring peace." Dr. Kalam quoted her and added, making us echo his words,

"When there is righteousness in the heart, There is beauty in the character,
When there is beauty in the character, There is harmony at home,
When there is harmony at home, There is order in the Nation,
When there is order in the Nation, There will be peace in the world"

The second person he referred to was Ms. Vangari Mathai from Kenya. She was an ordinary woman who made an extraordinary change with a simple idea of planting tree saplings. The record for planting close to 41 million tree saplings, through her Green Belt Movement, was felicitated with the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Intellectual Understanding in 2005. "Planting a tree, is planting an idea" he quoted her saying.

He added that if 300 million youth in our country can plant 2 saplings per person, then 1500 million trees would be of existence... "Even if your generation can not benefit from it, at least the next generation will. "So each one of you will plant trees, OK?"

The last person he spoke of was of a courageous woman. One who walked calmly in the middle of a ferocious prison riot in Mexico, held her hands out while police forces sprayed bullets at the prisoners and yelled for order. And order she got. Sister Antonia was renouned for her work at the prison in Mexico. She devoted her entire live for the betterment of them.

All these woman have done great things and have changed the lives of several lives by simply being compassionate. Dr Kalam quotes from Everyday Greatness(a book he recommends), "Leadership with compassion is required" be it in any field, be it for a teacher, a student...or even a politician.

He concluded by saying that everyone should be proud to be an Indian, must be courageous to forge through life's obstacles and to help the society. After all when you help your society, you've helped several people, including yourself!

Suggested related articles:
www.hindu.com/2009/08/30/stories/2009083052220500.htm
Visit: http://www.indiavision2020.org/
Picture taken from Times of India, Bangalore.

"Pedal towards a better tommorow!"

Sick of the daily traffic pollution in Bengaluru? I know I am! But here's something I'm looking forward to-
Karnataka Chief Secretary, Mr. Sudhakar Rao has roped in TI Cycles of India for a FIRST EVER in India, Cyclothon event. Scheduled tentatively on 11th October, the event marks the 60th anniversary of the cycle company.

The race has been categorized into
50 km Elite race for the professional and competitive athelets
50 km Amateur race
25 km Corporate race
25 km Green race
5 km Teen race (13-17 years of age)
2 km Fun ride (8-12 years of age)

"The races will be flagged off at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) and finish at the same spot after a run through the NICE corridor" The Hindu paper stated. A separate lane for the participants would be provided for that day.

Mr. Sudhakar Rao was quoted in The Hindu saying, " Let us hope that it helps us in our drive for a cleanier, greener and healthier Bengaluru." While the TI cycle company hopes to have this as an annual event.
To register please check : http://www.bsaherculescyclothon.in.com/
Cheers! This is for our Earth!

Over-loading or Over-looking?!

The power cuts are a real pain. It puts life into a grinding halt.
No TV.
No computer.
No charging laptop.
No charging phones.
No microwave.
No lightbulbs!
Whoever invented electricity should have known better than to make life dependent on it!

Nonetheless,
think the KEB authorities forget that even the UPS power backing system can't survive long enough without electricity.

It irks me when I notice main roads illuminated with billboards reading RIDICULOUS punch lines near a celeb's silly smile; Bus stops lit with 30 vertically placed lightbulbs! (the same effect can be achieved with 9-12 horizontally placed light bulbs!) And have you noticed that of late, there are more than one bus stop at the same location? Take the Guttahalli bus stop for instance. What's the point in having three bus stops of three different sizes? It just confuses people even more!

Are the concerned authorities so blind? If we stopped using electricity for useless hoardings running all night from 6pm to 7:30 am the next day, and allow only important ones such as hospital numbers, then we'd be saving a lot of energy! Apparently, a source from a newspaper article stated that Bangalore has 25 lakh billboards! (statistics taken from 2008 paper) Most take away the light from the street lamp as they tend to be brighter. This distracts the driver.

The power cuts though are far greater a trouble for students during their exams, for watchmen, for pedistrians and for drivers! Simple measures can do simple wonders. It's time someone shook BESCOM and KEB to the realities. If a 20 yr old can find solutions, so can they!

Your Time Starts Now.

‘Transition Elements’, I think that’s what I would call us. The generation of people who live life the 21st century way with all the technology and ease it has to offer, knowing fully well how life used to be as recent as a decade ago, simple yet content.
Personally I miss the days when I was restricted to just one hour of television a day, the Internet was a fascinating world that was yet to be explored and ‘the outdoors’ was my best friend.
I once had an interesting conversation with a kid, probably ten years old, talkative and brilliant. He knew exactly how to sneak into the heavily guarded palatial residence of the Brazilian President, assassinate him and walk out without a trace, thanks to his xbox 360. This same boy however didn’t have a clue of what his neighborhood looked like or worse, if there were any other boys his age living close by. There could be many reasons for this innocent yet strange ignorance and I am quite certain that he is just one of many such kids. Children today are born into a manmade world almost completely cut off from the natural one. They would rather choose to play virtual tennis and hack animated bad guys to death rather than go out and actually get bruised and dirty.
The definition of ‘socializing’, to a large population of teenagers wouldn’t exactly mean to mingle and get to know one another but instead it is most likely to be something on the lines of ‘lets shop all day, dress up and club all night!’
The point I am trying to make here is that most young people today have priorities spread across varied wavelengths. While ‘A’ might want to dedicate his life to prepare for higher studies, ‘B’ might want to be a little more laid back and spend his summers at home watching reality Television. But no matter where you go and what you do, the environment and its pathetic shape will most definitely affect you.
Yes, Global Warming is an enormous crisis that’s posing a threat to our planet, but if you break it down to smaller bits, it equates to something far more difficult to digest and simply put, REAL. People in the coasts being washed away by floods, people in bustling cities having to breathe hot air and drink rationed amounts of water while going through weeks without even so much as having a bath!
That is probably something you would call –The worst-case scenario. But strangely enough we seem to be inviting it with open (and careless!) arms.
The Green House Emissions of India have been found to be 1.1 tonnes per annum making us the third largest contributor to Global Warming, after the States and China. The margin by which they lead however is pretty huge, the US releasing approximately 20 tonnes. Yet, efforts are being made by our country to reduce the numbers further alongside making sure its economic progress isn’t affected. The area of Climate Change brings in new avenues for people from all walks of life because we NEED man power at every level!

That is the precise reason why the youth of today has to wake up and start becoming responsible for their future. Yes, we have reached a point where we need to think of our immediate future, not even that of our children’s.

