NATURE CLUB SURAT
Environment Education & Research centre
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Environment Education & Research centre
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Bird Watching Trip Nalsarovar, Velavadar & Lothal 2010 Himalayan Experience camp Manali 2010 Nature Art & Craft Workshop, Saputara 2010 Opportunities @ Nature Club Surat Call of Indian Birds Vol-1,2,3 & 4 Video Guide to Birds of India Vol- 1 & 2 |
GLOBAL WARMING (Climate Change) WHAT EACH ONE OF US CAN DO. The major issue we all are facing is that of “Global Warming”. Its effects are seen world wide. We are facing many problems due to Global warming. We as an individual can help out in some way or the other by following few points listed below:
1. Use of staircases in place of lifts as lots of power will be saved and on the other hand our health will improve free of cost. 2. Use bicycles in place of motor bikes and bikes in place of cars, where ever possible. 3. Use compact florescent lamp (C.F.L.). It is a bit costly but on the other hand lasts 10 times longer and consumes only 30% of the energy compared to the traditional bulb. A 20 watt C.F.L gives us light equivalent to 60 watts of incandescent (Yellow) lamp. C.F.L. should be subsidized by Government. 4. Now a day’s use of paper napkins has increased and has become a trend. It is found everywhere in restaurants, dinning tables, cars etc. On an average 3 tissue papers are wasted by almost each one of us while having dinner at a restaurant. This is mere waste of trees and nothing else as paper napkins are made from soft pulp which is available only from trees. Why can’t we use our cloth napkins/handkerchiefs which can be reused!!! 5. Do not use disposable things like cups, spoons, plates, diapers etc. Our grandparents never used these things. 6. Avoid using big screen Television sets, should go for the smallest size possible. By doing so lots of energy is saved and also less material like plastic, glass etc. will be consumed for its manufacturing. Less cardboard will be used for its packing purpose and less fuel will be spent for transporting it from the factory to your drawing room/bed-room. 7. Cloth bags should be used instead of plastic bags. Thin plastic bags cannot be recycled and reused. They also create many harmful gases while it is manufactured and also when burnt for disposal. Cows eat them and die and they also choke up the drainage system. Turtles eat them thinking they are Jelly fish one of their favorite food. 8. Annual reports of big companies are of more than hundred pages and it is true that hardly anyone takes any pains to go through it page by page in details, thus it is a mere waste of paper (trees). Hence make it a point to request your share holding companies not to send you hard copies of Annual reports. Instead request them to put it on the website so that those who are interested can have access to it. 9. Subscribe to only one news paper everyday instead of going for two or three. One hardly reads them thoroughly and they all carry almost the same news. Apart from this it is normally observed that 40% of the newspaper is covered with advertisement. Remember newspapers are also made from trees. They also consume lots of ink which is lead based (lead as such is harmful). Also transporting old newspapers to ‘kabadiwala’ and to paper mill consumes lot of fuel. 10. We should wear more of cotton clothes than synthetic (nylon) clothes as synthetic cloth is manufactured from petroleum products for which lot of energy is consumed in its manufacturing. Cotton clothes are made from the cotton crop grown in the fields. 11. We should prefer drinking plain water, lemonade or coconut water to quench our thirst. Avoid drinking soft drinks. Lots of energy is used in manufacturing the soft drinks and also chemicals are used as one of the ingredients. Apart from this fuel is consumed in larger quantity to transport them from the factory to the stores and to our houses. Energy is also used to store it to keep it cool. Above this plastic bottles or tins are required to store it and then empty container is again a waste product which is once again transported to garbage site for disposal, consuming fuel and creating pollution as well. On the other hand coconut has its natural packing shell which is again a Bio-degradable product, and on the other hand does not require refrigeration. It is also very nutritious. And lemonade is healthy drink plus chemical free and quenches thirst. 12. How many types of bathroom chemicals do we use? Earlier only soaps were used for body and hair, but now we have started using varieties of soaps, shampoos, face wash, body gel, lotions, cleansers etc etc… Most of these items are not required at all. In fact only soaps should be used to wash our hands before and after eating and even after using the toilets. Our body does not require any type of use of soaps; just plain water and cotton towel is enough to remove dirt from our body. Soaps, creams and lotions etc destroys natural oil glands on our skin and makes our skin drier and more prone to skin diseases. 