A billion trees campaign by the UN

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Permalink Reply by Francis Mwathi on July 9, 2009 at 6:34am

Thanks Fredrick for bringing this campaign to our attention. I hope to register soon.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Foo on July 10, 2009 at 7:25am

Well well well... very interesting initiative.

Saving the trees we save a lot of things. Trees are the Mother of saving the environment as without trees most living things cannot live from insects to animals and eventually human beings.

It is in this direction that we have in fact initiated our paperless homework concept by getting students around the world to use less paper in their school work. Students are known to be one of the most prolific users of paper. Day in and day out they scribble lots and lots of nonsense and throw them away to fill the landfills.

To get people to plant trees need effort to do so. Where can we plant and who is to take care of them trees...???

Why not do it in another way. Don't chop down the existing trees! Make sure they less use of paper. Economics would take care of the rest. The trees would stay where they are. No force or efforts needed to do anything. Just get students around the world to use less paper! Children get smarter too and save the money on paper for the canteen.

Imagine if around the world with 800 million students saving 3 reams of paper per year? In a few years, we have a billion or more trees still standing which otherwise would have been chopped down to pulp for paper.

That is a better solution than getting people to plant trees although it is a good effort too.

The world has gone too rotten to be saved by one effort. She needs all kinds of initiatives to save whatever are left.... if they can be saved. Generally Mankind is too selfish to save it. They are destroying faster than you can say "cheese" LOL


Regards
Alan
www.paperlesshomework.com

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Permalink Reply by Shipra Sharma on July 10, 2009 at 7:58am

Hi Owino,
I checked out the websites suggested by you and found them really interesting. Alan Foo's suggestions are equally interesting and valuable. We have done so much damage to the planet that we have to think about a thousand ideas to set everything right. On a very small scale, if we are not able to palnt trees, we can have potted plants in our houses to increase the greenery. They will not only enhance the beauty of your balconies, staircases, but also contribute to cleaning the environment. There are many varieties of sturdy house plants that can survive with little water and sunshine. This is my way of contributing to the greenery of my neighbourhood.

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Permalink Reply by Shipra Sharma on July 10, 2009 at 8:15am

In addition to what I have already said, I think the telecentre community can also contribute to this movement. Since the telecentres are, by and large, catering to the needs of the rural population, they can also take upon themselves the responsibility of sensitising the community about the benefits of tree planting. They can hold such campaigns in their respective areas and contribute to reversing the damages done to the planet. I think, along with providing the village community with access to the knowledge economy, they can also initiate the process of sustainable and environment friendly deevlopment.

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Permalink Reply by Francis Mwathi on July 10, 2009 at 8:16am

Urban and community forestry too can make a difference in our lives. Each one of us can make a personal contribution. As we develop and apply technologies for a better way of life, often times side effects adversely affect our natural environment. Now, 75 per-cent of us live in cities and towns and we can act individually to improve our natural environment through the planting and care of trees on our own streets, and by supporting community-wide forestry programs. Through technology we are learning more about trees and how they benefit mankind, and how we can do a better job of planting and caring for these trees that make up our urban forests.

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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on July 11, 2009 at 3:34pm

Thanks Fredrick for the information
I would like to know about any green projects that use ICT innovatively.

http://www.solutions-site.org/artman/publish/

http://www.cpcp.org.my

http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/

What would be the role in Telecenters in Green Efforts ?

Niranjan Meegammana
http://www.shilpasayura.org

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Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on July 13, 2009 at 3:43am

Hi all, i generally agree with you all- with special interest in Allan''s contribution. We need to start using less paper, less fuel etc so that in the long run, we reduce human dependency on tress.

ICTs have introduced many ways in which this can be done. Paperless offices are taking root in the world today where people have to rely more on the Internet than on paper while communicating and working in office.

Also, travel replacements are the in thing today. In the western world, people work from home, interviews are done on line and also communications have diverted from the traditional ways of writing letters and notes to using emails, IMs or phones.

World over, institutions of learning are also going E where on line courses are encouraged. However, this is not doing well in developing countries as Internet connections are poor.

But if all the above are given prior attention, dependency on trees will reduce and thus humanity and the environment will be saved, courtesy of ICTs.

Cheers,

Sandra

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Permalink Reply by OWINO Fredrick on July 15, 2009 at 8:44am

Hi Niranjan,am humbled by your request.I have just post an example of how a cellular network in kenya called yu has innovatively come up with an ingenious top up mechanism aimed at doing just that.please,kindly check out and see if you can figure out any other examples and sensitize people via your telecentre groups.thanks

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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on July 21, 2009 at 3:32pm

Hi Owino
Inspired by this news, I am already talking to some people to initiate 1 Million Tree campaign in Sri Lanka. But this requires number of logistics.

1. Developing a list of Regional Trees to be planted
2. Awareness among Telecenters/Community
3. Supply of Plants
4. Post planting M & E of impact

I am actually in e-Learning/Telecenter Sustainability and e -Agriculture area. I think Environment sustainability is a new area and I am quite interested to learn

I am thinking how this can help sustain Telecenters, It could be a new model for Telecenters to addopt,

Niranjan Meegammana

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Permalink Reply by OWINO Fredrick on July 24, 2009 at 6:24am

Thank you a lot meegammana for taking such a bold.I think people like yourself are making the best use of ICTs towards creating a better world.I am already doing my part on this side of the globe and am glad to hear you have started.keep up and keep me posted of your progress bcoz i will always be interested in knowing how you are faring on.Good luck and bye.

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