People have asked me, and honestly, I have sometimes asked myself if I ever get tired of being "green", if I have ever become exhausted form following the green rules. I chuckle as I admit that I have. There have been those guilty moments, actually many of them, in my long journey on this path. I have felt exhausted, and not only so, a small baby step can trigger anything in the wide spectrum of reactions ranging from elation of achievement, the perspiring grit of persistence and the slump of a what's-the-use delirium. I have had them all over time. Reaching the pinnacle of a balanced environmentally conscious living is one thing and continuing to live it day in and day out is quite another. Moments come, when the tired ghost of the consumer rises, tickling you to succumb and choose the easy life of the happy-go-lucky urbanite of the use-n-throw era.

I would say, changing your lifestyle around completely towards a compassionate and sustainable way of life takes immense courage and deeper integrity. It is not for the weak hearted, believe me. So, if I am on this path, I will have to equip myself with the attitude of a mountain climber, the cliff hangers that do not let go at the edge of the precipice. I encourage myself to put one step ahead of the other and that is all that matters at that moment.  It helps me to stay focused and to live in the present moment and to live it completely. That is the fuel for my green vehicle! That way, I may slow down at times, but I will never be out of gas!

Dear Greenologicals ( a perfect title for all my logically thinking Greenologics supporters),

I am waking up from a Greenologics Rip van Winklish slumber that lasted several months. Greenologics has stayed permanently imprinted in my brain and it is only the fingers, keyboard and time that haven't found time together to make an input and upload possible. It seems that after considerable pondering, I have finally found my passion! The Dove chocolate of the promise series that I had opened gingerly about three years ago had commanded me with its dark-chocolatey bitter sweetness to "find my passion". The definitive assertion that the tiny silver foil held was undeniable, it was as if there could be no life without any passion. I stared at it with loving intensity and gently smoothed out all the kinks with the wide thumbnail until it shone bright and confident. I took it to school before the winter break and posted it on my window by the computer. It remained a constant companion, sometimes on the CPU that sat solidly under the flat-screen monitor, sometimes on the top right corner of the monitor itself (so I could not deny its presence). I pondered over it as I packed it carefully at the end of each school year for the summer. Out it came in August and found its central place in my cluttered work table.
I guess it takes as many viewings for it to become entrenched in the psyche like a radium needle and begins to take over the thought process. And it is in this rather long drawn process that the habit of believing in it takes birth. A passion in me is born! It has since been nurtured and well taken care of. My passion is in propagating a green, sustainable way of life through my writings, environment education for kids and my sharing of the  philosophy of being able to know your inner true nature through spiritual knowledge and yogic practices. I am ready to perform, to push and reach my goal, one baby step at a time through each day as it comes.Today, I have been inspired to stir up from the long slumber, after reading the natural amble of Virginia Woolf's casual diary writing. The goal is to pour out ceaselessly and not pausing to think of a word during the first draft. This is a challenge and a breeze blended together and shades in between.
I insist that you prod me on if I have been silent for a week.

This is no joke! Seriously, a 50,000 square feet of office space is getting ready to operate completely off the grid, using all that nature has to offer. It is going to be one of the finest showcasing of the Living Building Challenge.

Seattle has been peaking in so many green ways, the list is almost endless. A pristine city with aware citizens is surely making a big difference in cleaning up the carbon soot our consumer society has smothered itself into. While the country is now abuzz with the growing zest for getting LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for building green, a Seattle company surprises the country with its super green initiative in building the least polluting office space to date. The proposed Bulitt Center’s carbon footprint is projected to be exactly half as much of a LEED-certified building! Almost impossible to imagine, the office is integrating all possible energy saving attributes for itself and offering the world a model worth vying to copy, for copying has always been a way of flattery. Earning a full-page attention of the current issue of the Time (July 2, 2012) is testimony to its promise of living off the grid!

The frog does not drink up all the water of the pond in which it lives, says the adage. The Bulitt Center is surely gearing up to be the frog of its kind in the world of architectural splendor to not suck up any drop from its own cozy energy pool of its city. What are you doing about your own house? Any positive changes? Remember, every little counts!!

Dear friends,

As some of you know, I am starting some awareness sessions for children of all ages on some major environmental concerns that are plaguing us today and is going to hurt our children in ways we have not planned (of course!) in spite of all the nurturing that we have done to hone their education and health. On August 14, I am planning a day camp focusing on about 3 to 4 topics which will prompt them to think and behave as lifelong responsible consumers. I and starting out with a lot of hope for a healthy future for the Gen-X. I promise that it will not be a day wasted for your child. They will go home with something new.

Once again, it is not about saving the Earth, but about saving ourselves on the brink of crisis!!

