Go Green and sustain it...

In 2008, I had been to the International Round square Conference, in Glenlyon Norfolk School, in British Columbia. Just to tune you guys a bit, Round square or RS in short, popular form, is a global youth congregation, of 80 schools all over the world, which come together to learn and be more in tune with each other’s cultures and in general be more receptive, perceptive and sensitive to some of the crucial global issues like Global Warming, Sustainable Development, War and Violence, Child Abuse and so on. All this is achieved by Exchanges, work projects, conferences, meets, and community service fellowships. It is based solely on the ideals and vision of Mr Kurt Hahn, who thought that education should capture a child’s all round development and make him or her more sensitive to issues around him, to mobilise people to work for all causes. This was his idea of personal growth and development.

Now, on these lines, the theme for the 2008 conference was ‘SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT’.

As we know sustainability is about resilience and bringing about a way of living so that the resources and the environment can be utilised in such a regulated manner that it sustains the present and the future. We saw a whole new spectre of how this concept can be utilised in every way. Car-pooling is a very popular culture in the States and Canada, where the kids are all taken to school in a communal Mini Van. This saves time, labour and fuel. Even Environment Day on 5^th May is celebrated here on a large scale, where people really GO GREEN, like literally, they wear green clothes, restaurants popularise green food like veggies are hard on in demand. In fact the very conference was conducted in a very sustainable manner, where the very food that was thrown away after each day was recycled and made to provide electricity to the store rooms of the school!!!

There are so many issues related to the environment which we here in India, really don’t bother about. People were also more sensitive towards wildlife, especially the kids from South Africa. We pooled in our ideas about little things like shower breaking, where the shower is stopped when you lather yourself, instead of the water running away into waste. In the adventure trip, we feasted on Pita sandwiches and in fact recycled the waste materials, to make the fuel for the dinner and the bonfire. No wood wastage!! I learnt that sustainability also comes with appreciating nature and learning to have fun with water sports and hiking. We went for nature walks and treks. I had my first canoeing experience right here!

Here are some issues which would give you a whole new insight into what wonders can being ‘sustainable’ actually do!

Here are the 10 best ECO INNOVATIONS of 2010-

1. Carbon Absorbent Foam is the winner of the 2010 Earth Awards. This foam can grab carbon out of the air and lock it away as a sugar. It is ideally suited to be placed in smokestacks to remove carbon before it is emitted into the atmosphere.

2. e-coupled Wireless Tesla Charger is a new system capable of charging Tesla’s electric vehicles without wires or plugs. This system will recharge Tesla’s electric vehicles via an induction pad at distances up to 4″.

3. nPower PEG is a kinetic energy charger. It is the world’s first handheld charger that captures and stores an individual’s kinetic energy. This tiny power charger captures kinetic energy from daily activities and transforms it into electricity that can power mobile gadgets.

4. Solar Charger that Runs Devices Directly. Developed by Suntactics, this new portable solar charger is powerful enough to charge your phone and other mobile gadgets using nothing but solar energy.

5. IDAPT Universal Gadget Charger is made from recycled materials and is able to power almost all wireless devices.

6. Solar Power Parking Meters: In LA, new solar-powered, wireless-connected, single-space parking meters take coins or cards.

7. Biodegradable Motor Oil, although it was developed a few years ago by Green Earth Technologies, in 2010 they began running their first TV ads. The biodegradable motor oil is made out of a mixture of beef tallow and plant ingredients.

- Published By Richard Matthews (Green Market - Source).

Being sustainable and ‘green’ as they put it has become a trend now, but more than commercialising the issue, work needs to be done, at even a grass root level. In our college the Wildlife Society, every year maintains this day when lights are switched off for an hour all over the college. It saves immense energy and electricity. We as the younger generations, it’s great that we are socially, economically and culturally more in tuned and in harmony, on the global front, or so we try. We should try investing our efforts a bit on the environment side as well. It might be a tad insipid at times but we shouldn’t forget that it is the foundation for all the other systems to work upon.

I know, this post was kind of short and random, but the point was to familiarise and popularise the concept of sustainability.

PS: The image above is the logo of the 2008 conference, where the world and its fate, made of various cultures, countries and people (represented by the participating schools' logos), are in the hands of Man.

The video below, is about the best pratices and designs regarding the concept.