“PED BACHAO, DHARTI KO SWARG BANAO”

This was the title the children came up with after much deliberation. That they realized the contribution trees make to make our planet as beautiful as it is, was heartening. Our project was a learning experience for all of us, teacher and student alike. Let us revisit our experiences with you.

FEEL

The 5 students, under the guidance of the teacher, discussed about what they thought were the major problems plaguing the areas in and around their school. All of them came up with two ideas - firstly, the indiscriminate use of plastic, and secondly, the ruthless deforestation taking place all over the city, and especially the area around the school. It was an enlightening to know that our children were so environmentally conscious. Our school is already running a campaign against the use of plastic, so we decided to try and find a solution to the deforestation problem.

IMAGINE

Now that we had to think of possible solutions, it was important to make the students realize that saving the environment, or saving trees was a tricky business. When asked what they could do to help prevent trees from being cut, they came up with some great ideas, some were innovate, others seemed like they would work like magic but might not be practically implemental. As the discussion carried on, they became more and more enthusiastic and excited. When asked how many of them used wood as cooking fuel at home, all of them said it was. They suggested that they could use alternative sources, but it soon became clear that alternate sources would be too difficult or too expensive to use. They were further asked that since trees had been cut to make the very tables and chairs they were sitting on, should schools function without furniture. This turned their enthusiastic voices into murmurs. They started to realize that it was not so simple to save the environment, and that it was a double edged sword. After giving it more serious thought for a day, they came up with more tempered and reasonable solutions. They admitted that while it was not possible to stop people from cutting trees altogether, it was necessary to make sure that everyone understood the importance of trees, and that we use wood carefully, without wastage, and try to plant at least as many trees as we cut. Awareness campaigns were thought of as a possible solution. Many solutions were discussed, but no one could come to a consensus as to which solution should be implemented.

Then, one of the students remembered that our school secretary, Mr. G.K. Swamy, had once told him about a contraption that allows the user to burn twigs, dry leaves, saw-dust, wood chips and other such forms of wood that would otherwise be completely wasted. We went and talked to him, and asked him about this idea. He told us about it, that he had seen it a long time ago somewhere, he did not quite recall when or where. He did tell us about the idea, though. The children loved it. It was perfect, just what they had been looking for. It would serve the purpose of cooking fuel, but eliminate the need for cutting trees for this purpose. It was decided, and we got about implementing the idea.

DO

It was a simple device: a porous cylinder that could be opened, and filled with dry twigs, or dry lantana, a weed that overgrows almost every piece of land in this area.

A lantana covered hillside

We first wanted to perfect the design. We tried several variations, and tried burning them. We also tried different fuels, such as dry twigs; saw wood, dry lantana, and many more to see which of them burnt well.

The students collecting dry lantana branches

The device in action

While it was great fun experimenting with the different designs, students also became aware of the difficulties the women faced while cooking on a wood fire, with the large amounts of smoke that is spewed out. Every moment was a learning experience.

Finding the elusive design

After many days of experimentation, we believed we were ready for the next step: field experiments. So we set off to the nearby villages, going from home to home, explaining to people the purpose of our project, and how we wanted them to help. We had made replicas of the device and distributed it to several households for a couple of days so they would use

it , and give us their feedback as to whether it was useful, and if any improvements were needed.

People were reluctant to use it at first, thinking we were salesmen who had come to sell them our new “product”. It took some convincing on our part before they agreed to try using the device.

After we returned two days later, we asked for their experiences. We got a mixed response. Some of them though that it took too much time to fill it up with twigs, while other said that it was time consuming to collect twigs, and that it was much easier to simply cut a tree! We were surprised. The twigs could be collected in their backyard, while they had to go to the forests to collect timber. They had a huge stack of timber in their backyard.

So much wood!

Others said that it worked just fine, and that it could easily replace tree logs as cooking fuel. Others, who had employed a little creativity in using the device and had added traces of cow dung with the twigs, said it worked even better than tree logs, and was in fact, at par with a kerosene stove in terms of cooking time.

The children talking to the villagers

Our project was a small step in the right direction. The children are enthusiastic about implementing the project beyond the one week that had first thought of. Hopefully, we will be able to bring about a positive change in the lives of the rural people, as well as help preserve the environment at the same time. The children’s slogan sums it up in the best possible manner.

PED BACHAO, PED BACHAOPARYAVARAN BACHANE KE NAYE NAYE TAREEKE

APNAOPED BACHAO, PED BACHAO

IS DHARTO KO SWARG BANAO