A soap that's clean

Commonly known as "Reetha", they make great cleaning agents, that do not harm the environment. Read more:

http://www.dailydump.org/what_are_soap_nuts

It appears easy enough; and seems to make laundry, a little like art!

Now or later?

I wonder which is costlier... The price of setting up clean and green sources of energy and practicing laws to ensure that pollution levels are low or the cost of not doing that, but restoring and trying to revive the species that are nearing extinction, threatening the balance of nature... I guess eventually, cost of the latter will shoot up as nature becomes more and more unbalanced, more efforts will be required to restore it...

Numbers!

Let this freak you out

http://www.worldometers.info/

Sapling

I found these tiny saplings growing on an old coconut husk mat in a forgotten, untouched corner. Later at night, I watched WallE. (coincidence?)

Life finds its way somehow...

Animals save the Planet

I just found a very cute site. Through animated animals, it talks about how we could do our bit. Small memorable shots so that we remember.

Watch it :)

http://fartingcow.com/

Reduce, Reuse Recycle???

http://lessplasticmorelife.org/

So what is the best option?

For the past couple of months, I've been carrying around a couple of polyethene bags in my backpack and I actually use them instead of taking a new one from shopkeepers. I feel good about this little change, although it also makes me more aware of the fact that every single polyethene bag I use is going to end up in a cow's stomach or clogging some water source or burning and spreading toxic fumes... So I'm going to stitch a few cloth bags for myself :)

It's like a chain reaction. Actions increase awareness leading to more actions. Not bad!

P.S. Thanks tripper for the link :)

Diary entry after watching “Home”

And as my thoughts drift, I asked myself this question, who are we fighting climate change for?

The reason why We have to do something, no matter whose fault it is, is that our previous generations screwed up knowing that the consequences won’t be seen in their lifetime. But with our generation, the changes are happening RIGHT NOW. We have to fight to have a secure future in our own lifetimes.

The problem is not just about the temperature going up or the air becoming a little more smoky. Rising sea levels will bring in millions of climate change refugees to higher altitudes. Resources like food and water will be scarce and only those with a lot of money and power will have easy access to those. There will be violence, wars for these basic things everywhere. And all this will happen within ten years, in our own lifetimes.

What we don’t see right now is that climate change is going to bring about huge social and economic problems, not just weird weather!

I’ve been trying to make changes in my life, but the truth is, I haven’t been trying hard enough. But on the other hand, watching documentaries and reading about these issues, being exposed to so much information in the past 3 years in NID has made me even more environmentally conscious. So I guess awareness can change people, little by little.

“It’s too late to be pessimistic”

The point is that too much needs to be done in too little time. Apart from making changes in our own lifestyles, we have to force out governments to become more environmentally conscious; to switch to clean sources of energy, to invest in sustainable development. We really have to unite and force our governments, because individually, we cannot install windmills in the seas or gigantic solar panels in the deserts, or stop creating plastic junk. But individually also, we have to get a little uncomfortable and change ourselves. Resolve to buy less, buy local (it takes a lot of energy to import and transport goods through air / sea), walk / cycle / use public transport instead of car / plane (planes have enormous amounts of emissions), eat less meat (meat is highly inefficient as a lot of farmland and crop is used to feed the animal through its lifetime before it becomes one meal), reuse plastic, reuse scrap, throw away less, use less.. and be more aware and sensitive towards our future.

Composter

Till the time we are waiting for our governments to change policies and enforce laws for segregation of waste at source, let's just take a small step and start something ourselves.

We bought a composter last year and my experience with it has been great. It takes care of all the kitchen waste like vegetable peels, left overs and even paper. So the only waste you are left with is plastic, metal etc. What happens to all that is another issue, but the good thing about this is that you get manure for your plants. And if you don't have any plants at home, just put the manure on the roadside... we could all do with some shade of nice big trees!

This is where we bought it from:

http://www.dailydump.org/

Inequality

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1560557294503313321&ei=WPUNSd2KKZbC2gKHzYzyCw&q=P+sainath

"Rural reporter and photojournalist, P. Sainath, talks about the impact of globalization on the rural populations of India. This is a special edition of this program, including the entire unedited lecture and question and answer session. This program includes nearly an hour of additional material not seen in the original broadcast program!"

Neelam and I watched it last night and I think it really tends to push you in the right direction... If you think 2 hours is a little too much, watch it in bits. Trust me, you won't regret it!

Hunger

This post does not have any direct relation to saving the environment but I feel it might sensitize us to it.
One evening, about a month or so back, a couple of friends and I were having a snack at Municipal market. Seeing us, a destitute old lady walked up to us with a hopeful look on her face. She probably expected money, but it being winter, I asked her if she would like to eat something and she nodded a yes. So I went up to this ragda patty seller for another plate and gave it to her. What happened next is something I will not soon forget.
She had this look of intense gratitude on her face and it hit me. Not the gratitude itself, but the fact that she should have to be grateful at all.
A meal - one that cost me Rs.15 that I, that most of us, buy without a second thought, was probably the first square meal of the day this lady had had. And she was grateful for it. Why should she have to be at all? Wasnt everyone entitled to atleast that much? I couldn't look her in the eye and left as soon as possible.
I realised that one meal is something that all of us can give. To anyone who needs it. It doesn't cost us much.
And probably means a lot more to the person who receives it.

Home

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

HOME: A film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

"We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film. HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet."

Exercise those wrist muscles

Simple maths:

A dripping tap can waste upto 1 litre of water every hour, which is 24 litres a day, which adds upto 8760 litres of water a year.

We drink around 2 litres of water a day.

Let’s start with something very simple. Just exercise your grip a little more and make sure the tap is COMPLETELY off when you turn it off. It really does not take much effort. If you spot a dripping tap, just think of how much water is being wasted, the water that could quench the thirst of 12 people in a day. Once you turn off that tap, trust me, you’ll get that good feeling you get when you help somebody. After all, you HAVE helped saving someone’s share of drinkable water.

Getting Started

The problem is HUGE. But it is not something that cannot be solved.

Maybe we just need to be reminded constantly about what’s happening to the earth. We are trying to spread awareness that there IS something wrong that needs to be taken care of.

That’s why we decided to start this blog…. a place to share our commitment and ideas about what we can do to reverse climate change. Anything; small or big, absolutely anything in the right direction will help in some way.

A commitment to change our habits and constantly have it in mind that everything we do affects things around us and eventually, our planet; our home.

I’m using this blog also as a reminder to myself, that there so many things that can be done to help save the planet. My own small or big efforts can make a difference.

To remind myself that whatever I do, can make a difference.