No one is asking for people to quit what they are doing ,walk onto the streets, plant trees and eat berries! Not even close.
Climate change requires the convergence of every stream of Science, Arts and Commerce. Use the knowledge that you have spent your whole life trying gain, do your bit and Affect Change!

"Time, our most precious currency, is the most valuable thing we humans can spend"....so spend it well.

My parting words for every youngster who reads this would be, don’t let the water run, try the bus and yes, Vote!

Paper Pile!

At the MCC cultural fest- Cul Ah! '09, we the members of greenShield held a sale of books which we made with our own hands, all the way from the coverpage right down to stitching it together. It was a hit where people appreciated our effort, the creativity of the cover pagee and the 50 books that we made were sold out within the first four hours. :)
Every semester, the unused pages of our science record books get waster because only 3/4th of the book , (or sometimes even lesser!)is used. Keerti & Madhu suggested that we collect those pages from our classmates and put it to use by showcaseing the ability to reuse paper and make usable books. At the end of the day, we had about 1700 sheets of paper.
In all the tasks of making the books, we were helped by greenShield volunteers and friends, Arunima, Rashmi , Spikey (vinay) and ( Sanchi to name a few) whose work was commendable.
The coverpages were designed by all involved, unique to their style. The pages were counted and separated into piles of 50 & 100 . Aishwarya & Rosh took over the task of punching in the holes using Aishwarya's punching machine. After everything was punched and piled up , we started stitching the books together and one by one everything fell into place.After a long, hardworking day, our books were ready with the greenShield message inside and only one thing kept us from finishing up.....That was the peak of it all, when we gathered around to perform the long awaited 'sticker placing ceremony'** even after a very long day's work, turned out to be fulled with laughter and screams!
**(Aishwarya's father very graciously agreed to print us exclusive greenShield stickers for our Paper Pile Project)

The paper pile was ready to be displayed and sold the next day at Cul Ah!'09. The books were priced between Rs35 and Rs 40 depending on the size & number of pages and also the effort that went into a particular book :P We also made bookmarks out of the papers we had remaining after the cutting process. Those were a hit too! as most people wanted a matching bookmark to go with their book. ha!

To summarise those three fun filled and rather hectic no to mention strenous days ended up with eleven highly satisfied greenShield members.

The most exciting part of it all was to have so many people (including our Principal and teachers) come back and ask for more of our books.

In addition , we invited the people of the Belaku Foundation* which employs village women in making paper and cloth ecofriendly products. We also invited the Kanyakumari Kalai Koodam (K4 -a women's self help groups which deas with articles made out of palm fibres), to come and sell their items.
It was exciting to watch gilrs walk around with chopsticks and earrings K4 and pretty stoles from Belaku.
Driven by the unexpected support from highly satisfied customers and our Principal, we are motivated to go on and go far with all that we have to do to " gaurd today for Tomorrow"!

-Nuts.

JUNKCART

Cul-ah'09 "Spell Bound" ended the month of January with style, fun and a world of imagination imagination. Junkcart, for instance was an event Environmental Science students (especially Green Shield members), were actively a part of.

Praapti, "our resource personelle cum coordinator" as well as Shreya, our Science Association secretary, along with a few other volunteers, went junk scouting the previous week. They managed to get hold of plastic bottles, shampoo bottles, old newspapers, old mementos, nonsense CDs, straws, twine, paper cartons and what not!

With a generous amount of junk at our disposal, each college team of 3 to 4, competed to come up with an innovative, functional or/and decorative accessory within a time frame of 2 hours.

The teams came up with out-of-the-world articles! The Trojan helmet cum drinking bottle cum eye wear, made by St.Joseph's Commerce students, zapped us with amusement!Their technical details and functionality caught the Judges- Noireeta and Rashmi attention. And yes, they certainly liked it, for they unanimously declared this team as winners!

( Team :in no particular order- Alster, Bhushan, Shreya, Smita)

(Judges: Rashmi and Noireeta)

The stationary cum mobile stand from St. Joseph's Arts and Science was extremely innovative and commendable, and won second prize!

The Ramaiah college of Arts and Science grabbed third prize for a creative ensemble- a jewellary stand and a fancy folder.

The effort put into making these articles and advertising them left us "Spell Bound!"

We hope to see our participants for our upcoming events ! :) Congrats you guys! Cheers!

Indian Youth Climate Network

"OOO It's gettin' HAWT in here,

There's-too-much-CARBON in the atmosphere,

Take action, Take action,

And get some SATISFACTION."

That was the jingle that was stunk in our heads after the 3-day workshop IYCN conducted in the beginning of the month (from 4th -6th January).

The Indian Youth Climate Network has the same vision as the Inconvenient Youth (a US of A based international student network, spreading Al Gore's anthem- The Inconvenient Truth.)They are driven to empower the young generation (that's US) to stand up to fight global warming in our country.

The event conducted in Infosys, on the 5th, comprised of highly interactive sessions with fellow college students. First, a presentation was done by Caroline (active and supportive member of IYCN) and Kartikeya Singh (executive director). It had excerps from The Inconvenient truth and facts about the current scenario in India.

Most facts were alarming such as, India being the FOURTH largest carbon emitting country and China overtaking US at prime spot. But we were also awed at the fact that a small district in Rajasthan filled with solar panels, could potentially run current all over India, for FIFTY YEARS!

The documentary prompted a round of discussion among the audience. We discussed how India has the solutions to crack the climate change problem - well, we enacted them out in mime and had people guessing. (That was a total ice breaker!) we had no difficulty making fools of ourselves, but hey the audience loved it, and most importantly, we had ALOT of fun! :)

We broke for lunch and had gathered to listen to the Solar Punch. They're musicians who run all instruments with solar energy! Can you believe that?! Unfortunately, we couldn't grab that gig, for technical reasons.

The "what can YOU do to over come climate change" session was next on the menu. Like the previous sessions, groups of 5 to 6, ran through a 5 min Plan of action and presented it.

The day ended with a group singing the IYCN jingle and a picture of all of us chiming in to Caroline's cue "Who is the solution?"

- "WE ARE THE SOLUTION!"

The following day, we visited The Energy Resource Institute(TERI). The architectural design and concept of using purely renewable sources left us speechless; Utilising wind in maintaining pleasant temperature in the office and solar energy for lighting and electrifying purposes, is just a tip of the iceberg.

