United Nations Award

Chennai Youth gets UN Award for work on environmental sustainability

Swahilya/ENS
SALEEM Khan drew bemused looks from fishermen whenever he took walks through the slush in the mangroves at Ururkuppam near Besant Nagar beach, scooping up soil. There was a method to his muddiness. The United Nations has acknowledged it.
Khan, who completed M.Sc. in Biotechnology from New College in April 2007, has received the Outstanding Youth Campaign Award from the fifth Annual Youth Assembly of the UN for his campaign on preserving and planting mangroves at Urur kuppam. The award recognises 24year-old Khan’s contribution to one of the Millenniu m Development Goals of the UN.
“This soul should work only for world peace” is the prayer Khan lives by. The award is an answer to the prayer, he says.
He was chosen for the award signed by Secretary General Dr Elaine Valdor and the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation Executive Director, Patrick Sciarratta from among 70 contestants worldwide.
This is the first Youth Campaign Award and the lone award for India is Khan’s. However, his visa to the United States was not approved and he could not make it to the awards function in Manhattan on August 12. His brother, in New Jersey , received the award and delivered the acceptance speech on his behalf.
Khan said the UN had seven thematic goals for the millennium and one was to ensure environmental sustainability.
His study on the role of mangroves, particularly in the context of the tsunami came under environmental sustainability. He focussed on a highly endangered species of mangroves known as Avicinnia Marina.
Khan’s research involved taking soil samples to study the microbiology aspect at the Ururk uppam.
His vision was to take his biotechnology knowledge to the people and his desire was to unite his work with the UN bods. He came across the announcemnet of the submissions for the awards and participated.
Khan thanks his parents, teachers for his success. He doesn’t forget to make a special mention of fisherman Karuna karan of Ururkuppam, without whose help he couldn’t have navigated through the slush in the mangroves.
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Segregation

Rooting out the problem at source

Segregation of wastes at source is my pet solution to many of the problems we face with the garbage and environment today. It is possible to do it at home. With just a thought and a little practice, it can become a wonderful habit which not just keeps the environment clean, but our minds free too. By disposing our wastes - plastic, paper, glass, metal and degradables together with hazardous - we not only pollute the environment but are being the cause for dumping the earth with loads of waste which it can never eat up and digest, not spit out. It just remains there stinking, clogging the surface, clogging our waterways - and if we really love our children, we would function differently now.

So it is possible for me at home. Thankfully, in India there is a waste recycle market that buys our wastes gladly - newspapers can be stacked together and sold. All the bits of waste paper can be kept aside to be just given gratis to the old paper mart along with the old newspapers for which we get money by weight. Plastics - every bit of them, even the tiny corners that are cut from a milk satchet, can be cleaned and put back in a separate bin. This, along with the PET or any plastic bits and pieces are being taken for weight by the same newspaper guy. (I have taken a picture of my month-long segregated wastes, for which I got Rs. 50 from the cheerful young, old newspaper guy, Pandian. He is ready to take any old recyclable for money - paper, plastic, cloth, metal, toys, dolls...this and that. Each time he visits my home, I feel a great burden removed off my shoulders. And since he pays money to get them, I am sure that all of it is going to the recycle bin. He told me our old newspapers go to China!

All the bio-degradable wastes, all the used tea leaves - I flush it out again through the strainer and put it in a bag, vegetable and fruit peels, food wastes - all collected separately. They go directly to the earth, in a pit. I will soon begin composting too and use it for the trees which I may plant soon. - Swahilya Shambhavi

Pic: Pandian taking away my plastics and newspaper collections of a month.

Important info from the 3rd Meeting of Green Chennai Forum on 2nd August

The meeting started with the sharing of the experience and congratulating Rajiv for arranging such a great Eco walk. The discussion then went on to the first point of agenda, which was very lively and interactive
1) DISCUSSION ON ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF GREEN CHENNAI FORUM

Registered office address
Architect Rajiv suggested that his office can be the registered address as it is a permanent office on his own name.
Structure of the Forum:
It was decided to go with registering this forum as society rather than trust.
· It was decided to have a governing body which has full authority in decision making as well as be responsible for the decisions taken, for the betterment of the forum as well as the society
· Governing Body members will be elected members comprising of Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasure and three committee members. The term for the governing body will be for 1 year.
· The Governing body will also have honorary members from the various walks of life who have achieved certain status in their chosen field or profession. The donors also can be invited to be honorary member in the governing body.
· The governing body will also have an advisory board whose members will be by invitations only which will be decided by the governing body based on certain criteria.

2) REVIEW OF EARLIER INITIATIVES
Green Chennai/Citizen Index – Mr. Ved and Mr. Anupam – New Volunteer for this activity.
3) Upcoming Programs:

Star Gazing: A very interesting program where the team will be lead by one expert Mr. Ganesh, on the stars in the night sky and many constellations. The evening will also be a very enjoyable for the children as it will be an exploration of the sky just like the one we did with trees. We will be going over to the outskirts of the city to get a better view free of smog and pollution (preferably a Farm house which Architect Shyam is trying to organise). We will also organise to have dinner and music in the farm house so that the kids have some great time. Owner Architect Rajiv - Date: 23rd Aug 2008 or 9th September 2008
Tree Plantation: We have decided to plant 5000 trees as most of the members are very enthusiastic about it. Specially with the members like Mr. Sudeep who have created world record in planting maximum numbers of trees in 24 hours, it was bound to happen fast. We plan to have the plantation done on 31st August or 14th September, 2008 depending on the availability of land and saplings. Corporates like ABN Amro Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC Bank have shown lot of interest in sponsoring the event – Owner Mr. Sudeep Jain IAS

