My City My Responsibility - Terrace Gardening

Dear All, 

Veena Godbole's terrace garden

Is it really difficult to change our habits and shift to sustainable living? 

There are many citizens in Pune city itself who are living a sustainable lifestyle. Lets see what has driven the change in them. 

Veena Godbole: I got introduced to her through Dr. Priyadarshini Karve. She's a middle-aged women who just does not allow any of her kitchen waste out of her house. She has developed a beautiful terrace garden by using her household wet waste and cultivates her own vegetables and fruits. Of course, it takes a lot of dedication and effort to undertake such an initiative. But we can start with one vegetable or fruit. 

We saw in earlier blogs that wet waste generated in our household is quite a lot, and it is very easy to reuse it in our own garden or potted plants. If all of us ensure that our kitchen waste should not go out of the house, I think there will be a time when we may fall short of wet waste, and will have to borrow it. Something like this happened with Veena, she had to tie up with the local vegetable vendor for more wet waste. 

So, its like hitting two birds with one stone.We are resolving the problem of wet waste management at our end by forming a closed loop system where the waste of one product, acts as source of nourishment for another product and the cycle goes on. 

Think about it!

If you are also involved in doing something sustainable, please post a comment or write to me! Also if want to visit Veena Godbole terrace garden let me know.

  

Pournima Agarkar.

My City My Responsibility - Think before you consume

Dear All, 

I am back and I am glad, all of you appreciate the idea of thinking before buying is it really needed? I am sharing an image created by my friend that shows consumption as a cycle where we get stuff from nature in the form of a raw material and give it back in the form of a waste material exploiting it completely. 

PC: Rajath Dasanakodige Manjunatha

While understanding consumption one should know about the lifecycle of any stuff. By 'lifecycle' I mean the entire journey of the product right from the time its born till its death. The entire process involves generation of wastes in every stage of the cycle, which is also called 'cradle to grave'. 

Lets take an example of the vegetables that we consume daily. We require fertile land, seeds, adequate amount of water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, along with appropriate climatic conditions and consistent human efforts to grow the vegetables. A lot of energy is also consumed for harvesting and transporting the vegetables to our homes in the cities. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2016 State of the Forests Report 7 million ha of forests are turned into agricultural land annually in order to meet our food demands. Are we indirectly depleting our forests in order to fulfill our consumption needs? So what do we do about it? 

As an individual we can explore options like Permaculture and organic farming in our backyard or terraces that can suffice our household food demand, wherever possible. Also, we should consume food as per what and how much is needed for well being. 

However, the bigger picture lies in understanding lifecycle of any product. Since it helps us know from where and how does the product come to us. What are its impacts on our environment, health and economy? How can we reduce or minimize these impacts and act responsibly? Is anyone producing the same stuff as per 'cradle to cradle' (the waste of one product becomes source for another product) philosophy?

If we start consuming responsibly, businesses will be forced to produce responsibly. 

Pournima Agarkar