All in all, our workshop was WELL WORTH! we were inspired by people from different walks of life, concerned about the environment. oh i forgot to add that we met Mr. Syed, the only autodriver in Bangalore who owns a solar powered engine! "It runs for about 70 km a day and I can save about 400 rupees a day if I use it." he adds confidently, in English. :)

Get in touch:

IYCN network: http://iycn.in/

IYCN blog: http://www.whatswiththeclimate.org/

TERI: http://www.teriin.org/

Solar auto: http://jace.seacrow.com/archive/2006/12/08/solar-powered-autorickshaw

Yes, il have 2 shots of Coffee , extra stripes and spots please

{Note : All photographs are google Borrowed. and not stolen or taken by me or any of the people who work at the CWS.
Danke` }
Roar.

More than sounding scary , a Feline Roar sounds so enigmatic and powerful that if i were to ever encounter a tiger i would just freeze in awe.

I spent my December vacation volunteering at the Centre For Wildlife Studies, Bangalore.
If someone asked me to rate my vacations based on how the learning:enjoying quotient fared, id say 'o8 would ...and by a mile! stands Numero Uno.

I approached them in Late november in hope of interning either in the Field or at the office for desk-based research. After going through my CV they requested that i head over to their office for a chat. Turns out two weeks in their opinion was too short a time to go to any of the sites if i wanted to get any learning done. So it was settled, that id be 'stuck with them' with a 9am-5pm slot for two weeks at the office. But nah! to me, i struck Christmas Gold.

okay just to warm you up a bit, the Center for Wildlife ( CWS) initiated by Mr Ullas Karanth is the Indian wing of the Wildlife Conservation Society. They dedicate their lives to protect the 'charismatic' endangered megafauna in the protected Reserves of our country and in doing so , preserving the rich biodiversity that we have been blessed with.

During my time there i worked under Mr Samba Kumar , who has been instrumental in the implementation of Project Tiger in India. However, i worked more closely with two very brilliant and down right FUN people, Pallavi and Mr Patil. The office was very nice and the least bit...office like! Despite the line of computers sitting in each room, the fact that there would almost always be an oriole , a bulbul or a warbler sitting outside my window could make me smile like sheep all day. Just like Pallavi. i began to look forward to our daily rounds of coffee, turns out it really gives you the Kick that you need!

The work i had to do was pretty monotonous...is what i WOULD have said , had i been a painful MCC noob. I totally freaked out with joy each day like i was eating a heap full of Mousse and pretzels.

Well, one of the projects they undertake is Predator and Prey census, following camera trap methods or simply by conducting line transect surveys respectively. By predators typically that would include tigers and leopards. Since each of them have unique patterns on their skin , comparing them using photographs makes it easy and greatly accurate in terms of figuring out how many of the species are currently surviving and thriving (Our forests are simply exceptional) if i might add. The catch here however is that, to manually compare the stripe/spot patterns taken in that year with those that had been, in the previous years can be quite tedious. ha! But yes, that has been the protocol over the past years.
Until ofcourse, this year ..when the CWS has begun to use a software which uses a database that records, extracts and gives a unique identity to each stripe pattern thus making the whole differentiating process automated.

The three main sites that they focus on are the Nagarhole, Bandipur and Bhadra reserves. Of the three mentioned, the first two had been added to the database earlier and is now fully functioning. However adding to the database for the third remained pending. And thats when yours truly comes into the picture.

According to Pallavi, everything in an area like this is greatly connected and correlated, that my friend sometimes can really test your patience.For instance if you encounter a problem while calculating One parameter, it is most likely that someone entered it in wrong, which in a way could be because the values fed wrong in the first place, which means the raw data must be checked , subsequently the original datasheets must not be ignored either..... and all this just because you wanted to see if the animal was male or female.

I encountered that problem in the very first minute of my job which pretty much changed my job description completely. I focused mostly on the Bhadra reserve data. i had to update their original records starting from the year 1997. Then i had to work on their raw data spreadsheets and photo albums. I had to prepare material for a leopard comparison software test run (which was seriously Cool)

The concept of camera trapping is very interesting. It seems easy when looked at superficially but once you sink in , even ankle deep into the whole method one will begin to see how there really is NO room for error. Go two paragraphs up to know what happens when errors decide to crop up.
CWS currently uses Roll based active infrared cameras, that have both pros and cons. Pros being the Active nature of the camera almost always gaurantees a picture of the animal being taken. It is cost effective as these cameras are placed at the risk of being stolen or sometimes trampled by our Jumbo friends when they feel like it. On the other hand , the fact that the camera is not digital makes the process of acquiring the photographs tiresome and highly multi-staged. what with the click + develop roll + print roll + scan (each photograph) + coding for each roll of each block in each site , each year. And not always does a tiger or a leopard get captured. there are so many amusing pictures of procupines, rabbits, wild board, sloth bears, poachers inquistive villagers and sometimes even A leaf.

One might wonder, WHY? why go through all of this drama only to count tigers? Well to answer your question, look at a picture of a full grown lean female tiger (okay say with her cubs) resting cosily in the brilliant greens and browns of our Western Ghats, she looks so majestic, she leaves you in a trance. Then check her stripe pattern with those in the confiscated tiger skin records. I did that, and i found a match.


www.wcsindia.org

Notice board

One of the main objectives when we started with green shield was to enlighten the students of MCC about the presence and working of the Dept. EN Sci , yeah most of them were ignorant of its existence.
Once we got the authorization to make use of the notice board not a minute was wasted,
"THE DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE" caption was put up barely 24 hrs after sister (principal) gave us her consent to utilize the board.
The very first information we put up was the "save the turtles" issue which was captioned as "Don’t say TATA to the turtles". Our creative team (comprising of katya, meghna and keerti) did an impressive job for our opening. Amidst the major issue were the minor snippets such as kick the habit where info about replacing daily habits with eco-friendly means was put up and SUP? This essentially was the recent newspaper clippings of environmental issues.
The next issue addressed was "PLANTATHON", structured by an organization called TREES FOR FREE. Green Shield members actively took part in this sapling planting spree in Devanahalli. The date and timing for the next plantathon was also put up incase students were interested and wanted to join in.
The most hazardous product in nature-plastic was the topic for the next board. Katya along with keerti did an inconceivable job. Since "no plastic" issue was being addressed in college at that point the timing was just perfect. This issue also appeared in a newspaper with Katya commenting about the current no plastic drive in college.
The present political scenario about NUCLEAR ENERGY paved the way for our next issue, ALTERNATE ENERGY- NUCLEAR POWER. Meghna single-handedly (i.e. apart from the nuclear reactor which Madhu drew) handled this issue and did some commendable job.
Our next board was captioned as "The E-Waste time line". A serious brainstorming session lead us to make a graphical representation of the amount of electronic waste produced over the years. This was our last board for the year 2008.
The next issue we plan to address in going to be put up when college reopens. Since it is a time when resolutions are made. We decided to use this as our theme.save the earth in 2009 for 3009!!!

