Coastal Clean Up in Singapore and Beyond!

  

Trash bags from the event! 

On September 8, students from our school, SAS, as well as from the National University of Singapore teamed up to help save some coastal land. It was an interesting (if not absolutely enlightening) experience. I had no idea what we were in for. Honestly, I presumed that we would be cleaning up trash on a nice sandy beach, doing our work slowly and appreciating the beauty around us. Instead, we ended up at a wooded mangrove full of mosquitos, crabs, and trash. Lots and lots of trash, ranging from plastic bags (these were the most!) to clothing, oil barrels. Name one item and we guarantee it was under some branches, wrapped around some gnarled roots, and would eventually suffocate a poor, defenseless animal in the sea.

It was heartbreaking to see how much trash flooded the mangroves. At first, the task seemed impossible. In teams of three to four, we kept record of the items we threw into our trash bags and dug up bag after bag after bag, pulled fishing nets from the roots, and cut oil barrels free from the hardened mud.

With the aid of 150 people, we picked up a total of 2.3 tons of trash, within 4 hours. I thought that was an incredible feat. We had succeeded in making the ocean a cleaner, safer place, for that day. The very next day new debris would land on the coast, so the job is never complete. 

For pictures of the event see http://www.flickr.com/photos/86865218@N07/

An infographic by the Ocean Conservancy:
The Marine Life threatened by Coastal Debris

An event organized by the Ocean Conservancy, several countries worldwide participated. A week later, on September 16, 2012, California performed a similar coastal cleanup! With volunteers from over 850 locations, they managed to pick up over 290 tons of trash. Many volunteers claim to have found Japanese products that got washed away during the 2011 tsunami.

Just imagine, if every single country in the world had actively participated in the International Coastal Cleanup. I really do wish one day the world can come together to perform such an important task. Just imagine the number of lives we’re saving, doing this one simple act. It doesn’t take much.

Keep thinking and acting green! 

Visit http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/2012-data-release.html for intriguing infographics on the items collected worldwide. 

Green in Singapore!

I’ve recently relocated to Singapore. Moving takes so much time, not to mention resources. 

Singapore’s a very environmentally friendly country with so many initiatives. In addition to its plentiful greenery, the country’s public transport system has to be one of the best in the world. Over the next few blog posts, I’ll be discovering and exploring Singapore’s environmental friendliness!

If you had asked me if it was possible to have a 50 dollar iPhone compatible speaker made of bamboo a few years ago, I would have shaken my head a definite no. How about one that requires absolutely no power?

Eco friendly and music friendly, the iBam was sold out online in a few weeks, proving that people are interested in such inventions. After all, who doesn’t want to reduce their carbon footprint?

The creators of the iBam, Kampung Innovators, run the 100 square meter “Sustainable Living Lab,” here in Singapore. They reuse old materials to create projects and welcome everyone to come join their fun projects on the weekends. The Kampung Innovators also provide courses and amusing activities like “makerthons” that promote green living for Singapore youth as well as corporations. Personally I think it’s brilliant! What better way to interest the general public into creating eco-friendly products?  Take a look at their website: http://www.sl2square.org. Perhaps I’ll visit the lab one of these days and make an amazing invention. A relatively inexpensive green product that appeals to everyone: a dream come true!

Speaking of innovation, the Singapore Mini Maker Faire will be held from August 4 to 5^th this year at Singapore’s Science Center. Several workshops conducted at the Faire aim to promote a DIY (do-it-yourself) culture in Singapore. Just a thought: in conjunction with environmental friendly materials and the concept of recycling, reusing, and reducing, DIY is a great way to get people involved in eco-friendly initiatives. So many people are at a loss in terms of how they can help the earth. With DIY eco-friendly projects (there are so many of them!), those lost in today’s rapid paced modern society may be able to relax and find a way to give back to the earth. Here’s an interesting story involving DIY and the environment: Anna Garforth from the UK helps disaffected youth get on the green track with her Mossenger; she creates graffiti with moss! It looks beautiful and is certainly less harmful than the usual graffiti paint! Against a pale wall in the middle of a busy city, it’s bound to catch the attention of a passerby. There’s an idea for you! Here’s the recipe for the moss graffiti: http://www.instructables.com/id/Moss-Graffiti/. Enjoy!

