Even as the world leaders were slugging it out at the Copenhagen climate change summit, a group of Mumbaikars gathered at Shivaji Park grounds on Saturday to seed a green movement to mitigate the horrors of climate change.
The effectiveness of the movement lies is its simplicity. To participate in the initiative, all one needs to do is plant a couple of saplings, which are available free-of-cost, in one’s backyard, nurture them, and ensure they grow. The volunteers for the movement, aptly called the Sapling project, are hopeful that the initiative will snowball into a city-wide movement, which will ultimately lead to an increase in the green cover in residential areas.
This, in turn, will work as an agent against global warming.
For the brains behind the move, Satish Vijaykumar and Ranjit Walunj, two city-based corporate executives, the start is encouraging. “We distributed 120 saplings on the first day of our distribution drive on Saturday,” Vijaykumar said.
Vijaykumar said that the duo conceptualised the drive about a month ago. “Generally, an average Mumbai citizen is not associated with any social cause. In the race to earn money, we have forgotten the need to contribute towards the society. We thought this was the simplest way of helping people stand up and be counted.” Walunj said. “We do not want to change the world. We are working towards a simple mission, to help plant saplings in different parts of Mumbai.”
The duo has been spreading word about the project though social networking websites.
The strategy has certainly worked so far. Over 200 people have joined the movement online. Vijaykumar stated that the challenge now was to muster support offline. Over 60 volunteers turned up to extend support to the movement on Saturday. Saplings of Ashoka, Neem and herbal creepers were distributed. The saplings have been purchased from a local nursery in Dadar.
The group has been seeking donations to meet the expenses. “Donations in any form and amount are welcome. A pair of saplings cost us Rs40,” Vijaykumar said. “We also plan to purchase a mobile distribution van to extend our reach.” Walunj added that a contest on the best planted sapling was also on the cards. The Sapling project is planning to conduct its second drive in January. For more details, visit:
www.thesaplingproject.comGreen twittering
Social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook have helped spread the word on the green revolution to other cities like Bangalore and Chennai. Drives will soon be planned in these cities too. Details on the project can be sought at following twitter handles: @ranjit_walunj, @bombaylives