Intel Environment Research Contest

Bangalore: INTEL had organised an Environment Research Contest, early this year, in collaboration with Concerned India Foundations and their Knowledge partner- Ecowatch. It was open to schools, colleges and corporates, each forming a separate category in the competition. Each competitor came up with an implementable project at an identified area. The winning project gets to implement and monitor their project using the grand cheque signed by Intel!

For the college category, a grant of Rs. 75,000 was fought for. As you would have anticipated, Green Shield members DID work double-time for this project.

3 teams of 2-3 members each participated.

Team 1.

Chet, Madhu and Kee(Nanny):

Topic: Cleaner and Greener Sahakara Nagar

Our project was aimed at Sahakara Nagar, where the development is rapid due to the new Bangalore International Airport, located around the area, and an influx in population would imperitive! Since, the area is still developing, implimenting sustainable development schemes could be easily incorporated. (That's the exact sentence we used as our opening line, except i forgot the word impertive, and used inevitable.. hehe)

Our schemes included, segregation of organic and inorganic wastes, vermicomposting, using percolation pits and planting APTI tolerant saplings.

Team 2.

Kat, Rosh and Sapna:

Topic: Eco homes

The project focused on addressing energy saving mechanisms that are environmentally and economically viable. Simple changes in the life style such as by replacing incandescent lamps with CFL bulbs, a normal gas/electric stove for a solar cooker were in included. Middle-Lower Income Groups would benefit these articles with the money from the grant provided. The Carbon Footprint was also intended to be calculated at every household. (And yes, Rosh's (in)Famous formula for electricity is also used to calculate the net amount of electricity used! :P)

Team 3

Megs and Yogi:

Topic: Reduce and Reuse Plastic

Their project was concentrated on channelising all the plastic generated at identified retail outlets, apartments, and houses to asphalt roads. A company called K&K plastic waste management has been involved in the field for the past 7 years or more. The bitumen- plastic mix is used to make smooth and durable roads. This technique has been implemented in several parts of Bangalore such as St. Marks road, Cunningham road, Miller road etc.

In the prefinal round, there were four teams, 3 from MCC (woot!) and 1 from MS Ramaiah Arts and Science.

In the final round, 2 MCC teams competed against MS Ramaiah. The panel of judges included eminent people such as Ms. Sonia Shrivastava, CSR Head South Asia, Intel, Ms.Rashmi from TERI, Mr. Kumaraswamy from KSPCB, Mr. Pampa P Chowdhury, Branch Manager of Concern India Foundations and Mr. Suresh Heblikar, Chairman of Ecowatch.

Under the time frame of 10 mins, all our schemes, bugeting and monitoring were quickly rattled out. Questions were asked and answered, with a wink and pageant smile... nay, we did better than that! We answered all questions as quickly and sensibly as possible. (Aich, Rosh! ;)

After a grueling 6 hour battle of restlessness, fatigue and anxiety, both teams were declared winners of second and third place. Yea...we didn't get the money, but hey there's always another time and place! :)

The event was a big deal for us, it involved alot of sleepless nights, sore eyes, neck, back and butt. So an acknowledgement is IMPERTIVE! :)

I would like to thank Intel for providing us with an fantastic platform to showcase our knowledge and skill. Mrs. Shobha Ma'am for being the brain of our projects and a backbone through the entire ordeal. I would also like to thank the Intel tea and coffee machine for being ever so patient and generous with Rosh and I, and for keeping up with our incessant requirements.

Thank you, one and all!

Say, free black lemon tea anyone?

Intellectual Goof ups!

******QOUTABLE QUOTES******

Intel Environment Competition:
Judge : So how do u plan on going about with the implementation of this project?
Roshni: Tsk, That formula is there No! *thinks* kWh x 1000 /100!!
***
Roshni: Dude this pain is really bad. Tylenol isn't enough. I think il take Vallium, its the Deadliest Painkiller Alive!
****
Kat: im so sorry i flicked your plate, but here..iv returned it With Cake!

*****
Chet : Arghh! i dont know what to do with these rubber bands. Take them Madhu.Enjoy!
Madhu: Ooo..can i hurt people ?

********
Madhu:* with a serious expression* Guys, lets all take an auto . Il get down in cunningham road, u carry the auto to college from there.

******
Green Shield Room
chet: listen kritika, u need to do something too for the presentation, it could be anything!
Aishwarya : Oooo! u can be the 'ENTER' person.
******
In Pizza Hut
Chet:Ooo..Lets connect all our straws and drink the juice at the other end of the table!
Meg: Whats wrong with you, you geometrically delusioned spasticated chicken shit.
******
In the BGS hospital canteen
Yogi: *shoves rice into her mouth with a fatass spoon*
Oh, i hate eating with spoons, im more of a hand person
****
(English lecturer) : Girls, all of you must have heard of toad, the insect.
Madhu : Whaa? Toad, an insect? Everyone knows it’s a reptile.
********
Kat : Guys! What do we write on our Green Shield shirts?
Madhu : Ooo… “rediscovering environmental Conversation”

******
Chet: HAPPPYY BIRTHDAYYYY MADHUSHREEE!!!
Madhu: thanks man….but its next month =)
*******
After En Science practical exam
Kulli : See da my dad’s yelling at me for not answering his call. What was I supposed to say? “ Papa, naanu innu thio ilisthayidini”?
*******
Rosh: I haven’t finished En Science assignment dude
Kulli: Eh, don’t take her for granted . She’s already postponated it so many times.
**********
Bus conductor: Pass thorsi ma…
Chet : Sapna. Its ok keep it inside, he’s gone.
Kulli : Eh no da, he hasn’t seen it, I wont close my zip.
*********
Green Shield room Making stuff for our Notice Board. Megs playing recorded version of the Froggie Jemb up from her phone. Suddenly Rosh realizes meg is sitting on something she needed.
Rosh : MEGHNA!!
Nanny: “ Jemmmb Up!”
********

Nanny in deep sleep , 10 in the morning. Woken up by Chet’s phone call.
Chet(Happy & sing song) : GOOD MORNING!!
Nanny(echoing same sing song) : THANK YOU!!
Chet : Aye! I didn’t say happy birthday da
*******

Yahoo Messenger
Chet : Nanny??
Chet : Nanny??
Chet: NANNNNNYYY!!!!
Nanny: Chets, you have a waiting span of a rat scurrying around on a cheese trail.