If you’re in Singapore next weekend and happen to be a fan of eco-friendly and DIY products, dig around at the Mini Maker Faire and see what you can find! For DIY green projects in general, visit http://planetgreen.discovery.com/feature/green-diy-projects/.

Keep thinking green!

Links:

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/moss-grass-graffiti, http://makerfairesingapore.com/, http://www.sl2square.org.

Happy World Environment Day!

June 5, 2012.

 It has been 40 years since the United Nations General Assembly created “World Environment Day,” a day for people all over the world to come together to get creative and do something for the Earth.

Each year, the UNEP – United Nations Environment Program – suggests a theme for countries to work on and hosts a conference at one country to discuss this issue. Previous topics have ranged from “Forests: Nature at Your Service” in 2011 to “Time to Act” in 2000. This year’s theme is one that reflects on the world’s attempt to bounce back from the global recession that has affected us all badly: “Green Economy: Does it include you?”

The World Environment Day theme for 2012 not only focuses on how to make countries’ economies more eco-friendly, but also covers the idea of economies improving “human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities,” according to the official website for the 2012 World Environment Day. The theme fits this year’s United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from June 20^th to 22^nd, named “Rio +20” which will cover issues on Sustainable Development. The conference is an opportunity to “rethink economic growth advance social equity and ensure environmental protection,” 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.

Worldwide, schools, NGOs, and individuals are setting up activities for their community to celebrate World Environment Day. This is being done all over the world – from the US and Canada all the way to India, China, and Australia. Take a look at the projects being done at http://www.unep.org/wed/aroundtheworld/activitymap/. Iyou are doing something special this World Environment Day, register your activity and let the world know you’re making a difference!

World Environment Day is one time when we can make a difference on a global scale. Let’s keep this green international community growing!

Visit these websites for more interesting information on World Environment Day: 

http://www.unep.org/wed/theme/  

http://www.unep.org/wed/greeneconomy/ 

 http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/about.html

The Sparrow Award 2012

I didn’t think that there was so much green space in the busy, financial concrete jungle of Mumbai. The venue of the Sparrow Awards was so refreshing in Dharavi. Maharastra Nature Park sprawls over 37 acres; it’s hard to believe that it was once a dump yard. It’s the home of 10,000 plus species of trees and a haven for wild animals and migratory birds. The constant, cheerful chirping of the birds is evidence of the green Shangri-La that pops out of the city.

I’ve seen sparrows on and off in the backyard but a few years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that my tiny, fluttering friends would be disappearing in front of my eyes. Most of us today know the excitement of a little kid watching a sparrow in the garden. It’s a horrid thought that future generations may not experience this pleasure. That’s where Mr. Mohammed Dilawar and the Nature Forever Society, based in Mumbai, are making a difference in all our lives. Nature Forever Society strives to help the sparrows. They make nest boxes for sparrows to live in – the same type that we’ve installed in school – and recently launched the “The Common Bird Monitoring” program. Hopefully this program will not only help sparrows get back into our homes, but also other birds. I’m sure that Salim Ali, the birdman of India, would be so proud to see India’s ornithology studies come this far.

Now coming to the awardees, including myself, of the 2012 Sparrow Award: http://natureforever.org/result3.html

To me, a vulture has always been a creature that sits in zoos, watching us humans speculatively. This is because they are listed as “Critically Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), on the brink of extinction in the wild and if something is not done about it soon, I’ll have no hope of looking up at the sky and spotting a vulture. Thanks to Mr. Dilsher Kahn, a spark of hope has been lit. His work with the vultures of Madya Pradesh is a remarkable initiative, aiming to make their diets diclofenac free and conduct long term monitoring thereafter.