13. Use paper on both the sides. Use of computer copies in proper way can save lots of paper. Do not take unnecessary print outs of articles unless essential. 14. Prefer using smaller cars or public transport for traveling. Travel by trains if possible in place of cars or airplane. Aero planes are most polluting and inject pollution directly in upper atmosphere. 15. Houses, offices and factories should be designed in such a way that there is maximum use of natural light and ample air circulation. Houses should be surrounded with trees which keep the atmosphere and building cool. 16. Water recharging should be done in all the buildings so that ground water level remains high and need not have to be pumped up from very deep wells or has to be brought from far off dams and which results in huge energy costs. 17. Washing machine water should be use in toilets to flush. Most of us waste nearly 50% of pure water out of the total water we consume just to flush in the toilets. What a waste of water. 18. Smaller refrigerators can be used instead of big ones. We should make it a point of not storing unwanted food items. And we should see that the fridge door is kept open for shortest period of time. Also double door fridges are better than the single door as the freezer section has separate doors, which can be opened when required and hence the cold air of freezer does not escape out. 19. In winter try wearing outer clothes for more than one day. Lots of water, soap, electricity will be saved by doing so. Imagine how much total savings can be done if just 50% of the population did it. 20. Squeeze out tooth paste just enough to cover half of the tooth brush (This much quantity is enough to keep our teeth clean and healthy). The same tube of paste will last longer rather double time in fact. And even if 50% of us follow this suggestion just imagine how much packaging and transportation cost can be saved. 21. When we go to buy anything try buying the stuff which has been manufactured nearest to your city. Thus cost of transportation is saved to great extent (Even pollution can be avoided). Now a days we buy things or receive gifts of clothes from U.S relatives but if you see its country of manufacture it will be either China, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Korea etc. Thus the product has traveled round the globe i.e. from the country of origin to U.S. by ship and than from U.S. to India in aero-plane along with our relatives. How much fuel is wasted! Instead buy local products. 22. Gardens should have minimum loan cover as it consumes lots of water, fertilizers and pesticides as well. More area should be given to plants, shrubs and trees which consume no chemical and less water. It also helps in absorbing carbon dioxide and provides food and shelter to many birds and small mammals. 23. For those of us who have gardens or open place around our house- All bio-degradable waste should be composted to make organic fertilizers. 24. We all should try to go to bed early , so automatically lights and T.V. will go off saving power and we will get good sleep as a result we will wake up early and enjoy the bird calls or have time to do some exercise or walk instead and absorb morning sunlight which is good for our health. 25. In rooms A.C temperature should not be set very low, so that one has to use blanket in summer too. It is mere waste of energy. We should not forget that each and every item in the room including the cup-boards and walls will have to be cooled down to the temperature that is set before the compressor of the A.C. turns off. Shear waste of energy here also. If possible use A.C. for 2 to 3 hours just to cool the room down and than should be switched off and the windows should be opened or switch on the fan. During summer nights are generally cool after 11.00pm. If possible use table fans and place them near the windows in such a way that it sucks the cool air from outside and blows it in the room. Reverse exhaust fans can also be fitted on windows so that they blow cool air into the house. 26. Houses should have double walls to keep heat and cold out and in hot areas double roofs will also help us , so that R.C.C. slab does not get heated up. Just the second layer pf P.V.C. sheet or earthen tiles 2 feet above R.C.C. will keep the slab cool. 27. Chew your food properly (till it turns into liquid) and gradually you will find that your diet automatically reduces, as the food is digested properly giving us maximum energy. With reduced food intake lot of transportation, cooking energy, fertilizer, pesticides, plowing etc is saved. One of the greatest problems the world is facing is that of grains. Production of grains is not matching the population growth.
- SNEHAL PATEL (PRESIDENT), NATURE CLUB SURAT
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