Plastics, Plastic islands and Micro Plastics

We are in plastic world.
Plastic is almost used by everyone in the Planet.
Slowly it is showing its effect on environment.

We are at a stage to find immediate effective solution for this problem  as soon as possible. Most of the plastics used as of now are stable in the environment and not degrading easily. I have witnessed plastic bags strewn all over the places in land environment. This will cause effects on hydrological cycle and environment. They are polluting both land and water. When they are broken down after very long time, they become more dangerous by converting into micro plastics. These micro plastics can even travel between cells. They enter the food chain. More studies are needed to find the toxicity of these plastic substances. Plastic solids are eaten by birds and has caused mortality in little ones. Their stomach has shown to contain the bottle caps that could not be degraded even after they are dead. I have read about plastic islands formed in oceans because of plastic debris.

Recent story in CNN shows this effect in an alarming way -

Plastic Island Video

EPA Picture showing plastics in a turtle's stomach::

Day by day we are drinking polluted water, breathing polluted air, eating contaminated food, spending less and less time outdoors and not sleeping properly because of the electronic devices we use. All the five important necessities for sustaining healthy life is being threatened. Along with these, plastics also enter into bio-accumulation process through the food chain and start to affect - it is not good. We need to invest soon in bio-plastics that will degrade faster in the environment than these stubborn plastics. There are researches that add sugar to  plastics that will be eaten by bacteria and degrade soon. Further biological material such as plant fibers must be added to make plastic more bio-degradable. 

In 1990s we trained women fiber knitting (free training workshops)  to create eco-bags, an alternative to plastic bags. This also in turn recover women from poverty - a method to eradicate poverty and that eradicates hunger - which is our objective.

FIBER KNITTING TRAINING

NATURAL DYE PREPARATION

                                              SUN DRYING DYED FIBERS

                                           MANUAL FIBER KNITTING

FINISHED PRODUCTS - ECOBAGS - ALTERNATIVE FOR PLASTIC BAGS

These eco-bags should be encouraged to at least reduce plastics and give the opportunity to the under privileged women to come out of poverty.

More research should be done by plastic industries, scientific communities on biodegradable plastics and curb the effects of plastics to the environment and human health.

Environmental Protection a must

Environmental Protection needs to be considered seriously, especially now - because of high pollution levels, Already five essentials for survival - Water, Air, Food, Outdoor Environment and Sleep are being affected considerably. Along with these,  multiple adversaries are happening. Health is affected by so many things. Most of the people are depend on chemical medicines. Our bodies are exposed to more chemicals than before and it could also symbiotically affect the health with pollutants.

Recently saw photos about India's capital being affected by air pollution. As an Environmentalist, it was very hard to see that. It can lead to severe and several disasters. We have damaged the environment at the highest level. It affects human health in many ways. As an Environmental Scientist and toxicologist, I am well aware of that.

What can be done:

Governments should use air pollutants absorbing  Plants and  Electrostatic Precipitators efficiently to remove the pollutants so that people can get out without wearing masks.

Also they are many people still believing climate is not affected by pollutants and is a hoax. I hope at least they believe some percentage instead of completely denying it and help as an individual to decrease the pollution. One small example, I used to walk with my daughter during Halloween (October 31st)  wearing costumes and it was always very cold. Recent few years, the Halloween day was still like a summer day and was sweating during the walk, It is just a simple example. However rainfall patterns have changed, Arctic ice caps have melted, Hurricanes have affected the coastal areas, Beaches are becoming unsafe to swim. Governmental Organizations are warning about climate changes, NASA is also warning about this.

I personally know sacrificing Scientists studying about pollutants, how to reduce that and climate changes. We have come to a point that there is no more 100% pollutant free areas in the Globe. Pollutants have reached even remote parts of Mother Earth. We have to come up with novel methodologies and reduce the pollutants that we are letting into the environment. Also we have to come up with new ideas how to cost effectively control these pollutants.

Wherever we are, we should take necessary steps to curb pollutants and leave a healthy environment for our children. We can earn lots of money, we can be powerful person anywhere, but if the environment is not good, those mean nothing.

BIRDS   |  BUTTERFLIES  |  FLOWERS  |   NATURE

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION is  must and mandatory for the benefit of our future generations, Please, Save the Environment.

Water Air Food Outdoor Energy Sleep - Living Healthy

Water:

  Water wars are already starting in the world. We are already paying for water than most of the commodities. Think about poor people - it is going to be tough for them. We all know water is important and it is important that we manage it properly. Water bodies are abused for selfish purposes and polluted at alarming rate. Most of the people are already drinking toxic soup water rather than normal water. Sewage, pharmaceutical products waste, other industrial effluents and non point sources taint water bodies. We are also depleting ground water at an alarming rate.

