A future fuelled by biofuels is far better than that fired on fossil fuels. Read why biofuels are a panacea for reducing air pollution caused through automobiles and farm fields, how they help manage farm waste, and enhance soil health. ********************************** Rahul: Hey Anu! You look disgusted. Not knowing what to do about these monumental, stinking garbage bins?Anu: Yeah, dude! Why don’t people deliberate upon solution-seeking rather than piling their sins right outside their homes!? Household waste has a lot of organic waste and am sure there are ways of dealing with it!...
Waste segregation is mandated in several states in India. But most of the plastic waste ends up in landfills instead of being recycled as barely 30 per cent of it is sorted correctly. Hence, the need of the hour is to educate people about segregating, composting, and recycling waste through aggressive awareness programs by community and self-help groups. So, don’t be a foolish donkey and dispose of your waste properly.
Summarizing the Union Budget in a cool, simplified, less dreadful, more interesting, nowhere mind-boggling, and in quite a thought-provoking manner. *********************************** 11am, 1st February: a moment for which people across the country wait anxiously every year. Why?...
“Such a beautiful place, to be with friends”. Fans of the Harry Potter film series will remember this line, uttered in one of the most heart-breaking scenes of the saga by arguably the most beloved character of them all, Dobby the house-elf. As the adorable elf breathes his last in the arms of his friend and hero, Harry Potter, he inadvertently invites viewers to marvel at the vast, expansive beach that then becomes his gravesite. Twelve years after...
What are Micro-Plastics? Micro-plastics have not been defined in particular. They are just tiny particles that result from the disintegration of bigger plastic materials. However, most researchers say that any plastic smaller than 5 millimetres in size is a micro-plastic. Hence, these are really, really teeny-tiny! Plastics are made up of polymers, which are derived from fossil fuels. A whole lot of chemicals are added to the polymers—close to 10,000—to ensure that a given plastic has the desired properties...
Do we ever stop to think where all the trash that we produce goes? Most of it heads to a dumpsite – yes, those mountains of waste that you might have seen on one of your trips around the city. Let's dig into this subject a bit, shall we? ********************************** A huge dark mountain is looming up amidst houses and buildings, with a flock of crows and eagles circling over it. As one goes closer, you can see people on it...
A passionate movie buff and avid videographer narrates his journey through the reels on the importance of films in spreading environmental awareness. **************************** Growing up in Perumannur, a small village in Kerala, my childhood was all about ploughing fields, playful cows and calves, and a big pond where I learnt swimming. I was so close to nature that it never occurred to me if the environment—with all its greenery, birds, trees, and grass—can ever be distinctively separate from us. My training, among the lush green coconut and rice fields...
Plastic pollution creates an evolutionary trap for young sea turtles, says a new study. The study is done by researchers from the University of Exeter, UK. The study included 121 sea turtles from five of the world’s seven species: green, loggerhead, hawksbill, olive ridley, and flatback. They found plastic inside juvenile turtles along both the east and west coasts of Australia. Sea turtles usually hatch on beaches and spent their early years traveling on ocean currents...
Plastic items from takeaway food and drink dominated the litter in the world’s oceans, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability was funded by the BBVA Foundation and the Spanish science ministry. The study shows that just 10 plastic products including plastic lids and fishing gear accounted for three-quarters of the litter. This is due to their widespread use and extremely slow rate of degradation.
Dr Rajagopalan Vasudevan proves how even an individual effort can clean the face of our country, as he invents new ways to reuse plastic for roads and buildings. One day, a professor of Chemistry was watching TV. He saw a doctor blaming plastic for water pollution. This set him wondering—how can plastic cause pollution when it is chemically a hydrocarbon and insoluble in water! The doctor was of course mistaken but his concern was genuine: plastic is an environmental nuisance. Polybags have infested our marketplaces, are swallowed by cattle, clog drains, choke ponds…
Salem is one of the largest cities in Tamil Nadu, India. More than 1 million people live here. Piyush Manush is the convener of the Salem Citizen's Forum (SCF). SCF is an informal group, involved in protecting Salem's environment. The lake was built by the British for irrigating nearby farmlands. The lake is spread across 58 acres and used to be a major water body of the city. But gradually it became a dumpsite for Salem's municipal solid waste. In 2010 SCF took over the work of cleaning the lake. But first, they had to get rid of the garbage and then desilt the waterbody.