World Environment Day 2013

The United Nation Environment Program ( UNEP) celebrated 5th June of every yeat as the World Environment Day .... and this year's theme is "Think . Eat . Save "

This campaign is an anti-food waste  that encourages each of us to be aware of the foods we consume , the amount of food we waste and  it's impact on our
planet ... and gives us an opportunity to rethink our life style.... like selecting food that have less environmental impact , choosing foods that are grown  locally and organically using natural fertilisers ( compost ) and pesticides.    

 According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted the world over .... and at the same time 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.
 Food waste is an enormous drain on natural resources and a contributor to negative environmental impacts....Any food that is wasted means that all the resources and inputs ( like fossil fuels / water )used in the production and transportation of  the food are also lost.
The global food production is responsible for 70% of fresh water consumption, 80% of deforestation, and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is the largest single driver of biodiversity loss and land-use change.

In India 21 million tonnes of wheat ( wheat equivalent to the entire production of Australia ) a year are destroyed  / wasted due to  rotting/ pest infestation because of  inadequate storage and distribution

"The average urban household in India wastes 100 kg of food per person even as millions go to bed hungry. A big part of the wastage is to be blamed on modern lifestyles and the almost unnoticeable tendency to hoard." say the article Thoda Khao, Thoda Phenko   (in  Tehelka Magazine, Volume 10 Issue 23,by Avalok Langer. )  bba

So what can an individual or community do?

Do you "THINK" you are a conscious consumer? .... not just of food , but also other resources like water , electricity , fuel ?
Do you "EAT" mindfully ? Shop for food mindfully? ... and dispose the waste ( if any) mindfully
Do you "SAVE" water , electricity , fuel?

Here is a lovel video about how the "Dabbawalas of Mumbai" and their " Customers"  and "  Volunteers" join hands to feed the poor street children of Mumbai

I'm sure that there must be many such "angels" in many of our cities / towns  ....i.e  NGOs  who collect wasted (excess and thrown away) food from marriage halls, townships, apartment complexes, restauramts etc. and redistribute. Would be nice if some vistor to this blog throws more light on such organisations.
The "WED booklet" by UNEP can be downloaded freely at this site which give you many insights on how to reduce your "Food-Footprint" I have posted here a few pages from this booklet which gives you  "A to Z tips on what an individual can do " 

Note: Some of the  picture above are  taken from the internet and used  only for education and inspiration . If I have violated  any copyright issues , please send me comments and I will remove the associated picture.

World Environment Day Celebrations at RRNagar.

" Wake Up , Clean Up Bengaluru " or "   ಬನ್ನಿ ನೋಡಿ ಮಾಡಿ " was a clarion call given byKalpana Kar ,  Member, B.PAC  in Feb 2013 for bringing  the four  primary stake holders on to a common platform.

The 4 primary stakeholders are .....the Waste generators - individuals, organizations, communities ;.... .the Solution Providers who have technologies, services and solutions to manage a wide range of waste;... the  Government who is today playing the role of a service provider in this ecosystem but should ideally be an active regulator; & ... the Informal Sector - including the rag pickers and pourakarmikas -who are  responsible for collecting, sorting, selling and scavenging waste.
The Wake Up Clean Up (WUCU) is not just an eveny , she says , but a movement which needs to be taken to different zones in the city, to industry campuses, to schools to ensure that we cover the last mile and engage every citizen.

 "Wake Up Clean Up  RRnagar " was the second stop of this movement on 5th June , World Environment Day . BBMP invited  members from all stakeholders to brainstorm what needs to be done to clean up RRnagar as a team .

Mindtree , Global Village  hosted the event at their premises and there were a number of eminent speakers  from various organisations. The session opened with an inspiring video about a small country Estonia in eastern Europe which took an initiative at grassroot level and cleaned by their country in just one day. ( see link below)

 
Ms Veena Rajappa , GM , Mindtree informed how the residents of RRNagar joined hands with Mindtree Green community and decided to take action for waste segregation at source.  Mr. JogaRao , VP ITC who talked about ITC involvement and committed to help BBMP manage the dry waste.,  Dr. Manoj  of Pelican Eco stores talked about decentralized composting by bulk generator is a very viable and extremely cost effective / eco friendly solution,  Mr. Vijay Kumar from BBMP expressed the difficulties in their functioning due to   in-efficient contractor and Mr. Ramachandra , Corporator promised that the system would be streamed in the near future.  Mr. Ramesh of the NGO Concern  assured the citizens that shortly a centralized  Biogas composting unit would be installed in RRNagar which would ease the woes of the residents to some extent . Dilip Patel , a trustee member of NGO RRNagar-I Care was the Master of Ceremonies for the session

Mr Ramakanth , a very inspiring citizen is spearheading this movement to take it to various localities within  Bengaluru

The Project " Greening RRNagar" was inaugurated by planting five tree saplings in Mindtree campus by RRNagar's Corporator Mr. Ramachandra.