Smile! Every cloud has a silver lining.

"In my rear view mirror, the sun is going down.
Sinking behind bridges in the road.
And I think of all the good things,
that we have left undone;
and I suffer premonitions,
confirm suspicions
of the holocaust to come ! .. "

These are the first few lines of the last song in The Final Cut album by Pink Floyd called Two Suns in the Sunset. It is a song that portrays a nuclear holocaust, the final result of a world obsessed with war and control. The song was written in 1983 by Roger Waters and I recollect it now because it can be associated with my intentions to work with Green Peace and it also stands the test of time.

Most of us ‘environmentalists’ are foreseeing the ill consequences of man-made global warming and are working hard to keep mankind off the edge. Since we are a minority, we first need to teach the other side of the society about this critical situation we are leading ourselves into. I think the understanding of the inevitable consequence of global warming by all men and women is the first step to the fight against climate change. This work undertaken by anybody is commendable.
Now the hole in these awareness campaigns is that they have never yielded much change favouring the environment. Well such campaigns have educated ignorant minds of course. But these educated minds did not stop dumping non degradable wastes in the same dump yard, did they? Well they definitely supported a campaign set out by Green Peace at least once to tell themselves that they were part of an environmentally concerned society and it is not really their fault that climate change occurred. So they are relieved off their guilt by such an act. So where does the change occur so that we need not let ourselves into that inferno? The answer to this question is what I learnt while interning with Green Peace (Chennai) for which I am really grateful to all the concerned people.

Policy changes and political lobbying is the door to a greener world. Obviously everybody cannot walk through it. It is a few of us in this minority who need to focus on getting on top to change the politics of government for a better tomorrow. While Green Peace works on strategies to pressurize the government I have decided to place myself across the door and work for the environment from within because once there is a law to make an environment-unfriendly act illegal, people will have no choice but to back off and find their comfort zones within the environment-friendly premises.

Smile! Every cloud has a silver lining. A wide range of employment opportunities have opened up due to climate change, haven’t they? So just sit back and do what you can for the environment from where you are. I am sure there is a ‘wild bunch’ that are learning to deal with policy level changes and I am hoping to be one among them!

“….Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die…”

…… Ulysses ( Alfred Lord Tennyson )

- Joel Kumar

There’s a life in those shells

It’s a wonderful feeling to go on turtle walks and see hope protected in the shells of these turtles.

Every year the Olive Ridley turtles make a difficult, long distance, trans-boundary migration from their resident feeding grounds to the nesting beaches to lay their eggs. But today mankind has taken over their nesting beaches, stolen their eggs, polluted and destroyed their habitats and relentlessly hunted them for their meat.

The destruction of oceans by trawling and over fishing in no fishing zones make these beautiful species suffer needlessly. It is terrible to see hundreds of turtle carcasses on the beach especially in Orissa. While the Government refuses to take action powerful corporate interests are moving into the zone. The Government has fabulous rules but zero infrastructures to enforce them.

The Dhamra port that has been built by the Tatas is one example of the capitalistic strive for profit, power and money which will cause massive decimation of the Olive Ridley’s. The port is built 5km from Bhitarkanika Sanctuary and less than 15km from Gahirmatha’s beaches which is one of the mass nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtles in the world.

The port has violated the Forest Conservation Act 1980. Conservationists highlighted the port’s potential environment impacts when it was first proposed in 1990s. There were alternatives which the Tatas should have explored. The Dhamra port will push the Olive Ridley turtles one step closer to extinction.

Officials in the Ministry of Environment Forests have been aware of the Forest Act violation for several years, yet they turned their back to the issue. The matter has been before the Central Empowered committee of the Supreme Court since September 2009. The Orissa government has showed its dirty face by changing its stand and now denies that the port is being built on protected forest land. Jairam Ramesh is silent, and yet to take a stand on the violation of the Forest Conservation Act by the Dhamra Port.

Against such a scenario do the Turtles have a chance to survive into the next millennium?

The answer is big conditional ‘YES’. We the people especially the youth has to pressurise the Indian government to take protective measures. Humans are pushing turtles to extinction, and humans can save and give them their rightful place on the earth as well.

Development is turning the world into a graveyard. We cannot let another Dhamra port to destroy our biodiversity.

Act now!! Raise your voice to save one of the most beautiful harmless endangered species of the world Olive Ridley turtles. It’s worth the effort!

R. Dona Aideau

Green Warrior- rings a bell

On 23^rd of February, the Green Peace team conducted a presentation on Ecological balance, the team was very pleased with the positive response they received from the students. Our volunteers, Dona and Nandini were the active members who took part in spreading the wisdom to the future of our society.

D.A.V Velachery had a great time on 26th of February. Green Warrior chose ‘Plastics’ as the theme for the week and approached grade 4 students in the pursuit of educating them on the cons of plastic. A presentation on "SAY NO TO PLASTICS" inspired and enlightened students. The team had the benefit of answering questions that were enthusiastically posed by students. A variety of plastic based objects were 'Hand Made' by 205 students. In turn we taught them how to make paper bags, paper pens, and various other crafts using paper. We also gave them tips on how to REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE. Our volunteers, Dona, Jagan, Abhishek, Reema, Nandini and Salma from Green Peace spent time with the kids in this fun learning experience!!

A Walk to Remember

In the early hours of January 31st, 2010, the employees and volunteers of Green Peace Chennai took a walk from Nilangarai to Besant Nagar in pursuit of seeing some turtles. Although we were disappointed for not having spotted any turtles,except for a dead turtle.We were in bliss as we spent the early hours in the morning close to nature. It was then that we realized the difficulties that endangered turtles must face when they come on land to lay their eggs, and therefore decided to start an awareness campaign to bring this issue to attention. So, let’s take this as a challenge and make sure that ‘turtles’ do not become an animal of the ‘past’! We definitely don’t want another round of these wonderful species to be driven to extinction.

VERMICOMPOSTING

28th January, Chennai: A perfect day for VERMICOMPOSTING!!! Green Warrior took a trip to D.A.V School (Mogappair) to teach the students of the Environment Club, the need and benefits of vermicomposting. Today, Vermicomposting has become one of essential methods in conserving the environment due to the rise in pollution because of our never ending need to waste and dump garbage. Ms.Chitralekha, Dean and professor at Stella Maris College took the initiative of teaching the students this method of disposing waste. The time taken to impart this knowledge was acknowledged to be the education of a lifetime.

Knowledge Imparted:

Bin +Bricks+ Sand+ Water+ Manure+ Worms+ Hay/dried leaves+ a bunch of

Enthusiastic kids = the perfect lesson on vermicomposting!!!