How many times have we spotted a tree and just walked by? The Green Umbrella Team from Mumbai actually endeavors to save fichus trees growing in construction zones and old buildings. It would be nice if the team spread their wings to other cities and save a few more branches.

Finally, the Shri Mahatma Gandhi Ashramsala in Gujarat’s program of having each student grow up with a “pet” tree is such a good idea. In fact, I think that implementing this sort of a program in my school in Bangalore – Canadian International School – would make a real difference in our garden city.

It’s comforting to know that there are ordinary people out there, like me, that work hard to make a difference in the environment. Everyone has their own day jobs, their hands full with normal, daily life, yet they still make an effort to create some time solely to help the environment.

I’d really love to meet the Nature Forever Society team again and perhaps even work with them in the future!

Environmental Initiatives Up Close: The World Challenge 2011

Everyone knows that saving the planet is a big project, but hats off to the people that actually make a difference, even if it’s small contribution! Under the World Challenge initiative from the UK, countries from every corner of the globe make it a point to try and make a difference in their environment. The projects are one of a kind!

For 2011, there were 12 finalists; each mission was unique in its own way – from the USA’s ‘Vertigo Farming’, to Uganda’s ‘Burning Concern’, all the participating countries tried their best to make a considerable difference to help the world.The runners up, Chile and India, and the winner of the year, Mongolia, were quite special!

Tech Crunch

E-waste is a problem for the environment as well as human wellbeing: soil and water is polluted with chemicals like lead and mercury, from the millions of gadgets thrown away every year. “Tech Crunch,” based in Chile, is a project that focuses on separating and retrieving materials such as copper from the e-waste, under a company called Recycla, the first (and only!) electronic waste initiative in Latin America. They’ve already recycled more than 6000 tons of waste and are aiming for more, with the help of several who have been “socially marginalized” – those that are left on the ‘fringes’ of society. Recycla seems to be a well-rounded company – helping the environment and the human community!

Trash to Gas

The Indian organization Hand in Hand is doing something equally remarkable – turning food waste into gas, through a project called “Trash to Gas”. In the historic South Indian town of Mahabalipuram, many hotels and restaurants produce up to 3 tons of organic waste per day and what used to end up in landfills, is now being collected by local people, and converted into methane. This gas powers a lot of the town, keeps it clean, and therefore, reduces the chances of diseases spreading. It’s a win-win situation! 


Interestingly enough, the Green Idea at Canadian International School, the environmental club that I run,  is doing something very similar. We’re using food waste from the cafeteria to produce biogas, which will in turn, be used for cooking. The unit finally got set up, and hopefully soon, we’ll be on the way to reducing the cafeteria’s carbon emissions!

Changing Spots

The winner of the 2011 World Challenge was Mongolia’s “Changing Spots”, a task taken up by Snow Leopard Enterprises, makes an attempt to better the lives of the country’s rural sheep herders, as well as increase the numbers of the endangered snow leopard in the area. The wild cats have long been enemies of the nomadic herdsmen, often killing the livestock. As a result, the communities are driven to poach the leopards for survival. The alternative offered to families allows them to make an extra $600 to $700 per year, by selling handicraft products made of wool to an international market. In return, they promise not to kill the snow leopards.  As of now, 28 villages and 350 households have caught on to the idea and it seems to be working – the numbers of the cat have increased. 


Surprisingly, something similar has been going on at school; we’ve been busy trying to ‘adopt’ an endangered animal through the World Wildlife Fund’s program. A quick lunchtime survey proved that the snow leopard was the most popular and the school has successfully pledged to ‘adopt’ one. Whether an intriguing coincidence, or meant to be, this is a sure sign that the snow leopards need help!

There are several more projects that you can see for yourself at www.theworldchallenge.co.uk! It’s amazing to see the number of initiatives that have sprung up to assist the environment; perhaps you can help in your country, in your own way! 

WWF Animal, Sparrow Boxes, and more!

The past few years, sparrows have been dying because they don't have nesting places. These sparrow boxes are designed to help!