In Agumbe
Gerry :my baby girl just realised she can rotate her hands
Natasha: Aww, whats her name?
Gerry : Mahelia
Natasha: Where did you get it?
******

So you think you can shoot?

National Geographic International is conducting a photography contest. YES you heard right!

The competition starts on the 1st of December and ends by the 15th Dec 2008. First the applicants send in the photographs to the local National Geographic or http://www.ngphotocontest.com/ (Whoops! today is the last day to submit, pray that your on a time grid far from the East!). Those winners then submit the same to the International National Geographic website.

There are terms and conditions you must follow and are listed in the url link mentioned. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/photo-contest/international-rules The grand fiesta prize is a trip to the windy city (where NG's headquater is located), an award ceremony, 50 USD worth of gift and 460$ of spending money.

If it aint your luck this time, there's always next year to look forward too! :)

Is there less noise and smoke this time?
Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Does it seem that this time around Deepavali has been a tad less noisy? With greens fuming over the use of fire crackers — resulting in both environmental and noise pollution — the conscientious Bangalorean may just have moved an inch towards a cleaner and greener way of celebrating the festival of lights.

Concerted efforts by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) through advertisements and repeated appeals to citizens, have ensured that roads have not turned into a complete litter fest. While the traditional few stuck to their annual quota of firecrackers, others decided to take the green turn.

“My seven-year-old daughter came back from school and told me that she has been taught not to burst crackers and pollute the surroundings. There is certainly greater awareness about these things, which may act as a deterrent,” says Venkatachalam, a resident of Vasanthanagar.
Awareness campaigns were held in schools by various non-governmental organisations to educate students on both the environmental aspect and draw their attention to the various hazards faced by child workers in cracker manufacturing industry. Organisations such as Nayak’s Hearing clinic have taken up anti-cracker drives in nearly 350 schools to bring about awareness on the ill-effects of noise pollution.

Shruti Shah, a student of Christ University, says: “I have decided not to burst crackers, so as to do my bit for the environment. Another issue is the fact that these crackers are made by children, which is hazardous to their health.” G. Arumugam, a cracker stall owner at Malleshwaram grounds, says that it has been a lean festival. He has been selling crackers for 15 years and has seen a substantial dent in his revenues this time. “This could be due to a 30 per cent rise in the MRP (maximum retail price) of crackers. Added to this the fact that in spite of paying VAT we are being asked by different government authorities to pay extra dues,” he alleges.

A lull in the market and higher prices of crackers too appear to have influenced the trend this year, says Vatsala Mahalingam, a resident of Indiranagar. Her neighbours, who are into business, used to burst loads of crackers every year. “However, this time around I did not see a single cracker being burst by the members of that family,” she notes.

Source: The Hindu, Bangalore paper. Wednesday, October 29, 2008

5 things you can reuse or recycle

If you're on a cleaning spree, then you'd come across the issue of disposing things you've tucked away for a very long time. If you're wondering what you should do about it, then here's what a Green Guru would tell you! First, consider if the "junk" can be reused or recycled.

Here are 5 things you can reuse or recycle:

1. The Plastic Problem:
Problem: Plastic, plastic everywhere,

in all the bottles, bags, and tupperware!

Unlike popular beliefs, the number within the triangle at the base, is not a reference to recycling capacity. It is just the composition or chemical make up of plastic.

1) Polyethylene terephalate (PET)
2) High density polyethylene (HDPE)
3) Unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) or Plasticised polyvinyl chloride (PPVC)
4) Low density polyethylene LDPE
5) Polypropylene (PP)
6) Polystyrene (PS) or Expandable polystyrene (EPS)
7) Other, including nylon and acrylic

Solution: So, what you can do is simply collect all the plastic (ones which are clean- not moist) and send it to K and K plastics. This plastic waste management use plastic to make a mixture of tar and plastic to make smooth and durable roads. A smooth drive on Miller's road would concur what I just mentioned!

2) The Cloth Clutter:

Problem: Maintaining a wardrobe can be painful, especially if you've kept clothes since the time you were a kid!

Solution: Sending clothes to the charity is a good idea. Not only would you be helping a poorer section of the society, you'd also be saving up on fabric being processed.

Get creative! You could perhaps redesign your shirts and pants, all you need is a little inspiration and a tailor who understands your concept. Fabric can be used to make cloth bags as well! (Think about it, you could be a fashion guru at your college campus! wink wink)

3) The Gadget Garbage:

Problem: Old CPUs, television and computer spare parts, emergency lamps, batteries contain heavy metals including mercury, zinc, lead, cadmium etc which when oxidised, effects the nervous system on acute exposure and on chronic exposure causes kidney and liver disorders.



Most wastes are either burnt or dumped in a landfill or at a waterbody. So finding high levels of heavy metals in the ground water tables are compounded at wastes dumps.

Solution: e-waste or electronic-waste can be given to a specialised group of people who involve in reusing the metals from e-wastes. The Indo-German-Swiss based group called e-waste have their headquaters in namma Bengaluru. A simple phone call and all your e-waste will be picked up from your residence or company. Browse through http://www.e-waste.in/ to get in touch with the people from your city.

4. The Paper Pile:

Problem: If you are a student this resource will be abundant in your room! Notebooks, newspapers, magazines, envelopes, old phone book are other sources of paper wastes.

Solution: Hunt down that paperwalla or recycle your own paper! the video in this url link can show you how. (www.metacafe.com/watch/820961/how_to_recycle_paper_homemade_letter_paper )

This is perhaps a good idea if you would like a personally made recycled-paper book. I can't vouch that the paper you make in the first batch can be used, but if you've got skill and patience, you'd eventually learn the trick of the trade.

Solution for impatient people: unused pages from old notebooks can be torn, collected and re-bound. :)

5. The Faulty Furniture:

Problem: As you would imagine most furniture like in the 1970's are made out of wood. The resource is not a renewable one, unless the industries take care to replenish the barren land with fresh tree saplings. How often is that? NOT that often!

