Expressing Eco concerns through Art

We were delighted to have the children express their views about ecology.

Minutes of Eco Committee Meeting on 7th January 2008

Attendees

• Manjit
• Diti
• Chandrakant
• Harsh
• Seema
• Devatanu
• Priyank

Discussions:

1. Ecoresponsive celebrated its 6 months anniversary today by cutting a delicious chocolate cake.
   
2. Experts will be called in this year to discuss various eco issues
3. Eco site name was fixed and the domain registeration would be done by Prakash aas soon as possible
4. Discussions on how Car stickers will be made by kids
5. Various Ec0responsive events can be given out to press to make people understand what steps we are taking to be ecosensitive.
6. Idea of adopting a nursery was forwarded by Seema
7. The venue for Tree Plantation drive needs to be decided. Also the cost for the same should be as minimal as possible.
8. Ideas on how we can shape the tender minds of young kids to be Ecoresponsive were discussed.
9. Venue for kids events / workshops will be found out.
10. Kids of the employees would be invited as guests to participate in the events.
    

Minutes of Eco Committee Meeting on 14th December 2007

Attendees

manjit

diti

payal

ambar

prakash

chandrakant

harsh

seema

Discussions:

1. Registration details
2. get the original DVD for distribution
3. collecting cd’s / newspaper for recycling
4. Car Stickers – by jan mid
5. Eco website ground work to initiate
6. search plastic recyclers
7. list of ideas on the blog
8. bags to be sent children specific org (which one to be figured out)
9. followup with crayons
10. next meeting - 7^th jan 08 - 10pm – lower parel office (compulsory for all eco members)

Eco Responsive Committee Meeting - 16th Nov 2007

Attendees

1. Prakash

2. Ambar

3. Seema

4. Harsh

5. Payal

6. Nilesh

Discussion

1. Paper Bags workshop to be conducted on 1^st December 2007, Seema & Payal to figure out more ideas for it
2. Inconvenient Truth DVD’s to go out to each Divisions asap. Prioritize it to Yellow since the demand there is high (Priyank / Harsh)
3. Getting Kids involved & finding out ideas/program to communicate with them to be considered as one of the future points (Seema)
4. Some Ideas as a part of Creative Induction has been implemented at Yellow, Payal to share the slide with Ambar
5. “You are Guilty” – wait for the right time to launch this.(Payal / Seema)
6. Decision taken to sponsor a child at Crayons. Payal to give more details to Seema (Seema / Payal)
7. Prioritize disposal of Shredded Paper & Bus Tickets, funds generated to be deposited with eco funds. (Manjit / Seema)
8. Discontinue the collection of Bus Tickets. Seema to figure out how to communicate with the employees.
9. Source out organizations who recycle Plastic Bags. etc (All the Eco Members)
10. Mango Tree__ Seema to follow-up
11. Karmayog Site (Payal / Priyank)
12. Merchandising Website for our own initiative (Dev/Payal)
13. Seema will follow up on the merchandise sold by Indian artisans
14. Homepage for merchandise site (Seema/Dev/Payal)
15. 7 th jan 08 site should be up and running
16. www.thewallartstore.com benchmark for merchandise. Can call it the ecostore.com. (Prakash will block it up for us if available). ecoshop, ecopoint, ecocentre came up with a list of names and check their availability. greenshopper.com
17. Design homepage to show organization interested, identify organizations and shops - for online eco store
18. list down the budget for the website (Dev. Approval Seema)
19. “Eco Responsive” the name to be registered (Seema / Harsh)
20. Next meeting 10am on 29th Nov 2007 at Lower Parel Office

Solar Products

Objective : Save Energy, Save Environment.

Solar Energy
Solar energy flow is not a cycle, but a flow from the sun to the biosphere. It is one of the four basic ecosystem processes or windows through which we can begin to perceive the ecosystem as a whole. Solar products are innovative mechanisms that help conserve energy, thus, help maintain the ecosystem. Solar products are environmentally friendly and are usually cost effective as well.

