The green micro-movers

While top leaders of the world gear up for tough negotiations at the Copenhagen Summit, individuals without political agenda are taking small, sure steps towards conserving the planet. Joanna Lobo and Vishakha Avachat spoke to a few conscious Mumbaikars who believe that small steps matter

Affluence doesn’t mean wasting
Dr Deepa Mohanty, 40, a gynaecologist, believes in practicing what you preach. She has three cars but always takes the bus from her Juhu home to Deonar, where she is pursuing higher studies. “It does take a lot of time to commute, but this is the least I can do,” she says. She also believes in saving paper to save trees; she collects pamphlets and paper printed on one side, and makes notepads of the same. “I ensure that my son writes on both sides of the paper,” she says.

The Mohantys also ensure that they minimise the consumption of plastic and switch off lights where not needed. “Our electricity bill is much less than what other society members pay,” she says matter-of-factly. Mohanty also collects giftwrapping and reuses it. “I also make sure that garbage is packed in food wrappers and extra polythene bags are not used,” she says.

Her son Aditya also helps in her initiative. Mohanty, and Aditya, who studies in class 7, have even made PowerPoint presentations on saving paper in their neighbourhood. Aditya uses textbooks used by his seniors. “He goes to an affluent school, but buying new books is not justified. Therefore, we insist on re-using books. In return, we buy him story books,” she says.

Dr Mohanty feels that preservation and conservation efforts should come from within. Her mother did similar things without even knowing that she was contributing something to the environment. “Efforts should be continuous,” says Mohanty.

Home-fixes for the environment
How many of us are conscious of how much plastic we use and the amount of wet waste we generate daily? And how many of us take the pains to compost wet
waste? Meet 29-year-old Mallika Iyer, a lawyer, who has installed a vermicompost waste pit in her balcony.

“I have been using this pit for over a year now and religiously put all the wet waste in it,” she says. She adds that this waste becomes manure over a period of 3-4 months and can be added to flower pots. “This way, at least I don’t contribute to the ever-increasing garbage pile of the city,” she says.

She also uses water sparingly. To flush a toilet, a minimum of 25-30 litres of water is needed. “We’ve put a filled bottle of water in the flush tank, so that only half the tank gets filled and half the water is used,” she says. She also doesn’t keep her fridge near the wall as it consumes a lot of electricity when so placed.

The Iyers regularly check their gas cylinder tube and keep the gas burner clean, to conserve LPG. Iyer also recycles paper by cutting used paper into small bits, soaking it in water and making uniform sheets. “We can easily follow small things in our home to make a difference,” she believes.

Follow the green baba
Every morning, Hari Chakyar, 23, travels to his office on his own set of wheels — his bicycle. This media executive started cycling to work ever since he moved closer to office two months back. The carefree youngster got his wake-up call to save the earth in summer this year. “I measured the temperature myself and found that it was 42 degrees Celsius outside, a never-before occurrence. I realised I had to do something,” says Chakyar, then living in Ambernath. As a pilot project, he planted four trees around his residence: jungle badam and Ashoka.

He got together with a few friends, since “it’s a campaign and you cannot do it alone”, and began, the Green Ambernath with Nature Baba, project. The first task of the group was a street play, Nature baba ko gussa kyun aata hai, which spoke about the past and present of Ambarnath.

Tree-planting to the group “is about going back to basics”. They went to playschools, schools and societies and planted trees there. “We go to schools and talk to kids about climate change and what they can do. It’s best to start young,” he says. He has started growing saplings outside his office and at his new house in preparation for next year’s tree planting.

His simple advice for a simple start: avoid buying packaged water. “You not only are investing in plastic that way, but also paying private companies for something that is free.”

Batti Bandh today for tomorrow
Most of us don’t think of turning off the lights or the fan when we step out of the room. Maybe the founder of Batti Bandh, Keith M, and the members of his team, including Kaizad Bhamgara, all in their early twenties, realised this and started the Batti Bandh campaign in 2007. The campaign urged people to switch off electricity for an hour on December 15, in 2007 and 2008.

Bhamgara says, “One hour of switching off will not stop global warming instantly, but it will be a good start. It will show people that we all can unite to fight the greatest threat mankind faces today.”

In his own daily schedule, he makes effort to save water, electricity and other resources. “We have installed CFL lamps in our houses and have encouraged everyone to do the same,” he says. He and his team members have also encouraged people to segregate their waste and avoid the use of plastic. “We strongly urge people to recycle and re-use.

We’ve even gone as far as installing solar panels in our farmhouses on the outskirts of Mumbai to reduce usage of conventional electricity,” says Bhamgara, all of 20.

For over a month, the Batti Bandh team conducted campaigns and events to raise awareness about global warming and the role of the public in keeping the planet green. The campaign culminated in an effort to express solidarity and save energy by switching off all bulbs and electrical appliances in offices, businesses and households across the city for an hour on December 15.

The sweet, simple life
The tiny jar of honey that brings sweetness to many a dish is Vijaya Pastala’s sweet career choice. Having worked in the development sector for 20 years, she decided it was time to give back to Mother Nature. And in December 2007, Under the Mango Tree, an organic company, was born. “We market organic honey, beeswax, herbs and other produce giving a fillip to rural farmers,” says Pastala, 44.

Pastala does not consider herself a part of the ‘hardcore jhola brigade’. “I do not consciously go around practicing eco-friendly measures. It’s a part of the culture and environment surrounding me,” she says. Keeping a watch on the electricity and water consumption is also a ritual at the Pastala home. “I have seen people travel miles just for a bucket of water, so why should we waste what others cannot have?”

“We eat more natural foods brought directly from the smaller farmers and vegetable vendors,” says Pastala. And, if her son craves for a McDonald’s burger, she gives in, but just once in a while.