If you are finding it difficult maintaining or finding space or you are tired of looking at your old furniture at your crib, there's only one practical solution to it.

Solution: EXCHANGE it for better furniture! Call an old furniture dealer or even your local carpenter! Not only are you being economical but environmentally friendly as well as the wood used could be broken down to make other furniture or some wood craft.

Picture Perfect

Recently Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), London searched for an Environmental Photographer of the Year 2008. This year, Abhijit Nandi’s winning picture "Happy in Her Own World", which also won the Quality of Life Category made a mark in the exhibition.

The 2008 Environmental Photographer of the Year exhibition includes images that are resonant, creative and beautiful.

Over 1,400 pictures were entered into the competition, examining issues such as poverty, climate change, human rights, leisure, culture, biodiversity and natural beauty. The categories were Changing Climates; Black & Veatch's World of Difference; Quality of Life; The Natural World; and a special Under 21 category which had no thematic boundaries.

The entries were judged on impact, creativity, composition, originality and technical abilities, by some of the most respected environmental photographers in the industry, including Gary Braasch, winner of the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, Anthony Epes and Ronnie Israel. Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency selected the final overall winner who became the Environmental Photographer of the Year.

Photographs were displayed from 17th September until 10th October 2008 at The Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, east London.

Source: http://www.ciwem.org/arts/photographer/

"The Armchair Environmentalist!"

I'm an environmentalist, but I like my comforts. Air conditioning I just can't do without.. because of global warming and pollution (like duh!) when I'm driving around in my car. I lecture people about alternate sources of energy and the depletion of fossil fuels, but my ride runs on petrol (unleaded of course!) and gives me 13km a litre!!! :)

But i do my best.. I switch off my engine when I'm in a jam, pick up friends if they're on my way...

Even at home, I AM the reason why the lights are CFLs and the refrigerator doesn't emit CFCs. But somethings are necessary: I MUST have a hot water bath, because well, I'd definitely become an icicle if I didn't!! But the other appliances are more eco-friendly (joy!!) the air conditioner has a power-saving mode, the fan must be on all the time (because i can't go to sleep without that soothing whirring noise), but at least it has a regulator, and it's not always on full speed!

Being an environmentalist is tough, it needs you to make a lot of compromises: my appliances are now on stand-by instead of being on when I'm not using them, and I turn them off when I'm going out! But don't ask me where the old appliances I throw away go when I'm through with them, because.. well, the new one works great!

The food and drinks I buy also bring me credit- all the water and juice bottles i buy are recyclable, and I throw all my litter into dustbins! No doubt the city corporation will do its bit from there, and it will no longer be my sin! :)

As far as possible, I buy organic produce and imported canned food (because their eco-standards are much higher than ours, obviously, and so the food will be too!) 

When I'm eating out at my favourite KFC or McDonald's, I prefer not to take a carry-away, and so eliminate the need to take with me the plastic wrapping they so faithfully wrap my food in! Also, dining there means that their delivery boys don't have to waste precious fossil fuel in coming home to deliver my meal. It doesn't really matter to me how far their ingredients had to travel before they reached my plate- they can import my meat and fillings, its cool with me. Besides, coke is healthier than fresh fruit juice because it doesn't put undue stress on our country's farmers, don't you think?! And so what if they're depleting the ground water resources of some unheard-of village to set up the plants, and so that they can run their high-tech machines and sterilize my bottles properly? 

And so what if their food is all genetically modified?? Those veges actually look like healthy ones.. they haven't got any bugs in them, and besides, G.M. is technology that uses nature to make stuff more useful for us. Nature twisted to our benefit- could I ask for more? After all, we are CO-EXISTING! :)

But sometimes it bothers me, because mutated plants override well developed ancient DNA characteristics, and eventually eliminate any kind of natural biodiversity that ever existed. At the end of the day, I am an environmentalist, so all of this troubles me. But not enough.

Ultimately, there are things that I would do, and then there are things I just can't afford to do, given my lavish lifestyle. I'm not going to start smelling ugly because my deodorant is harmful to the ozone layer. I'm not going to wash all my dirty plastics to reuse them, because it's a dreadful waste of time. I'm not going to give up my routine chai and cigarette when I'm on breaks from work- maybe I'm an addict.. but I can't help it. I'm not going to stop running my washing machine everyday. I'm not going to stop eating at Baskin Robins, McDonald's, or SubWay. And I'm definitely not going to stop eating Kellogg's or drinking coke, Pepsi, sprite and Red Bull--absolutely not!!

BUT I TELL YOU, I'M AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.. 

just a PATHETIC EXCUSE OF AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

an ARMCHAIR ENVIRONMENTALIST?!!!

Our Real Problem...

“Nature doesn’t have a design problem. People do.”
(Quote from William McDonough and Michael Braungart)

You don’t need to be studying environmental science to have heard about global warming, pollution, or the fuel crisis. The environment is everything around us and its protection is something we hear about everyday. I have grown up conscious of saving electricity by switching off the lights and fans when I leave a room, reducing the amount of water I use, and recycling paper and plastic. Towards the end of high school however I had begun to wonder whether following the principle of “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle” was enough.

Recognising that environmental hazards are a pressing concern, most of us have the knee-jerk reaction of trying to curtail, or suppress the activities that lead to environmental damage. This approach at best only reduces pollution. While we are slowing down environmental degradation, we aren’t stopping it or repairing the damage already done. We are simply postponing the day we’ll have to deal with the real problem.

Given that the majority of environmental damage is caused by industrial activities, I believe the real problem is that environmentalists and industrialists are always in conflict. Environmentalists believe that industrialisation and economic development will only further deteriorate our already fragile environment. On the other hand, curbing industrialisation in an attempt to protect the environment is detrimental to economic growth! GreenFuel’s Emissions-to-Biofuels™ process brilliantly contradicts this typical viewpoint.

GreenFuel is a privately held, venture-backed firm that was started in 2001. They use sophisticated technology to profitably recycle CO2 from factory emissions by using photosynthetic algae. The process is fairly simple:
Factory emissions rich in Greenhouse Gases such as Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxides, are fed through a “photo-bioreactor”. The process harnesses photosynthesis to grow algae in suspension, which captures the CO2 passed through the bioreactor. The algal cells obtain Nitrogen for nutrition from the Nitrous Oxides in the flue gas. In this way, huge amounts of CO2 and NOx are removed from exhaust before clean flue gases enter the atmosphere.

