December - 2009 Dear Nature Lovers, Greetings from oikos ! Last six months, we have seen few actions that can directly work towards nature conservation. This month let’s see what we can do ‘every day’ to save resources & environment. This will have indirect effects on resources. So let’s start with ME, my lifestyle, my home…  Individual ‘small’ actions can make a big change ! Regards, Ketaki & Manasi. Cautious consumerism ! We all know that if the resources are not conserved & used properly all living beings will have to face tough time. We are already having a tough time… There is a need to become aware of our own actions. With growing awareness, many people have started acting on small positive actions for environment conservation. Apart from switching off lights, there can be many other things. Just to name a few - Yes No U Pin Stapler pin Cloth bag Plastic carry bag Organic food Chemically grown food Plant products Chemical soap & shampoo Cycle Motorized vehicle Solar cooker LPG Organic pesticides Chemical pesticides Composting Burning leaf litter Hanky Tissue paper Rechargeable Batteries Batteries Pen drive CDs Minimum use of electricity during festivals Excessive lighting during festivals Using Clay idols for celebrating festivals Use of POP idols ‘आकाशकंदील’ using handmade paper/ cloth lantern during Diwali Using Plastic / thermocol made lanterns मातीच्या पणत्या इलेक्ट्रीक पणत्यांचा वापर Use of ‘one side used paper’ for printing/writing Throwing away the paper used for one side print Use of reusable plates, cups during functions Using disposable plates, cups Compost biodegradable waste Throwing any type of waste / flowers etc in rivers/oceans Use of kitchen water for watering plants Throwing away kitchen water This list is unending, its like more we think ‘Green’ we will know ‘n’ number of ways. It means that we can start judging the products by its ‘Green-ness’. It also means that we encourage cottage / small industries than mass productions & market economy. It will also mean that we will not fall prey to media & ads meant for promotions of many ‘Use & Throw’ products. Use & Throw is not our culture, but we have inherited the concept of ‘use & reuse“. This is a closed loop system in which we have producers, consumers & rag pickers who actually recycle products. Knowingly or unknowingly our elder generations were following the four very important R’s i.e. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. With our changing life style towards ‘Consumerism’, we have lost this rich culture of saving resources. The simple principle is ‘Save’, & one can get into more depths of saving. These ‘green’ habits will reflect into following benefits - less pollution better health saves money saves resources (raw material, energy, fuel, water) saves landscape (conversion into industries) Lets start with ‘OWN-SELF’, then talk to others, encourage them to follow the R’s. Ultimately, this is going to save our environment, our world & humans. Lets become a ‘Cautious Consumer’! *  Open calendar image by clicking on thumbnail, save it to computer and set it as desktop background for your     computer monitor. Please Note - This Email is a part of awareness campaign initiated by oikos, Pune. Write to us for your valuable feedback. oikos have been sending ‘Desktop calendars’ since January’06 with various themes, which can be downloaded from website. If you are not willing or not the correct recipient of this Email, kindly reply this mail with subject 'unsubscribe'.  Thanking you for your precious time. Spread a word !! Forward to nature lovers ! Click on the image to enlarge oikos for ecological services Ph. 020-65289576 Web: www.oikos.in

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Down to Earth - Editorial: The challenge of the chulha
(By Sunita Narain)

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About 24 years ago, I was in a house in a small village some distance from Udaipur town in Rajasthan. A government functionary was explaining how an improved chulha (cookstove) worked - they had installed it in the kitchen. At that time, India was waking up to forests being devastated. It was believed then (wrongly, as it turned out) the key reason was poor people cutting trees to cook food. It was also being understood smoke from chulhas was carcinogenic and that women were worst hit by this pollution. The answer was to design improved chulhas - for better combustion and with a chimney.

The woman owner of this improved stove was cooking the day�s meal. I asked if she was happy with what science and government had donated to her. Her answer was simple: �Looks good, does not work. I modified it.� Her problem was that, in this area, women cooked gruel on big utensils. Her home-made original stove was fitted to her diet and her utensils. The improved chulha, with its small opening to streamline the fire, was of little use. When the chulha was designed, nobody asked her what she needed. Nobody explained to her the laws of thermodynamics, so that she could fathom why the stove looked and worked as it did. And nobody was there who could repair or reshape her cookstove. She had simply broken the opening to fit her needs. Carefully calculated combustion in the laboratory of the local university and delivered through a government programme had turned to hot air.

I learnt my most valuable lesson that day. Designing technologies for diversity and affordability is much more complex than sending a man to the moon.