All are welcome, but in order to have a headcount, I would need you to register. Email me if you are interested and I will mail you the packet. The class is free.

Middle School and High School students will have more scope of research and visual/oral presentations to peers and younger audience. Elementary school students will have more hands on and visuals.
Please circulate this to your friends. If your child needs to bring a friend, please have him/her registered as well.

I will post future dates soon. I am not very good at reading silence, so I will really appreciate your email even if you cannot attend this time. Looking forward,

Balaka Ghosal ('Jhuma' to some of my friends!)

HISD Connect - HISD Launches “Green School” Challenge to Reduce Energy Use, Increase Recycling

HISD Connect - HISD Launches “Green School” Challenge to Reduce Energy Use, Increase Recycling

Every Green Step I Have Taken -- Counting towards more....

Here are the tiny baby steps that I have taken as an environment greenhorn towards greening myself and felt the grace of peace bringing myself closer to the truth of nature.

-        I recycle anything that is recyclable, no matter how much labor or planning is involved in it, the details of which can feed another article!

-        I have started a compost pile that takes not only my vegetable and fruit scraps, but also my dryer lint, vacuum cleaner’s sucked up dirt, my cats’ hair, shredded socks and underwears and handtowels!

-        I have almost weaned myself of paper towels and napkins. Being a pet owner, I cannot completely do away with those, but the ones I buy are 100 recycled, and those that are used to wipe countertops occasionally are added to my compost pile.

-        I buy completely biodegradable litter for my cats. I do not add used litter to my compost pile to keep it ‘clean’ until I have learned the art of manuring!

-        I am making an earnest effort towards growing my own food with a wide variety of mixed cropping. with the backyard soil not cooperating right yet with my novice rudimentary skills, I have been rightly advised to use potting mix  and my compost in cardboard boxes. It is so far working wornderfully. My front yard is also becoming a herb garden, mostly to share with my neighbors even when I am not home!

-        Trips to the farmers market is becoming more frequent than before and the taste of simple food is so delicious. I try to buy local, within and around Houston or at most Texas up to Mexico. Food with minimum processing is becoming a family habit. The labor involved seems less stressful and so completely worth it.

-        We have switched to wind energy through our electricity provider.

-        We have installed double pane windows in two rooms that get a lot of sunlight most of the day. Those rooms are whole lot cooler now!

-        Our Thanksgiving gift to ourselves was the radiant barrier and renewed insulation and a rain barrel in the garden! Yeah, we will soon receive our Energy Star certification!!

-        The attic fan will be in addition to it during spring.

-        I am currently going about the house plugging all gaps with various types of caulking, weather stripping materials and

-        We are keeping our windows open these days for fresh air to flow in and freshen up the indoors. Feeling the breeze indoors is a luxury I have not enjoyed in a long time in drought scorched Houston. It feels great!

-        We do not have a greywater system in our house. To replenish for that, I keep storing the used water in the kitchen to feed the plants outdoors (water that I have used to wash fruits, vegetables, rice and lentils)

-        We have stopped buying mulch a long time ago – the leaves and acorns and grass clippings serve as fine mulch. If not so pleasing to the eye, it is indeed cheap and keeps my squirrels happy with the acorns they have not lost.

-        We are seriously working on cutting down on our water consumption in intelligent and timed ways. Our water bills are beginning to show results already.

-        We have switched to solar lights in the garden and use low-wattage lights endorsed by energy-star!

-        For the ‘reduce’, we have done away with a lot of fanciful spending and have bought items with less packaging or with recycled and recyclable packaging.

-        To reduce carbon emission, we carpool whenever possible.

-        Bringing up your family’s habits to this level  has been a tough challenge, but it is happening slowly as they are taking their babysteps, and of course my husband footing the bills for the green makeovers! They see the logic and realize that it is not a fad I am after, it is pure good sense!

-        I run a greening program at my school, got my PTO signed up with Abitibi to earn some extra bucks through recycling. We also recycle # 1 and 2 plastics and soda cans at my school. I ran a Green Club at my school for 3 years in a row.

-        I encourage my neighbors to recycle with me, every weekend, they leave their recyclables at my doorstep for me to drop them off.

-        I am planning to do summer camps with neighborhood children on greening habits and how to save precious water and to develop a sensitivity of the effects of our consumption habits on the world.

-        I make an attempt to attend important Green building conferences, or other environment awareness meetings as educators to get advice on how to provide leadership in these areas.

-        I hope to continue growing my blog http://greenologics.blogspot.com to promote awareness of a healthier, chemical-free living. Tell your friends to check it out.

Enviroblog

Enviroblog