Tuesday, October 6, 2015

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: Sustainable Cities and Clean Cooking

As many of you who follow Samuchit Enviro Tech would know, the company started off as a distribution company for clean biomass based cooking energy devices. Over the years, we diversified into other products and services focused on sustainable lifestyle for rural and urban Indians. It is the diversification that has brought us to now working on the Sustainably SMART Pune 2030 study project. #SustainablySMARTPune2030

The entire last week, I was multitasking to meet two deadlines - one related to the cooking energy work that I do, and the other related to kickstarting the Study Project from 1 Oct. Throughout the week I kept reflecting on how vastly different these two topics are. This week I am at the India Clean Cooking Forum, and came across information that I was not fully aware of. It turns out that systematic studies across the world have shown that cooking on traditional biomass fueled cookstoves in urban poor households is one of the major contributors to air pollution in the cities of the developing world. The contribution is significant enough that researchers emphasise on the need to specially address this source of air pollution. 

Apart from the environmental concern, it is already a well established fact that access to clean cooking has a direct positive impact for women's health, and quality of life. 

Providing clean AND affordable household cooking options to the urban poor thus fits very well into the concept of sustainability. It addresses a need of a socio-economic weaker section of the urban society, and it also addresses the environmental concern of air pollution. 

So, it seems like there is a natural link between working on clean cooking and sustainable cities! 

For those interested to know more: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1206340/#tab1




                Priyadarshini Karve
Director
                 Samuchit Enviro Tech




#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful
    Samuchit Enviro Tech     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com 

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