It is time to manage fresh water resources, properly.

Food (from Land - Soil):

   It is really hard to say that we are eating good food. Foods are prepared from produce grown using contaminated water, chemicals including pesticides. Apart from that, they are also genetically modified and are also tainted with antibiotics and hormones. Lands for food growth have become scarce. Buildings take over trees and cities are growing, Sea level rising will also decrease the coastal area lands.

It is time to properly manage land especially agricultural lands.

Soil is important part of the agriculture. Fertile soils are enriched from mountain's run off  and it's flow through the wonderful rivers. People are destroying both mountains and river's soil beds. Quarries affecting mountains and improper sand mining from rivers affect the soil fertility which is a very important resource. With that artificial chemicals input destroys total soil fertility. That is the reason one should follow natural organic sustainable agriculture to save soil, which is an important resource for the local, country and the Globe. 

 Soil with Earth Worm at EAFARMS

Zero Budget Natural Farming.

Air:

  If we do not take care of air pollution, soon we will have to pay for air as we do for water. Our future generations have to  carry oxygen cans as breathing aid.
They will have to be dressed like they live in another planet. Cities are getting affected by smog and other air pollutants from various sources. We also cut down trees which are sinks for these
air pollutants, so it is affecting us more.

It is time to curb air pollutants and be strict on emissions.

Outdoor Energy:
  We need energy from Sun (Vitamin D) and most of us are spending time in indoors than outdoors. In indoors  we are exposed to lots of  chemicals from various indoor sources, To curb that we need to grow indoor helpful plants (snake plants, Areca palm etc) - for better air in indoors.
We live in air conditioned houses and drive around in air conditioned cars. Summers are getting hotter and I have heard people complaining that they cannot withstand heat and spend more time indoors. Children are playing more indoor games than outdoor games. There will be more cases of vitamin D deficiencies and it is not good.

It is very important to spend some time outdoors to get some Sun's energy.

Sleep:
  We all need at least 8 hours of sleep and most of us don't even sleep  for 6 hours. Electronic devices - cell phones, laptops, tablets and desktops do not help either.
Think about how much time we spend on these devices even before sleep. Disturbed sleep is cause for many diseases.

It is very important to sleep for at least 7 hours to maintain proper health.

Big companies and owners are investing for curing diseases, If these necessities ( such as good water, unpolluted air, healthy food (eating is to be done as meditation - slowly, properly chewed food is half digested) , spending quality time outdoor in Sun and sleeping properly)   -
are properly followed, people will be healthy.

It should start from individuals.

One more important aspect is to avoid toxic substances -  Tobacco - Smoking, Alcohol and Drugs.

All these practices will improve the key immune system and make the body ready to fight Infectious diseases.

Prevention is better than cure.

Live Healthy.

Tough times for Environmentalists.

As a fellow Environmentalist, it is hard to believe that environmentalists have to go through the rough act for being an Environmentalist, Nature Lover, Sustainable Practitioners, Enthusiasts and Restorers,  I pray that they overcome this and God gives them ample health and support to continue what they do in more effective way. One should always follow the positive aspects - Planting trees, restoring natural water bodies and other sustainable environmental activities. I support all such environmental sustainable activities from bottom of my heart.


Tough times to Environmentalists - It is happening all over the world - Pl. Read this.

We should ignore the negatives (even though if it is hard) by following  Gandhiji,  Swami Vivekananda, Dr. Abdul Kalam (who were all for the Nature and sustainable development).

Currently, World is going through these negativities and recently it is going through a hellish dance.
Leaders are into negativity, We hear barbaric activities in the World in most of the NEWS. Brutal killings and violence is happening all over the World.

HOWEVER,
Let us not loose our vision.
I humbly ask good people around the World  - 

Let us march towards what is right, positives without violence , only with Peace and Unity. 

In the end we are going to succeed.  Super power from above is watching all activities and will be with good people who does good activities, always.

Recently visited Mexico 

Chichen Itza - One of the world wonders - Mayan Calendar Pyramid.

                                        

 Beautiful Sunrise:

Turquoise- browed motmot:

Beautiful Marine Environment:

Pelicans Soaring high: 

People swimming  in cold water Sink hole: - Ik Kil - Cenote:

Praying for peace and nature related growth everywhere in the World. We have to preserve the nature for the Future Generations to come.

Makesh Karuppiah, Ph.D

Environmental Scientist

Modern Realistic Environmentalism

Finally I completed my book called -

Modern Realistic Environmentalism. 

