Indore: An interactive session over “solar chai” on “Learning to conserve energy for sustainable development” was organised at Jimmy McGilligan Centre for Sustainable Development on National Energy Conservation Day on Thursday.
In her opening remarks Centre director Dr Janak Palta McGIlligan said, “In India we often claim to be nation of people who believe in ‘Vishva ka kalyan ho pranion mei sadbhavna ho’. But due to our own selfish motives and vested interests we have lost our path to our belief and now we are under a huge threat of natural disasters and negative effects of climate change caused by us human beings.”
Nanda Chouhan, a tribal woman, have been using solar cookers for the past 20 years also talked about how using solar energy has impacted their lives for the better. Nihjoo, a tribal local resident, claimed that the usage of solar cooker has significantly improved her life and health. A businessman by profession and a farmer by choice, Gautam Kasliwal, said that saving energy not only saves the environment, but also reduces the burden on costs and production.
Varun Raheja, an intern involved in the development of one of a kind solar dryer, said that even though recycling is seen as a solution, but requires immense energy and thus reuse should be our first and foremost step. Deval Verma, a designer, who up-cycles metal scraps has worked with the centre in the past said that the utilisation of renewable sources is important. Sameer Sharma, a IT professional, suggested that cities should make fossil fuels as an alternative source of energy. Vaibhav Joshi, an interior designer and architect, highlighted the importance of holding such events in bringing the society closer together as the cogs in a wheel.
Two interns from The Energy and Resources Institute, School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, Pankhuri Jain and Prakriti Sharma talked about how the Centre has embodied the true spirit of sustainable living.