The bioreactor is designed to be retrofitted to flue stacks of fossil-fired power plants and other anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide with minimal impact to ongoing operations.

Using commercially available technology, the algae can then be economically converted to solid bio-mass fuel, methane or liquid transportation fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol.

It is the production of this biodiesel as by-product that makes this technology so brilliant. Biodiesel can itself be used as a source of energy. On burning, it produces more CO2, but only the amount it used in forming itself. This very CO2 fuels and restarts photosynthesis if passed through the bioreactor again. As a result, it is possible to get three or four times the energy for the same amount of CO2. The circular nature of this process makes it virtually self sufficient and highly efficient. Consequently, the waste of the power production process becomes valuable input for the production of biodiesel, all while removing a large majority of Greenhouse gases from in-place factory machinery!

The biofuel produced is also a source of extra profit. This allows a factory to recycle its CO2 emissions efficiently, and make money as that happens.

We live in a world that has become very environmentally sensitive. Being environmentally friendly in technology and policy is not only necessary, it has also become acknowledged as sensible to be so. This acknowledgement is manifested in proactive stances such as signing of the Kyoto Protocol internationally, and setting up of a functional ‘Ministry of Environment’ whose clearance is needed before any new industry is set up.

However, while we recognise the need for environmental protection, it is not motivation enough to make huge lifestyle changes. The fact that the GreenFuel process is financially viable in addition to being environmentally friendly, makes it that much more attractive.

I stumbled upon the patented GreenFuel process while working – with my 3 teammates – on our submission for The Global Challenge Award, 2007. Our project was to propose a possible solution to Global Warming and to develop a functional business plan to sell this solution in three countries. Developing a business plan involved in-depth market and industry analyses in each country, along with a study of political and financial feasibilities of the process, specific to each country.

My team’s project presented the GreenFuel technology and bioreactor as what we thought was today’s best solution to Global Warming. We thought that the way the technology worked was brilliant – so simply, efficiently, self-sufficiently and innovatively. We proposed a business plan that aimed at selling the bioreactor and its technology to thermal power plants in India, the United States, and China – three of the world’s biggest contributors to Greenhouse gas emissions.

Power plants typically have the required space for the bioreactor to be set up, and also are capable of putting in the large initial investment necessary to start the process. Financially, we found that investments would be made up in a matter of three years. This is why we thought it best to initially propose this technology to power plants before expanding to other sources of Greenhouse gas emission. Politically, all three countries are under Kyoto Protocol and are very committed to being environmentally friendly.

While developing the business plan, my teammates and I read a book called “Cradle to Cradle – Remaking the Way We Make Things” by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. This book suggests that the problem is not that our machinery pollutes too much…it is that it pollutes at all. The authors of the book say that the key to sustainable development is in innovation of design.

Human beings have always been about innovation. At the beginning, necessity was the mother of invention. We would invent and innovate to fulfil a need. Once a need is fulfilled, technology can be improved on, to make it more efficient, cheaper, or more sophisticated. What we need is to add ‘environmental concerns’ to the list of factors that call for innovation of design.

It is impossible and unrealistic to expect massive changes in lifestyle or short term sacrifices from individuals or industry for long term goals of environmental protection for the so-called greater good of the future. While it is difficult to change the opinions of each member of society one-by-one by talking about environmental protection, money is something everyone relates to. I strongly believe that the solution to environmental problems lies in creating new design; for technology as well as for management principles; that works with the system instead of against it; technology that can be simple, efficient and profitable while being environmentally friendly.

It has become my passion to spread awareness about this new management and production philosophy; by mentoring other students through The Global Challenge Award process, through my own projects and presentations, and through other activities I take part in.

To take just one example, I have recently joined a Plastic Waste Management Project through my college. A company in Bangalore, called K.K Plastics collects plastic waste and converts the waste to power. This powder is being used to lay roads in five cities in India. This process utilises wastes that would otherwise be clogging up our drains, contaminating our water and soil, or poisoning our wildlife. One cannot deny the huge number of people involved in the production and use of plastic. We would be endangering the livelihood of these people as well as the development of any industry that utilises plastic, by banning its use. K.K Plastics, on the other hand, is utilising this non-biodegradable pollutant to address the crying need for better roads in India. This approach to plastic waste management is so much better than expecting people to stop using plastic all together.

Here too, the brilliance of the process lies in its innovation.
I believe that more people need to promote this kind of philosophy; that redesigning technology and policies is the key to sustainable development and a cleaner tomorrow. Particularly so, students of Environmental Science, Engineering and Management. Environmental concerns needs to be a factor of production and design, not a deterrent to economic activity. We, like GreenFuel and K.K Plastics, need to find ways to work with environmentalists AND industrialists, perhaps taking our cue from nature. After all, like the authors of Cradle to Cradle say… “Nature doesn’t have a design problem. People do.”

The future is in our hands

The year is 2008. The millennium year went by nearly eight years ago. It was then, when prophecies about an apocalypse were forewarned by the likes of Notra Damus and the reverent Gurus from the Himalayas. Few religiously believed it would occur, while others laughed it off.

In the recent past, newspapers and TV news channels have been reporting life-threatening hurricanes and tsunamis, catastrophic wildfires, droughts and seismic repercussions all around the world. But man stood powerless, witnessing the mayhem around him.

What went wrong?

Before the time of Industrialisation, our predecessors were curious and questioned everything they saw and discovered. They ventured to every corner of the world in search of their answers. They looked up to the sky and tapped and every rock and pebble; Somewhere long they discovered fuel, minerals, metals, chemicals which could be altered and lots more. Eventually, we’ve “progressed” by using these products lavishly, making a luxurious possession, a basic necessity. The sources were, after all, more than just abundant!

What have we come to?

Come World War I and World War II, and man held the world in his palm. He decided what to do with the lives of people, animals and plants. He owned weapons, killed animals for hide, felled acres of trees to process furniture, paper and wood as fuel. Added to that list, he took the lives of his fellow beings; the Hiroshima-Nagasaki atomic bomb explosion for example, had annihilated most parts of that area and mutated those who were spared.

For several years, many countries rattled the Earth while waging wars. They left a colossal amount of damage to the economy and the environment.

Many countries managed to redeem their power in the economic arena, by enterprising industrial scaled projects and called themselves ‘developed countries’ while others ‘developing countries’ stood not far away. The increasing number of industries rose proportionately with product demand.

