Bomb the Earth with Love
“Concern for the environment started around
20 years ago when I saw that there were trees being cut down,” shares Maendra J
A Alvares, Creator of Big Foot. In view of that fact, Maendra then got together
with people and started planting saplings of trees wherever possible. He uses
many significantly viable days and gives
it a nature twist, like Friendship Day and the project ‘The Tree my Friend’,
and Raksha Bandan and ‘Nature my brother’.
“I believe that the youngest of our
population are the most open to progress, hence I called them forward to Bomb
the Earth with Love,” states Maendra.
Bomb the Earth with Love was a new initiative
– a demonstration of how to make seed bombs for the locals and children from
around the neighboring schools. The participants used correct ratios of wet
earth and compost, rolling out the seed bombs and finally drying the outer
shell. All the seeds were of fruit bearing trees like jamun, jackfruit, custard
apple, bull’s heart, soursop, tamarind, kokum, chickoo, etc. The total was
around 3000 seed bombs. These are being distributed to different people and
guests who visit the Big Foot, Loutolim.
Million People – Million Trees
Goa ForGiving worked with saving the coconut
trees campaign in 2016 and have now taken the initiative of planting more trees
across Goa. Going along with this year’s World Environment Day theme – Air
Pollution – Goa ForGiving in association with Think Panjim and Transform Goa
have started a tree plantation drive ‘Million People – Million Trees’.
The team believes that with thousands of
trees being cut in the name of development in Goa, there won’t be fresh air to
breathe at all. “Goa has a population of approximately one million, and if each
one plants at least one tree, it would benefit us and the future generations,”
says Armando Gonsalves, Founder, Goa ForGiving. The people have already begun
planting in few areas like schools, old age homes, heritage homes and even at
government offices.
Arannya Environment Research Organisation
Arannya Environment Research Organisation was
founded by a group of likeminded youngsters from Goa. The aim was to connect
the young generation with nature. “We were in college and never had the
opportunity to experience wildlife and greenery, therefore we decided to come
up with a group that will help in preservation and protection of our Earth in
little ways,” says Harshada Gauns, founder and president of Arannya Environment
Research Organisation.
The group recently began a new project that
prevents the use of plastic. The team goes around in groups and interacts with
vendors and shopkeepers to avoid sale of plastic bags and other item. This
year, Arannya has completed 25 such events.
Guru Bar and its clean up drives
Guru Bar has gone beyond their way to
contribute to the environment. They are simply so much more than just a
restaurant. Lately, the members of Guru Bar along with the owner, Swapnil Naik,
have been organising many cleanup drives at different beaches of Goa. In order
to encourage more people to join in, they also have entertainment for the
helping hands. “We used to see so much garbage and plastic lying around the
beach near our restaurant; many tourists told us about it and that’s when we
decided to start cleaning up,” admits Swapnil.
They started with Anjuna beach and covered
other beaches till date like Baga, Small Vagator, Uddo, and Chapora jetty.
Swapnil expresses his love for giving back to nature. Looking at Guru Bar, many
other beachside restaurants will be inspired to keep the area clean. Soon
enough, Guru Bar plans on having an eco fest in the year 2020.
vRecycle Waste Management Services
Clinton Vaz expressed his love for the planet
at the age of 15, by starting an online group called Green Goa. Today he has
founded vRecycle, a firm that provides waste management solutions for
households in parts of South Goa. The employees working at vRecycle collect
household waste about 6000-8000 homes, which is segregated into dry and wet
waste daily. All the waste is recycled except for few non renewable ones. They
also educate people on how to manage one’s own waste.
“I was trying to solve my own waste disposal
problem as in Benaulim there was no way to get rid of the waste, hence I
learned to do it myself. Gradually, I realised there were many others who
needed help. Starting this organisation is useful and helpful to all,” shares
Clinton.
Clinton says it is important to segregate
waste to avoid burning of waste, overflowing landfills, polluted air and
contaminated bates groundwater
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