Consider the government�s own statistics. By 1994, some 15 million improved chulhas were introduced across the country. A survey by the National Council of Applied Economic Research found, in many cases, the stoves were not appropriately designed or had broken with use; over 62 per cent of the respondents said they did not know who to contact for repairs. No surprise here. Technology deployment in poor and unserviced households is a job the market does badly.

But why am I discussing this moment of development history? Well, cookstoves are back. This time, on the world stage. Science has discovered black carbon - soot - is a key contributor to climate change; these particles warm the air; when they settle on glaciers, the latter melt. So now, soot from chulhas poor households use - burning wood, twigs and cowdung - stands indicted for climate change. A bill has been introduced in the US Congress requiring the country�s environment protection agency to regulate black carbon and direct aid to black carbon reduction projects abroad, including introducing chulhas in some 20 million homes.

I don�t dispute the science of black carbon. There is no reason to argue nothing should be done to improve and substitute the polluting and noxious chulhas of the poorest. The problem is not in the intent. The problem is in the �why� and the �what needs to be done�. Today, the international community sees these chulhas as an easy solution: 18 per cent of the problem comes from these implements, so replace them. Here�s a quick and simple climate fix: creating space for cars and power stations to continue to pollute. Also, the international community is today equating this �survival� emission - of poor people with no alternative but to walk long distances to collect firewood, sweep the forest floor for leaves and twigs and do backbreaking work to collect and dry cow -dung, all for some �oil� to cook their food - with the �luxury� emissions of you and I, who drive to work and live in air-conditioned comfort.

This distinction is necessary. For policy and action. Otherwise, an important opportunity - provided to us by the poorest in the world - to reduce emissions in the future will be lost. Lost, once again, to the ignorance of the international community regarding how the other half lives and the arrogance of powerful polluters. Let us be clear: the poorest of the world, who use polluting chulhas because they cannot afford commercial fossil fuel, provide us the only real space today to avert climate change.

According to 2006 International Energy Agency data, roughly 13 per cent of the world�s primary energy supply can be classified as �renewable�. Of this, new renewables - solar, wind, geothermal and cogeneration - make up just about 4 per cent and hydroelectricity 16 per cent. The bulk - 80 per cent - of what is renewable comes from biomass burning, from the very chulhas of poor families. It is these families, living on the margins of survival, already vulnerable to climate change impacts, that are in the renewable energy net. They are not the problem. They are the solution to our excesses.

The energy trajectory is such that these families, when they move out of poverty, will also move out of cooking on this biomass stove. They will walk up the fossil fuel stairway to liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Every time they move away, as they must, one less family will be using renewable energy; one more, like you and me, will begin polluting with long-life greenhouse gas emissions. The difference is black soot pollutes locally - it literally kills the women who cook - but has a relatively short life in the atmosphere. So, unlike carbon dioxide, it disappears in a few weeks.

The poorest, therefore, provide the world the perfect opportunity to leapfrog - they can move from using renewable energy, currently polluting, to using more renewable energy, but which is clean for them and the world. It is this objective that must drive our efforts, not a plan to pick on the poorest so we can continue to pollute.

This is not easy. It will not be cheap. Science now must invent that cheap, biomass-based chulha that can be sold, distributed and used in millions of diverse households across the world. Are we up to the challenge?

Read this editorial online: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=1
To comment, write to cse@...

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See Also
News: Energy - efficient buildings get ratings http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=2
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Web exclusive: Cycle of movement
Watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7aHCCI45pA

Can you walk or cycle on your streets
Read some testimonials http://www.downtoearth.org.in/webexclusives/walking_delhi.asp

Register your protest or send us your stories, pictures or videos at voices@...


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Web Exclusive

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On rainwater harvesting & community water management
http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/
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This new section talks about grass root initiative, policy analysis / review and will give the readers related news from India and abroad

Grass root initiative: Stories from water stressed areas where water harvesting has been initiated through community participation.
Read about the initiative http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/happenings/water_wells.htm

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Policy Police: Analysis of all water related policies and laws
Read on wetland conservation http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/happenings/wetland_conservation.htm

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News: Read all water related news from India and abroad
http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/newsletter/newsletter.htm

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Red Alert: Swine flu
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Swine Flu - A Pandemic threat
Click on the link to track the survival tale of Influenza
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/webexclusives/influenza/people_infected.htm

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WHO tells us that influenza kills 250,000 people each year. To know how and what click on
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/webexclusives/influenza/influenza.htm


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Down To Earth (http://www.downtoearth.org.in/)