Industries laboriously worked in meeting the demand. Green lands turned grey as plant resources were uprooted, chimneys smoked thick soot and large amounts of untreated effluents were discharged into nearby water bodies. The quality of the environment deteriorated. Air became unbearable to breathe, the soil infertile and the water contaminated.

Birds and fish among all animals were chocked to death and were the first to be affected by pollutants. Animals lost their homes to anthropocentric activities and disappeared from the face of Earth. The world started to suffer a slow death.

What can we do?

Until recent times, the Earth beckoned for our help and we stayed oblivious to it. Most environmental hazards including hurricane, tsunami, temperature rise, ice melt down are due to direct or indirect cause of global warming.

Since we are responsible for the volatile change in the environment- specifically the ozone hole and climate change, it is our responsibility to set things right. It’s important to be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Awareness is half the cure. Al Gore, the former vice president of America used his power by spreading word about climate change through his award-winning documentary ‘The Inconvenient truth.’ His work has sent waves across the world, driving people to work towards a clean environment.

Keeping this perspective in mind, as a student of Environmental Science, I had the privilege to start a student-based organisation at college called ‘Green Shield.’ We work with NGOs and spread word about the environment among students.

In the past three months, we had a ‘No Plastic movement’ where we spoke to schools and few colleges. We invited a self support group called ‘the Belaku Trust’ that made recycled paper and cloth products, to sell at our college. As a part of our credit programme, we have tied up with a company called ‘KK plastics’. This company aims at using plastic to tar the roads. Not only are the roads durable, we seem to have found a solution to plastic wastes.

From college, we had visited the largest lake in Bangalore called the ‘Bellandur Lake’ and its’ village as a part of our community development programme. I had the opportunity to participate in a Lead analysis campaign, where we have tested positive for lead in the lake as well as in some ground water samples.

As a part of our climate change awareness program we assembled people to join the NGO, ‘Treesforfree’ in an afforestation movement called ‘Plantaton’.

Green Shield has moulded me in an adverse way and was a channel to prove my leadership qualities- responsibility, reliability and to motivate as well as bind my team, barring their differences, to ultimately harness their strongest skills. During tense situations, I had the capability to maintain my poise and socially, I was able to mingle with ease among the distinguished and the infamous of all ages alike.

As a student of environmental science, I am convinced that there is a critical need to not only to bring awareness to the public about the environmental issues, but to be able to bridge the gap between the long-thought rivals, the industrialists and the environmentalist. I believe that at a national and an international level, we can develop and grow economically as well as environmentally using clean technology, for a better tomorrow. As our Green Shield motto says, we should be “Guarding today, for tomorrow.”

Blue-less Earth

“Mom”, she called out from her room, “bring the mineral oil, quickly! I am getting late for school”. Tanya’s mother comes into the room with a small bottle and a piece of cloth. She then dabs the cloth with the oil and wipes her daughter’s hands, legs, face and baldhead.

According to our country’s former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, what has been described above is almost certainly going to be a daily ritual practiced by most people in their homes, say, fifty years from now. What else could one resort to, in the absence of our life sustaining resource…water?
This is how we kick started our first Environmental Science lecture in college - by coming to terms with the predictions made by one of our country’s best scientists. What it did, more than anything else, was to bring everything into perspective, show us exactly where we stand in time and how far we have come, in both a positive and negative light. It is indeed alarming and absurd to think of humankind reaching such dire circumstances where going bald and switching to mineral oil will be the only means of staying clean and hygienic. So, fifty years from now would mean that whatever Dr. Kalam claims might happen, and IS probably going to happen, if not in our lifetime, then definitely well within that of our children.

General statistics say that water covers 71% of the earth’s surface. To those who do not feel the need to study further into matters such as the subsequent division of that water, 71% seems like more than just sufficient. What they don’t realize is that of the 71%, up to 97% of the water is saline rendering it virtually unusable by man. The remaining is fresh water. Again, part of that water is locked in the ice caps, glaciers and hot springs, together constituting about 2.4%.

That leaves us, a population of almost 6.5 billion, dependent on just 0.6% of consumable water. This 0.6% is being used for varied purposes ranging from agriculture and hydroelectric power generation to cooking, drinking and bathing, by people all over the world.

In countries like the United Kingdom, the average person uses more than 50 litres of water a day flushing toilets. The highest average water use in the world is in the US, at 600 liters day. Statistics will also tell you that 85 per cent of urban India has access to safe, piped drinking water. However, statistics lie. Every person in cities today get by with about 71 litres per day, less than six flushes of an average toilet.
At this rate providing 145 litres of piped, treated water per day to the rest of urban India in the next three years will require an astronomical investment of about Rs 34,000 crore. Already states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are suffering due to shortage in the piped-water supply in many of its cities and towns.

It is indeed overwhelming to think of how pressed for resources we really are, and it is only going to get worse if we don’t wake up and take action soon.

The presence of water, like air, is always taken for granted, on the assumption that it will last forever. And Man is such that he is likely to do nothing about it until the very last moment, when he realizes that he is late for a meeting with an important client and has no water to wash the soap off his face. And once it is too late he will wake up, protest and demand answers as to why the government did not look into the matter sooner why nobody warned him. Each one begins to blame the person sitting next to him and starts trying to find excuses in defense. When all along, all he had to do was think wisely and use sensibly. With respect to our present day water crisis alone there are many choices that can be made to rectify our shortcomings.

Trapping rainwater and reusing it instead of letting it evaporate from our roads and terraces alone can solve some of our problems. Using buckets instead of hosepipes and showers on a day-to-day basis will also cut down the rate of consumption. This way more can be benefited. However, practically it will be of little use if only one person or one group of people puts these ideas into practice. This is where spreading of awareness comes into the picture.

The whole concept of sustenance needs to be taught or rather inculcated in the people right from childhood - ‘catch them young’ as they say. They need to learn to use and at the same time preserve for the generations after them. Many people take pride in knowing what the present situation on our planet is, in terms of how we are impacting the earth & nature. However just knowing isn’t enough, you need to take the next step and become accountable for what you do.

Dr Kalam had also said that if we continue to waste our water resources the way we presently are, by the year 2070, we would most likely be killing one another for a mere bottle of drinking water. Desalinating water will probably be one of the only jobs available. Children will start dying of mere desiccation of skin. All in all, life will become unimaginable.

Do we want that? Do we want our children to be born into a world where wanting to quench one’s thirst is like wishing that money grew on trees, something simply out of the question! No, we don’t. No one does. Hence, we must act before what we are left with is a lifeless, blue-less earth.