Rain Water Harvesting

The rains give us a great opportunity to harvest water. The water that is conserved can be used for other household purposes. Here are some easy ways for Rain Water Harvesting: http://p1n.in/Rain

Easy Ways To Keep Your Home Energy Efficient

Here are some easy ways by which you could keep your home energy efficient. Adopt some of the tips from this video that you find relevant :)

Eco-Invention: YoGen Charger

One of the latest trends in powering green gadgets is to do it off the grid, with some form of kinetic or human-induced power. Nothing exemplifies this fad better than the YoGen Charger. Unlike solar-powered devices which can take half a day to charge your gadgets, the YoGen portable dynamo will charge them in about the same time as a wall outlet. And you only need a few minutes of tugging on a string to get it going. Charging your phone or mp3 player has n

LEARN GREEN: The Food Web

A food web is a heuristic concept map that depicts trophic (feeding) connections in an ecological community, whereas the direct species to species pathways embedded within the larger network are called food chains. The number of transfers of food and energy from the basal species in a food web (i.e., plants or detrivores) to the apex predator is the food chain length.

The food chain consists of four main parts:

• The Sun, which provides the energy for everything on the planet.
• Producers: these include all green plants.  These are also known as autotrophs, since they make their own food.  Producers are able to harness the energy of the sun to make food.  Ultimately, every (aerobic) organism is dependent on plants for oxygen (which is the waste product from photosynthesis) and food (which is produced in the form of glucose through photosynthesis).  They make up the bulk of the food chain or web.
• Consumers: In short, consumers are every organism that eats something else.  They include herbivores (animals that eat plants), carnivores (animals that eat other animals), parasites (animals that live off of other organisms by harming it), and scavengers (animals that eat dead animal carcasses).  Primary consumers are the herbivores, and are the second largest biomass in an ecosystem.  The animals that eat the herbivores (carnivores) make up the third largest biomass, and are also known as secondary consumers.  This continues with tertiary consumers, etc.
• Decomposers: These are mainly bacteria and fungi that convert dead matter into gases such as carbon and nitrogen to be released back into the air, soil, or water.  Fungi, and other organisms that break down dead organic matter are known as saprophytes.  Even though most of us hate those mushrooms or molds, they actually play a very important role.  Without decomposers, the earth would be covered in trash.  Decomposers are necessary since they recycle the nutrients to be used again by producers.

What's Earthian All About

Environmental challenges and social issues are the biggest challenges of this century.

As an emerging economic power, India faces unique dilemmas. Social disparities and uneven growth sharply contrast with rising consumption and “growth” of the middle class. Globalisation has created a market for everything but these issues. Environmental and social problems impact the vulnerable first and the most.

India needs to be at the vanguard and to act as a role model to demonstrate how it is possible to grow national wealth in a sustainable manner. Future generations of children and young adults, are the key stakeholders who will be impacted by what is happening. The nature of these problems requires completely new ways of thinking, sensibilities, changes in behaviors and responses. They require interdisciplinary subject knowledge and a radical change in approaching the problems. Educational institutions are ecosystems where this can flower.

Earthian Sustainability Program for Schools and Colleges' is designed to act as a catalyst for fostering excellence in sustainability thinking and doing amongst young people. The annual awards program is a first step towards a deeper engagement with children and young adults in schools and colleges.