Look forward to meeting you all once again on 19th August at Haworth Office.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We are obviously not the first to be "concerned". There have been lots before us all doing their bit. Obviously they are making a difference but is it enough? How are we going to make a difference and how should we not end up being just another one organisation. The express article labelled us well....an adda. Thats how we start but for us to be meaningful methinks we need to make the adda really really huge.
Obviously awareness is the only way this will work. So besides doing the right things ourselves we should get as many around us doing likewise. All our activities should not end up only becoming 'enjoyable outings" where we 'have a great time'. We need more people joining up and realising what the exercise is all about. Would like to call it appreciation first and protection later.
We should strive not to be "yet another". How can we be different...... Hmmmm. Ideas anybody????

An Article about the Eco Walk in one of the prominent News Paper - Indian Express

The article mentions this blog and what we are all doing.... Thanks Swahilya for the same.

Eco Walk - What a pleasure!!!

It was a great morning and right on time, Ms Divya Facilitator from Nizhal walked in with necessary papers for Theosophical Society. Mr. Arun from "The School" of TFI, who is the resource person of Nizhal arrived to guide the gathering in the Eco Walk.

The attendees for the Eco Walk were : Mr. Anthony and Family (ABN Amro Bank), Mr. Venkataraman (Equis - PMC), Mr. Sudeep Jain IAS and family (He holds the Guinness Book of world record for planting maximum number of trees in 24 hours - 254000 in Nagapattinam Tamil Nadu), Architect Ms Sujatha Shankar (Sujatha Shankar & Assoc), Architect Shyam (Uma Shankar & Assoc), Architect Jay Prakash Varde and Family, Mr. Arul (CBRE - PMC), Mr. Ved Mishra (SCB), Ms Jha & Family (Tamil Nadu Police), Ms Akila (Social Worker), Ms. Swahilya & Family (Journalist), Architect Rajiv with Kids (Architects Ritu&Rajiv) and Myself with Krishnan, Anish and Sathish. We started the walk at exactly 8 AM and the whole walk ended at 9.30AM although every one still wanted to have more of the information sharing with the Guide Mr. Arun.

Trees seen...
Seesham - dalbergia sishoo
Laburnum species ( with stick like pods)- kids collector item
Laegestromia (with purple/white flowers)
Bauhenia
Fern tree fillicum decipiens
Nagalingam tree -- the kids collected the canon balls
Tectonia grandis......the teak
Albezia lebbek (shaving brush tree!)
Rain tree
Tree of life or paradise ... a tree whose wood will sink
Sterculia....a favorite with spiders

Gulmohar... who does not know but delonix regia
A tree with a most interesting leaf system
Mimusops elengi - bakul locally
The copper pod tree - peltophorum
Indian cork tree - millingtonia hortensis

A couple of varieties of jamun - syzygium cumini
Cordia trees
A ficus which had all but engulfed a bakul in a deadly embrace
in the middle of it all, observed a tree pie, cookle, a kingfisher...and the call of a shikara and lots of fun.

The following is the story of the walk in pictures... I am sure that you will all enjoy.

The Rain Tree... typically you see the under growth in all the rain tree forests....The False Rudraksha....
Looking for the Tree Pie

Kids collecting the pods...
The Green canopy...

The seven spot cockroach and the BumChum below for the company....

The inviting gateway to the forest in the Theosophical Society...

The Kids collecting Canon Balls of the Nagalingam Tree
Passing by the theosophical society's admin block...

We came across a very interesting tree, where the leaves start formation from bulb like flower / fruit... Mr. Arun holding that bulb, which most of insisted that its a flower or a fruit of the tree..

This is how it looks initially....

And in few days it turns into something like this where it looks like the strands of cotton twisted together...
Then it unfurls into being this... Light green fresh leaves...Finally a full fledge leaves...
Another one of the interesting tree from Australia... It only has leaves once in its life time at the very beginning of its life... This tree what you see is not having any leaves but the modified stem that looks like leaves as you see in this picture. There are no leaves in this tree... Interesting!!!
The Tree and the Camera man (He is from a prominent news paper The Indian Express)...

How both are focussed at us... ???

The most interesting find of the morning (atleast for me) This flower looks like a thousand headed serpent bent on the Shiva Lingam inside the hood of the serpent. To surprise of us all, there was actually an exact replica of a Shiva Lingam under that hood.

The flowers really looks beautiful and to the surprise of all this tree called Nagalingam in Tamil Nadu has come from Guyana, West Indies.

Amazing Nature...

Thanks goes on to Mr. Arun, Ms. Divya and Ms. Shobha Menon of Nizhal and Architect Rajiv as the facilitator as well as the man behind the program for giving us a wonderful time.

Shashi

Some notes for the Eco Walk tomorrow... From Arch Rajiv

Please ensure that the bfollowing points are taken care of for the ECO Walk tomorrow...

We will all meet at Theosophical Society inside the gate opposite Malar Hospital at 7.45 AM and the walk will last for around one hour or so.

1. All need to dress comfortably with comfortable foot wear. No Hi Heels, No leather shoes

2. Littering is an absolute NO.

3. Avoid bringing PET water bottles - Like the ones Kinley etc. If unavoidable they should definitely not be disposed on Theosophical Society grounds.

4. All mobiles must be on silent mode and all are requested to avoid taking calls as far as possible.
Rajiv