Today, there are several solar power products in the market for our home and office use. Solar Products include items such as solar hot water heaters, solar heating systems, solar panels, solar flashlights, small radios, solar calculators, solar battery chargers, solar lanterns, solar lighting, solar car batteries and much more.

Paper Bags and Notebooks

Objective : Save Trees and the Environment.

Everyday we face debates on the ban of plastic bags. The much cry in the air for the ban of plastic bags has raised numerous question for us. Why to ban plastic bags, as they are strong and convenient? What is the logic behind it? And, what is the alternative?

The Plastic & Environment
Plastic bags are popular with consumers and retailers as they are a functional, lightweight, strong, cheap, and hygienic way to transport food and other products. The over consumption of plastic bags find their way on to our streets, parks, and into our waterways.

In past few decades the use of plastic has increased all over the world. Plastic is a big threat to our Planet Earth. The reason is plastics are not biodegradable. Plastic is not capable of being decomposed by biological agents. Hence, when thrown after use, it is not decomposed, which tends to threat the earth.

Although plastic bags make up only a small percentage of the total litter zones, the impact of these bags is no doubt significant. Plastic bags create visual pollution problems and can have catastrophic effects on aquatic and terrestrial animals. Plastic bags are particularly striking components of the litter zone due to their size and can take a long time to fully break down (not biodegradable).

The Eco-friendly Alternative - Paper Bags
The alternative is the Paper Bag which is always environment friendly and easily biodegradable. Hence, to save our environment and our earth from the catastrophic plastics, we should start using paper made products.

These Paper Bags are either made of virgin wood pulp or recycled paper or handmade papers. Most paper bags are made from kraft paper. Kraft paper may be unbleached (brown) or bleached (white) and can be made in a wide variety of strengths or thickness (called "weight" by the industry).

Types of Paper Shopping Bags
The Paper Shopping Bags come in an exhaustive range. They are ideally made to suite the consumers requirement. They come in varied size and shape as per the packaging needs. Some of them are listed below

Paper Bag
Paper grocery bags come in a variety of paper weights from light (30 lb.) to heavy-duty (70 lb.) and 14 stock sizes, capable of holding 2 to 25 pounds. The standard paper grocery bag measures about 12 inches wide, 7 inches deep, and 17 inches tall. A shorter bag, measuring just 14 inches tall, is becoming increasingly popular. Today's paper grocery bags may also have a paper handle - making them easy to carry and reuse.

Retail Bags
Basically paper bags are used for packages that consumers buy. The paper bags are often used to hold nuts, candy, and potato chips. The much stronger one are used in packaging all types of food products, textiles, hardware, candy, sugar, flour, rice, peas, beans, and spices.

Fast Food Bags
Paper bags are the ideal solution for fast food stores.

The paper bags
Have good insulation properties, keeping food items hot.
Allow the food to "breathe," letting moisture escape so french fries, burgers, chicken, and sandwiches don't get soggy.
Are fast and easy for workers to fill.
Offer superior promotional opportunities.
Are recyclable and made from recycled content.

Multiwall Bags
A multiwall bag is two to six bags, one sitting inside the other. These bags are exceptionally strong because each layer carries its own share of the weight of the product, so the bags often are used to ship large quantities of heavy materials.

Handmade paper notebook
Notebooks made of Handmade paper are quiet popular these days. As they are made of handmade papers, they are eco-friendly. These notebooks are now available in various designs and colours. The handmade paper notebooks are directly engaged in saving hundreds and thousands of trees. By buying and using the handmade paper notebooks you will be directly or indirectly involved in saving our Planet Earth from "Deforestation" and "Greenhouse Effects".

Bus Ticket Update

Its official - we have collected 52163 tickets as on date.

All thanks to Ashmi Kothari & Imran Patel for their major contribution in ticket collection by providing us with 10,000 tickets & 3,500 tickets respectively.