I am re-posting Adarsha's Oct 6th blog entry from ACE's blog: Hot and Bothered. This will be a great opportunity for us to establish new contacts with environmental youth leaders from all over the USA. Good luck Adarsha!
~Apoorva
How to green your school from Cali to Minnesota
October 6th, 2010 by Adarsha
This month, I’ll be representing ACE at the Green Schools National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its goal is to engage high school students and drive them towards making their schools more sustainable.
There is a lineup of some pretty exciting-sounding speakers, including Phillipe Cousteau, the renowned environmental activist who is the voice and face of a lot of environmental education programs delivered online.
One of the programs – the National Youth Summit – focuses as an idea exchange for the youth interested in greening their local schools together and I think that the Green Schools National Conference Leadership Program interests me because I value efforts like this to spur greener schools.
This generation’s youth, through our action or inaction, will have a great impact on social, political, economic, and environmental issues.
It is vital to instill the importance of sustainability and the value of protecting the environment in the youth, who will keep those values and hopefully continue to act on them throughout their lives.
I hope to learn what schools from varying backgrounds can do to help green themselves and the surrounding environments as there is no one-size-fits-all approach to making local institutions more sustainable. By learning the various approaches other students are taking towards sustainable schools and bringing the knowledge I’ve acquired from working with ACE and my own project, I hope to learn about the various paths to sustainability, and help fellow students in their endeavors.
More to come after my trip north and east!
-Adarsha
Posts
Dear Apoorva,
ReplyDeleteI have a three part question for you. First, let me tell you, the new pictures are wonderful. Keep up the good work. Coming to my questions
1. Supreme Overlord mentioned about Sima ruba, is that the plant that villagers use to treat Jaundice? I am not sure if you guys know this.In rural south India, there is a herbal remedy which is very popular which is used to cure Hepatitis. Well, the rural elderly men/women pass on this secret concoction to their younger family members. It's main ingredient is a plant extract.Are you aware of this? Is this Sima ruba. If not, may be it is a good idea to identify this plant which supposedly cure Jaundice. As it is very important, you should consider adding that to your plant list for schools and educate the students.
The second part is about the new venture you guys have started. This is not a question but my comment. The venture sounds interesting. However, don't move away from sustainable solutions to charity. Be careful. I think your project will be better if you focus on environmental and alternative energy issue. Thirdly, I am waiting for Supreme Overlord's blog post about Sima ruba.
Blessings,
Subbanna
Dear Mr. Subbanna,
ReplyDeleteYou always come with interesting,thought provoking questions that sometimes leaves my head scratching ! I had to ask my dad for answers to this question about the plant used in treating hepatitis. It is fortuitous that he has had the first hand knowledge of this remedy!
Here is the story : My two uncles ( my dad's younger brothers ), when they were nine or ten years old, developed hepatitis when my grandfather was in Shimoga city in the 1970's. They were advised to seek a local lady who was known to dispense a herbal medicine that was well known as a cure for hepatitis.The lady did this work purely for charity without taking any money. She used the leaves from a locally growing wild plant, compounded it with ''Kallusakkare ''( crystallized molasses ), almond and cardamom seeds. My grandparents were very relieved when the jaundice was cured. My grandmother was given the formula by this lady with a promise that it will only be used for charity to anyone who sought the remedy. Of course they had buy the almonds and other ingredients. I am proud to say that my grandmother has helped thousands of people with hepatitis over the last 40 years or so .
The plant is Gejjuga ( botanical name : Caesalpinia bonduc ). Indeed , looks like it grows in Texas also. Here are the links to the websites for more information about this plant :
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CABO6
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinesh_valke/3870579510/
Sincerely,
Adarsha
Dear Supreme Overlord!!
ReplyDeleteYour response brought back many old memories of rural life. In fact I was treated for hepatitis by the same medicine. My grandmother's recipe! Gejjugadha kai it is. I remember the name now. Thanks for the information. Are you trying Simaruba as an option for biofuel source? I don't think it is a good choice. Is it available to the local farmers at a reasonable price? Does Labland cultivate that plant?
How was your Green Schools conference?
Blessings
Subbanna