Green Diwali

Diwali is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India (and abroad). It falls on the darkest night of the year. The tradition of lighting lamps on this night may have come from the need for light on this intensely dark night.

This year, we are asking you to celebrate eco-sensitive, green Diwali in your community.

How to celebrate eco-sensitive diwali?

• Share food, sweets and clothes with the lesser privileged.
• Donate for relief operations in Karnataka.
• Instead of individual celebration prefer community celebration in a open ground.
• Instead of electric illumination for long hours go for traditional lightening of earthen lamps or diyas.
• Reduce the amount of things we use.
• Reuse the things we have in different forms until we have absolutely no use for them
• Recycle items that are no longer functional.
• Rethink the choices we make when deciding to buy something
• Refuse things that we do not need at all.
• All gift wrapping paper should be made out of recycled paper.
• Send out e-cards or text messages. No fancy Diwali cards.

How did you celebrate your diwali this year?
Send your stories and supporting pictures of Green-Diwali-2009 by 27-October on green-diwali[@]pledgeforgreen.com and win upto 5 t-shirts for your community from Scopial!

If you live in apartment communities in Bangalore, Delhi-NCR; you can also upload your pictures to your apartment gallery on CommonFloor

Wishing you and your family a very happy and prosperous Diwali!

Green Summers

In our efforts towards a greener planet, these summers we are inviting student community to participate in "Green Summers".

Objective of Green Summers is to:

• Create awareness among the youth regarding climate change.
  
• Get the youth involved in the mammoth task of fighting global warming
  
• Contribute to the environment.

To register your school/team for "Green Summers", email name of your school, name of your team members, your project-guide (a teacher from your school) to green-summers[at]pledgeforgeen.com

For more information, click here

South Asia monsoons to be affected

Yet another proof displaying the imminent effects of climate change has come up with the study findings of Purdue University research group. Indicating the effects of climate change, the group has mentioned that the climate change could vert possibly be causing much less summer rainfall, due to its influence on entire monsoon dynamics.

Undoubtly, less rainfall would mean a big trouble to rain dependant agriculture sector of South Asian countries like India. And not to forget, the indirect influence on the ever declining economy of the country. Large part of India and China falls under the affected area, which means almost half of the world's population. One can easily understand the wide impact the less rains may have on this part of the world.

Noah Diffenbaugh, whose research group led the study, also displayed the concerns while stating that the summer monsoons are responsible for approximately 75% of the total annual rainfall in major parts of the region and produce almost 90% of India's water supply.

Full story can be read on USAToday.

Still need another reason to pledge?

Cycle and Recycle

Cycle and Recycle, its not only the words that are rhyming, but they also have very similar and important benefits. Next time, you throw those papers and plastic bottles in trash bin, make sure that it ends up in a recycling center and not anywhere else. And while you are at it, make sure you cycle your way to the recycle center, and save some oil too.

So, apart from the obvious benefits of saving oil by cycling and saving environment and paper trees by recycling, you have other benefits too. Here is what all you do while you cycle and recycle.

Benefits of cycling:
1. Health: You have a cycle at your gym, don't you? Well, get real and pedal that on real roads, it's much more fun that way !
2. Save oil: Now if you were not traveling on a cycle, and was rather on a car, you would have wasted gallons of fuel on running that ! You not only save oil for our future generation, but also...
3. ...Save money: Fuel always burns a hole in your pocket, you save a lot now !
4. Pollution: Did you see that exhaust at the rear of your car, now try to figure out that on your bicycle !
5. Less accidents: And yes, you are much more safer out there on the roads with your cycles than you are in those hi speed things !

How does that sounds with benefits of recycling ?

Benefits of Recycling:
1. Save trees: Every time you give paper for recycling, you save a tree !
2. Money: Send your stuff for recycle, make some money
3. Your carbon footprint: You burn a fresh paper, you produce more carbon dioxide than what you produce while burning a recycled one !

So, next time you have some garbage collected for recycling, go cycle all the way to that recycling center !

Have a green day !

Our Dependency on Limited Reserves

Its about three days since the Oil company executives in India have gone on strike demanding an increase in wages and consequences can already be seen. The life of a common Indian man is coming to a stand-still.

The Indian Government is in talks with the striking employees but they still lacks idea to overcome the situation. More than 80% of petrol pumps have gone dry in major cities of the country and situation will go even worse if the matter is not resolved by afternoon.

Many state Governments invoked ESMA but that failed to get all workers back to work.

This strike (which is in its 3rd day now) has shown how much we depend on limited reserves.

• Motorists are finding it hard to commute because of long queues at petrol pumps.
  
• Public transport is also getting affected because frequency of buses in some routes have been cancelled because of shortage of petrol.
  
• Many restaurants in the financial capital - Mumbai will be closing after this afternoon because of lack of gas supplies.
  
• Flights at Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi airport got delayed by 30-40 minutes because there was not enough trained staff to refuel aircrafts.
  
• The power plants have reduced their production because of absence of fuel. Decrease in electricity produciton will hit all sectors of Indian industries.
  

The above problems gives us a small picture of what can happen if we don't find out alternate sources of energy. Our dependence on limited reserves like OIL and Gas has increased too much and we cannot think beyond that. It took less than 72 hours for lives of one-sixth of world's population to come to a stand still !

We must take lessons from this strike and pledge not to waste the limited reserves and encourage others by participating in making a greener earth!

Green Resolution

At the time when you are deciding on the new year resolutions, remember to add one very important resoultion.

"To be more green in 2009"

Pledge for green and have a blast on the new year, with a tinge of green in your celebrations. ! Enjoy !

5 ways to a green New Year

It is that time of the year again. Time to indulge in festivities and celebrations. Even in this festive season, some simple ways can help you remain green.

1. Green gifts

Go green while you gift to your loved ones. It can be as simple as gifts like home decor made of recycled paper fiber, or the gardening gifts to encourage gardening. Lot of options are available in the market, just ask for the green gifts.

2. Have a dark party

Literally, turn off the lights and have a no-light party on the new year eve. Dark is fun, and you go green too !

3. Commuting

As far as possible, use public transport while commuting. You not only save fuel, but also money !

4. Recycle

After the party, remember to recycle everything can be recycled. Collect all the recyclable waste and send it off for recycling.

5. Pledge

And last but not the least, pledge that you will be green in the new year as well !

Happy 2009 !