In 2008, when I first moved to Bangalore, I was surprised to find that not even the most basic recycling program existed at school. I noted down things in my mind; areas of improvement around the school where I, a single student of 7^th grade, could make the difference. I turned off running faucets in the bathrooms, took only one tissue to dry my hands (and believe me, the piles of tissues that used to end up on the floors of the bathrooms wasn’t funny), and turned off the lights and fans in empty classrooms.

So in 2010, with a friend, I mustered up the courage to create a green club – “The Green Idea”. We started off slowly, creating monthly newsletters focusing on a particular environmental issue such as waste management, water shortages and renewable energy. In 10^th grade, we started off with a bang! We hosted the first ever High School Green Conference in all of Bangalore. It was a great success! Schools all over Bangalore came to our school to discuss environmental issues and solutions that students themselves could contribute to.

Next on our list was one of the most basic tasks: recycling. Slowly, cardboard boxes cropped up around school and the first batch of boxes was filled to the brim! It was exciting to see “The Green Idea” make some money, selling the recycled paper!

The school’s biogas unit arrived soon after; it’s still one of the very first portable ones in all of India, so glitches are taking a while to get sorted out. Pictures are on their way! The gas generated from the food waste will be pumped to the cafeteria to cook, saving money, and helping the planet. Two in one – score!  

Just before winter break started, before and after the Christmas performance, we had a little snack fundraiser – goodies from America (you don’t get them cheap here, and the demand is crazy). I think it was brilliant; we decided within 24 hours that the sale was going to happen and we managed to pull it off. Soon after winter break, the school will vote on their first choice of WWF animal and the wooden Sparrow Boxes will be placed all around school. 

And the adventure continues. It’s getting more and more exciting!

Stay tuned!

Visit http://www.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/Default.aspx for more information of adopting a WWF animal!

Dead Zone Lakes Coming Back to Life

In June 1969, as Ohio’s Cuyahoga River was on its way to Lake Erie, it caught on fire because of the heavily polluted water. And since the 1970s, the public has started to make an effort to reduce the water pollution levels, leading to the Great Lakes Water Quality Act and Clean Water Act. Since then, levels of pollutants in the lake, such as phosphorous, have reduced by two-thirds.

But the phosphorous levels are back up, claims a Great Lakes expert. The increase in phosphorous levels might be due to storms and heavy rains, which carry the phosphorous into the lake through run-off. The chemical is found in many commercial detergents, water treatments, and fertilizers.

The lake’s waters are warm, creating the optimum conditions for algae, which use the phosphorous ions for growth and development, in the Great Lakes. The algae use up oxygen in the water, leaving little for the fish population. The resulting anaerobic condition of the lake is favorable for avian botulism: “a paralytic disease caused by indigestion of a toxin,” which is produced by bacteria, according to the NWHC (National Wildlife Health Center). The avian botulism and other bacteria can be dangerous to animals and humans. The algae cannot be removed by boiling and large areas of the Great Lake have been considered “dead zones”, as nothing can live with a lack of light or without a supply of oxygen.

              Climate change is causing extreme weather patterns and 2011 is considered to have been a year that had all the right conditions for algae blooms, by Jeff Reutter, the director of the Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory at Ohio State University. The early spring storms filled the lake with lots of phosphorous. The storms were followed by a long drought, resulting in less run off, draining less pollution from the water.

              Another problem that helps the algae blooms: shorter, warmer winters. Ice on the lake now forms later in the winter, rather than in the fall, and thaws earlier, due to the warming climate and falling water levels. Usually, the cold atmosphere would kill most algae and bacteria, but in the warmer winters, the algae bloom under the ice.

              There’s only one direct solution that will help solve the problem; the usage of phosphorous needs to be reduced.
              So whether you live around the Great Lakes or not, try and identify products that have phosphorous and other similar chemicals which promote algae blooms. Don’t use them. Remember - you have the simple power of helping prevent water pollution in any water body, all over the world.

Sources: http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/pollution/water/water1.html, http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_botulism/, http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/weather-changes-mean-more-dead-zones-for-lake-erie