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| Electricity Saver Ireland looks at "How will Copenhagan affect us in Ireland??"An educating look at how Copenhagen will affect us and what we can learn from it.
By: Electricity Saver Ireland Green shoots of change Labonita Ghosh / DNASunday, December 20, 2009 2:07 IST Email Mumbai: Whether or not anything comes out of the Copenhagen conference, a clutch of Indians have already found their groove in the business of the future: green ventures. While some of them hope the climate conference will provide a fillip to their work, others feel becoming eco-friendly will be inevitable. DNA profiles some ecopreneurs. Let there be solar light When he was doing his Masters from a US university some years ago, Harish Hande decided he needed first-hand experience in what he was researching: In the 15 years since he founded the company, Hande has helped install solar photo-voltaic panels on rooftops, various kinds of lamps, batteries and other power-capturing devices to provide alternative sources of electricity to 1.15 lakh homes. Through 21 centres across Karnataka and one in Ahmedabad, Hande's company covers both the rural and urban poor. "We cater to needs rather than wants," says the IIT Kharagpur alumnus. "If a farmer needs electricity for one hour in the morning to milk his cows, and for two hours in the evening for his children to study, that's what we'll give him." Selco counts among its clients paddy and peanut farmers, street vendors, midwives and a variety of home-based workers. Hande is not terribly excited about Copenhagen. "The issue of poverty has been thrown out of the window," he says. "You can't tell a poor person to stop buying kerosene or cutting wood. As long as climate change, and not poverty, is the theme, it will continue to be a tussle between the developed and developing world." There is such a strong link between poverty and sustainability, says Hande, that addressing the latter will also take care of climate change. "Copenhangen will not improve my business," says the man whose company has made it to textbooks in Harvard and Yale for its micro-credit innovations. "Holistic solutions will." Waste is wealth Anil Ranglani wants to turn Mumbai into a rainforest. Well, not exactly, but the city head of the waste management company Daily Dump, certainly wants it to be greener than it is now. And he has just the tools for it. A year ago, Ranglani, 47, started selling large clay urns for some DIY composting by patrons. They can keep the three-tier pots at home and dump their garbage in it every day. After nine weeks -- and with the help of some microbes and powders supplied by Ranglani -- they get manure they can use to fertilise plants. "Compost pits are complicated, largescale things," says the computer science engineer. "My products are all about the power of two. You need two sq feet of area to place the pot, two minutes to dump your wet waste in it every day, and it costs Rs2,000." Ranglani wants to overrun the city with the pots: Place them in homes, schools and colleges, corporate houses and even building societies -- any place, in fact, that has a kitchen or a canteen and generates garbage. He is currently in talks with several organisations. Ranglani's pots can take care of waste generated by 10 families at a time. And Daily Dump provides a starter kit with rakes, gloves, powders, microbes, lemon grass (for odourless disposal) and even dry leaves to hasten the process of composting. The manure generated can be used to plant more trees in Mumbai, and also turn it into a zero-garbage city. "We need to convince people that waste is wealth, and find innovative ways to make its disposal lucrative," he says. Ranglani also believes in the power of one. "It's great that India has committed to emissions cuts at Copenhagen, but how will the government keeps its promise if this pledge doesn't percolate down to the people?" asks Ranglani. Then adds: "Each of us needs to pull our weight. We need to start small; have every household manage its waste. And then we need to scale up. With growing awareness post-conference, I'm looking to sell at least 500-1,000 pieces a month." Green architect Chitra Vishwanath lives in a mud house, works out of a mud office and is credited with setting up an entire neighbourhood of mud dwellings in Bangalore. The walls, ceilings and roofs are made of mud mixed with sand, quarry dust or fly ash, and stabilised with lime. Only five to seven per cent of the structures is cement. They recycle every drop of water, compost the waste generated by residents and are even fitted with eco-sanitation toilets. "The next step is growing food on the roof of the house," says Vishwanath, 47, who grows rice on hers. Biome, the company she set up with her husband two years ago, has built 500 such 'alternative constructions' across the country. "After Sanaa in Yemen and Kano in Nigeria, Bangalore is probably the third city in the world to have the largest number of mud homes," says Vishwanath. "We need whole cities like this." Vishwanath views Copenhagen in a somewhat detached manner. "Sure, now more people will understand the merits of going green, and there will be fewer skeptics. But bitter fighting over emissions is hardly the way to go. I prefer [California governor] Arnold Schwarzenegger's view that the approach to climate change should begin at the lower levels. We have already been doing it within the four walls of our homes, now others need to as well." Labonita Ghosh DNA Read the World Paper provided by Electricity Saver Ireland, please visit http://ElectricitySaverIreland.com to learn more. Or Call our offices on 00353 1443 4363. # # # ElectricitySaverIreland.com is an innovative new Irish company, whose aim is to lower Irelands Carbon Emmissions through numerous energy saving activities. Visit our website http://ElectricitySaverIreland.com End
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