Change in mindset- Awareness of effects of Global Warming/Climate Change

When I started writing this blog back in 2009 and I started my individual campaign to make people aware of effects of global warming and ideas of Green Living even few years before 2009 I always found people in large number who didn't believe in all this.

During my engineering graduation, when I decided to prepare an academic seminar for my final year based on energy efficiency and conservation, my professors discouraged me not to select this topic as it lacks practicality and is not a business case! When on my trip home few years back I meet one of same professors and told now I am working in the field of sustainable development/green buildings, all he said was, it's just a fad, don't spoil your career!

In social discussions many people used to react not in favor of sustainability or even used to make their point saying ' since thousand years climate on the Earth is changing and why to make big fuss now'. Though I used to try my best to convince them that natural change in climate because the Earth was cooling down was different and now the climate is changing because of man-made reasons like industrialization, pollution and undesirable loads on natural resources.

Some people used to be so sure about hype of Global warming and climate change that they used to make fun of it and kept themselves completely shut off from the pros and cons

Even in recent years while changing the work flow and delivery methods in my organizations to achieve compliance for construction of Green buildings, most of my colleagues were not in favor of my work, no suprise. These people's favorite quote about Green Buildings/ sustainability was always "It's a money making business".

But in recent past many environmental disasters happened; to name few...Unusual Rains in Mumbai, India; Repeated and disastrous cyclones and hurricanes in USA; Record high Cold Wave in Europe; Frequent and destructive Floods in Australia; Tsunami in East Asia; Drought in China; Wild fires Mexico and Australia and Nonstop news of melting polar ice caps, increase in sea levels, change in weather patterns all over the world.

Also some big events happened in field of environmental awareness or to curb effect of climate change to name few; UNFCC's Kyoto protocol; Nobel prize to UN and Al Gore; UN Climate petition between countries at Copenhagen, Durban; Discussion of carbon tax

Some great movies like Wall-e and (not so great movies like 2012); documentaries like An inconvenient Truth, The story of stuff and such made people think about the issue while entertaining them.

Theses repeated environmental events; bombardment of effect of climate change/Global warming through media (TV channels/ Newspapers/ Internet) and increased Political interest in this topic made people realized that Global warming and Climate change is happening and not just a fad/hype or new trend to misguide the world'.

Now out of above list there is big question that Political interest in this issue is making difference on world politics or environment? And media or entertainment businesses always look for where is higher demand else they won't produce shows or news just for good cause and loose money. But overall effect of all this is good on environmental awareness somehow.

The best examples I have seen are some people changing their minds about Global warming when their children started learning this in schools and their schools asked them to participate in environmental projects.

I would say, it is always better to target that future generation (children) to spread the awareness and teach Green living so that those notorious adults, who have not yet convinced will start realizing at least out of shame.

From what I get to see in multicultural and multinational social sphere in UAE and visits to some other places, I could say I see change!

There is definitely a wide acceptance of adverse effect of Global warming/Climate change in people now than back in 2000's. So much is the change that the people who were strong critics of these real time issues have become now ambassadors of awareness of effect of Global warming and climate change. They now understood how every action of each individual can affect this most important issue of our time.

All in all I could conclude when people are getting aware of issue, it is the first step. The next will be they will start doing their bit to save our mother Earth for our future generations. So it is still a long way to reach that goal of Sustainable Planet!

And if a new reader will think okay you talked a lot about the first step "awareness", but what about next steps which are more important. Then don't think why governments not doing anything about it or what people will say if I save water/petrol by going extra mile. Just browse through this blog or internet, one can find numerous life style changes, which we all can do to curb climate change. Or go back to roots, culture, traditions to find eco-friendly tips. Green living is nothing but a natural way of human being to live, cutting extras and using necessary resources in efficient ways!

New Year Green Resolutions!

Happy New Year 2012!
Every year we all make new year resolutions. Since years I am adding enevironmental awareness & achieving Green/Eco-friendly lifestyle in the list of my new year resolutions.

Last year I opted for raw vegan food as much as possible. I reduced my weight (!) & saved lot of LPG for cooking & cooking oil than most of Indian people ;). Apart from jokes, this year I have decided to walk more & more and also use public transport whenever possible. Using less water for household is continued from last year. Saving electricity by not using AC in winter at home & office is ongoing. And using daylight and not switching on lights during daytime (specially in office) is also carried forward from last year, Thanks to my colleagues as they don't object!

Last year very sucessfully I kept on avoid printing papers in office & whenever needed I printed on both sides. I tried my best to implement paper recycling in my previous office. I feel good when I see those filled paper recycling boxes whenever I visit my previous office. But now I need to recycle papers in my new office this year!

Getting rid of some unnecessary things (clothes/shoes/medicines etc) at home by giving them to charity is still pending from last year's list of resolutions. And same is story with a very heavy paper luggage at home. We need to scan most of papers/notes & recycle them.

New addition to my resolutions list is, try to save petrol when I am waiting at signal or petrol pump! If switching off the engine is not possible then at least changing gear to neutral will save some petrol for sure. I will also organize my hard disc & throw unnecessary digital stuff to recycle bin, as I don't want to buy a new hard disc. (which will save some of my carbon footprints!)

One more thing I will start this year, to buy vegetables & keep them in one plastic bag instead of using sperate bag for each veggie & fruits.

But this year, Nandan , my husband is definitely being more creative at New year's Green resolutions. What he did is, firstly he changed his mobile's screen as a black screen. By doing this his mobile battery life increased & he doesn't have to charge his mobile every now & then.

He also selected a power saver mode on his mobile. Overall effect of all his efforts is longer battery time. Though one might think how much electricity could be saved by doing these changes in your mobile and definitely this is micro energy saving. But we need to think what if my husband continue to follow his new year resolution till end of this year or what if some more people join him to save their mobile battery charge. Then definitely considerable electricity could be saved!