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Cover Story: Olive Ridley turtles return to Gahirmatha Beach
Olive Ridley turtles missed their annual nesting trip to the Orissa coast last year. Conservation groups blamed the upcoming port at Dhamra. The turtles are back this year, and port proponents Tata and L&T claim vindication. They overlook the violations that have allowed the port at Dhamra in the first place
For the full story: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=3

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See Also
Analysis: Robbed of the sea
Marine protected areas have put thousands of fishers out of business.
Read morehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=4

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News, features & more...
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Frontpage: Energy drinks high on caffeine http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=5

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History: The fall and rise of the potato http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=6

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Life & Nature: One for the bag - The accidental finds of a ragpicker. A photo exhibition
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=7

See Also Trade secrets http://www.downtoearth.org.in/webexclusives/trade_secrets2.asp
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News:Voters retaliate with boycott - denied rights, aggrieved citizens abstain from voting
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=8

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Science & Technology: Why Cinderella�s slippers did not crack
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=9

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On the menu: Spiny twigs and detoxified pithhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=10

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Health sciences
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Silkworm protein can check bone losshttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=11

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Fact sheet - Nutrition challengehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=12

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Web Exclusive: Red Alert - Swine flu http://www.downtoearth.org.in/webexclusives/influenza/influenza.htm

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Climate Science
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Lichens hold clues to glacial melting http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=13

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Shells turn brittle http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=14

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Opinion - sustainable cities
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Bengalureans too can shape their city http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=15

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Delhi needs planners who think http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=16


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Gobar Times: Summer holiday special
http://www.gobartimes.org
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Planning for a perfect summer? Then read the complete issue
http://www.gobartimes.org/20090515/gt_editorial.asp

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CSE short courses, events

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The Anil Agarwal Green Centre (AAGC) seeks to make knowledge investments in society through education and training programmes. Courses help participants better understand issues that lie at the interface of environment and development policy, science, technology, poverty, democracy and equity.

*Understanding EIA: From screening to decision making (New Delhi June 22 � 26, 2009)

There is a genuine need to develop the capacity of the state-level regulators and State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) to screen and scope the EIA process, to conduct transparent public consultations and to evaluate the EIA reports, especially after the new EIA notification. At the same time, there is a need among CBO, NGOs, academicians, and environment managers to review and interpret EIA report, as they are technical in nature.

Course content
- Exposure to all aspects of EIA, from its theory to the practical � such as better understanding regarding
- Better understanding of the EIA process � from screening, scoping, data collection to impact assessment as well as the role of public consultation
- Better understanding of the environmental and social impacts of the industrial and developmental projects
- Better ability to review EIA reports and identify its strengths and weaknesses
- Increased ability to play active role in post-EIA monitoring.

Course details > http://www.cseindia.org/aagc/eia.asp

Course contact:
Sujit Kumar Singh <sujit@...>
Tel: +91 (011) 29955124/125 (Ext. 281); Fax: +91 (011) 29955879

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* Urban rainwater harvesting: Advanced course for working professionals (New Delhi July 06-10, 2009)

This course is for civil engineers, architects, urban planners, environment consultants, municipal water managers, policy makers, government officials and NGOs interested in learning more about the theory, practice and policies of urban water harvesting.

Course content:
- Overview � Water � yesterday, today and tomorrow
- Science of rainwater harvesting - sessions on groundwater, hydrogeology and hydrometeorology
- Technology of rainwater harvesting - principles, components, planning, design & construction techniques
- Harvesting the city�s water endowment - harvesting rainwater from residential and institutional buildings, colonies, industries, public areas like parks, airports, forested areas etc
- Policy framework for rainwater harvesting - water policy and legislations
- Fiscal incentives and disincentives
- Making water everybody�s business: a primer for action, strategies for catalysing rainwater harvesting

For details: http://www.cseindia.org/aagc/rwh-professionals.asp
Course contact: Salahuddin Saiphy (salah@...)
Phone: M: +919871189564; + 91 (011) 29955124/5 (Ext. 280); Fax: 29955879


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Work with CSE: Climate change researchers, campaigners

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True? False? Don't Know?
- Climate Change is too serious a business to be managed by Green Activists
- Climate Change can be averted only if India and China control their emission
- Sir Nicholas Stern is the greatest political thinker of our times

If you know the answer, you are a possible Researcher / Campaigner on Climate Change at the Centre for Science and Environment
.
Apply soon: Send your detailed CV to jgupta@...

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CSE is an independent, public interest organisation that was established in 1982 by Anil Agarwal, a pioneer of India's environmental movement. CSE's mandate is to research, communicate and promote sustainable development with equity, participation and democracy.

Contact CSE: http://www.cseindia.org/aboutus/feedback.htm
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E-mail: cse@...

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