The inference is, if we can not stop using technologies (specially electronics), which are adding big amount of carbon footprint to date, then at least we can try using these technologies smartly. So that at least we can save some resources!


Guys all the very best to you to fulfill your new year resolution & my request is to add some Green resolutions to your list and let me know about them!

Kayaking in Abu Dhabi's Mangroves

Last weekend on our wedding anniversary, in search of some eco-celebration we did mangrove kayaking in Abu Dhabi with Noukhada. It was indeed educational & adventurous.

Since years I have appreciated the beauty of those mangroves while travelling on Salam street in Abu Dhabi. Specially when you always get to see some interesting birds flying in that area. As we all know Abu Dhabi is blessed with a large coast line & lot of mangroves, but because of the development I always had a fear that what if all these mangroves will vanish some day?

But thanks to Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, govt. has strict policies about conserving existing Natural Systems. Sometimes if the existing natural system can not be conserved, the developer has to compensate for it by creating similar habitat in nearby place or further away.

So my husband booked our kayaking tour with Noukhada Adventure Company, who organize kayaking, fishing and similar activities in Eastern mangroves. We are glad to hear from Noukhada's owner & founder Mark that they are in talk with TDIC & hopefully soon they will start similar activities in very beautiful mangroves around Sadiyat Island! They also told us that they are in collaboration with Nautica environmental associates, who are doing ecological survey of these mangroves since years.

As soon as we reached Noukhada Launching point off the Salam street, we signed a declaration form. Once we were ready with lifejacket, sunblock, water bottle & some basics of kayaking from our tour guide, our group set off for the most amazing experience I ever had in Abu Dhabi!

The waters in mangroves were comparatively shallow & calm. Paddling our kayaks was not very hard but our muscles were aching for a day after kayaking (in short we need to exercise regularly ;)). Soon we realized that the mangrove trees are not just shrubs but they are regular tall trees like any tree on land. The only diffrence is that their roots are in the seabed & some part of tree comes above water, which looks like a shrub.

We soon found a heron sitting at the corner of mangrove trees, we paddled little closer to him, he did not move. I remembered a Marathi language poem I learned in my school, where poet calls the standstill heron a meditating priest and I realized how it makes sense! The sight was amazing!

While I was thrilled by the serenity of dense green mangroves, Jenny, Mark's daughter said it rightly "You don't even feel you are in Abu Dhabi!". All we know about UAE is beautiful desert & cement jungle, but one has to visit mangroves to see the richness of nature in UAE.

Actually if you see these mangroves in summer, they are all green & dense like how they are in winter. And I always seen local and migratory birds flying in these areas year round.

One of fellow group member found a yellow flower in those mangroves; Jenny told us the scientific name of flower, which I don't remember now. Jenny told us she is studying in UK, but she visits her father during her vacation and kayak in those mangroves to help him in his work. Now most of us will think why my father never did this kind of work? :)

After a while of paddling deep into mangroves, our tour guide took us in the narrow lanes of mangroves, where you understand why the word 'Mangrove Forest' is appropriate. The mangrove trees are quite dense & also tall in these forests. The natural canals are so narrow here that it's very hard to steer your kayak without getting stuck, especially if it is a longer two sitter kayak.

At first when we were sort of banging in mangrove trees, I was skeptic about hurting those trees & disturbing the flora. But soon I observed how flexible most of these trees were. Whenever our kayak was going onto these trees, the trees used to flexibly bend & rise up again once our kayak is passed. I also learned to hold the branches of other strong (not flexible) trees so as to stop our kayak going onto other trees.

While struggling with steering in those dense mangroves, we were stunned by the different world in those mangroves. As it was low tide that time, we could see the sea bed & roots of trees under water. There was also some sea grass under the water. We smelt salt in mangroves but there was not a bad smell at all in those mangroves, which we feel otherwise. The mangroves were clean & as people can't reach here that easily for picnic, we could not see garbage anywhere. Some tiny orange crabs were floating in waters, Jane told us these crabs live under the sea bed. The leaves of mangrove trees were thicker to retain water I guess. Some small wooden blocks were floating on waters. Unlike old days, people don't need wood from mangroves for fuel anymore now.

As I have described how mangroves were very important for locals here so many years back for food & housing materials. We also saw some people doing fishing in mangroves. We found some boards fixed in these mangroves, which displayed does & don'ts. As well as some boards displaying information about mangrove ecosystem. These kinds of boards by govt. are very necessary for awareness.

Kayaking through the mangrove forest was such an experience that we will definitely kayak with Noukhada again! While returning to coast from mangrove forest, one more big white bird, probably stroke flied spreading his long wings in front of us. This is definitely one of the most prominent spot for nature lovers.

When we returned to the launching point, we were drenched in water, had aching muscles and we were extremely happy that we explored something very unknown. Later Mark told us that they also arrange a special Eco- tour, in which similar to our tour the mangrove forest is explored through kayaking but then they stop at some dedicated points, where they give lecture & distribute some literature about mangrove ecology & conservation. The eco tour is great for school going kids & also for anybody who is more interested to know about ecosystem in these mangroves. To find out more about Noukhada Adventure Company and the mangrove tours visit, http://noukhada.ae/. (Here are Mark & Jenny at Noukhada launching point.) Noukhada has definitely started some amazing work by starting this kind of business. Mainly because residents can now actually visit these mangroves even if they don't own a boat or kayak. And the adventure part in it works like honey to attract more people, who will be then aware of rich ecosystem in mangroves & they will definitely spread their knowledge about mangroves, which will make more people aware about it.

If anybody wants to see natural beauty of UAE, I would say one has to visit not only desert but also mangroves, without which UAE is incomplete!