This is a simple book that explains what is true environmentalism and if i could make at least a youth follow environmentalism - that will be my success.

This is also my experience as an Environmentalist. What have we done and are facing as humans:

 Air - we have polluted the air - people already have started wearing masks when going out - In future we may buy oxygen to breath.

Water - We have contaminated water and water bodies, Oceans and coastal areas are becoming highly polluted areas, water is even contaminated with non treatable pharmaceutical products and other chemicals

Food - Tainted with pesticides, insecticides, hormones and chemicals.

We carry radiation with us (I mean cell phone(s).

 Implications:
 We are seeing Dreadful Diseases at an younger age by just Inhaling Air, Drinking Water and Consuming Food (The basic necessities to lead a life). Environmentalism: As we move towards a more scientific oriented planet, we tend to destroy the environment. Billions of people inhibit this world and are using more and more scientific inventions. Laptops, desktops, tablets and cell phones are some of the few electronic goods that we cannot live without. Manufacturers want to introduce newer products every year and older products never get one hundred percent recycled. If a billion people buy a new electronic good replacing their older one, one billion units of electronic waste is produced. Where do all these wastes end up? So many harmful chemicals are also present in those goods and they enter into various environments and eventually enter into human systems. We hear so many young people suffer from dreadful disease such as cancer and die at a young age. If we have not invented all these goods or used those conservatively, those people might have escaped from those dreadful cancer diseases and lived a healthy life. What is the root cause of all these problems? Greediness. I can write several pages on greediness and its effects on the environment. As a reader you may have a question that we need to grow scientifically and we need all this improvement for human kind. I agree with the reader on that, but here is where sustainability comes in. Sustainability is a vast topic and if one needs a simple example in a sentence, then the following sentence is one such example - Consumers should use one cell phone instead of two phones. Environmentalism should come to people as a habit and sustainability should be practiced by everyone. Each and every person needs to take actions to practice environmentalism and this book can guide you on this. The foreword was written by Dr. A.A. Mohammed Hatha , my friend, professor, School of Marine Biology, Cochin University of Science and Technology  a Fullbright Scholar and who has lead Indian Scientists to Arctic Research.

A small part of his foreword:

In a nutshell, the book ‘Modern Reality Environmentalism’ is a reflection of Dr. Makesh’s commitment to nature, as he wisely understood that it is in everybody’s interest that we keep nature as undisturbed as possible. The text is simple and interlaced with good quality photographs which make the reading a pleasant experience. It is also oriented in a very practical manner so that the readers should further progress onto action so that the objective of environmental protection could be achieved in an effective manner. I take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Makesh to come out with this wonderful contribution and sure that it is going to make the world a better place to live.

I hope every one reads this free pdf ebook, especially the youth and children. Again my goal is to make at least one of them to follow environmentalism and protect our Mother Earth.

Makesh Karuppiah, PhD
A Passionate Environmental Scientist

Pongal, Sustainable Organic Natural Agriculture

During the auspicious Pongal (Tamil Harvest Festival) I want to present this article for farmers.

As an environmental scientist and information technologist I could share
my useful knowledge and experience for the benefit of the natural farming community.

Farmers practicing natural methods have questions about plant diseases, weeds and pests (how to control them in a natural way).

Natural methods are there for sure to control diseases, weed and pests:

Neem, Cow manure, butter milk, garlic, turmeric, chilies, physical fly catchers, diatomaceous earth, row covers, crop rotation and integrated pest control can be used. You can google about each topic (along with natural pest control) and read more, understand and practice. One thing to note is our agricultural forefathers have been using these methods successfully. I have heard that the amount of yield was so high that they had to use elephants for removing husk from rice instead of bulls. They had mastered the natural farming techniques at very high level. Water management - I was surprised to know that drip irrigation was mastered by placing an earthen pot with water near the tree, ploughing techniques using bulls (for Nitrogen Fixation) and crop rotation. Then came chemical take over. We converted our lands into sterile lands rather than fertile and lively lands.

Read about natural methods from -

Tamilnadu Agricultural University

Here I want to mention that there are no concise definition of Organic Farming. Some say that Organic farming is more dangerous than chemical farming. It is how one defines what is Organic Farming and how one practices organic farming.

In my definition and what we practice in our farm - Sustainable Organic Natural Agriculture (SONA):

- SUSTAINABLE - Food production along with objectives to protect the environment, eco-justice. human health and communities.


- ORGANIC - We use farmyard manure (derived from living organisms such as cows, wastes from produce grown at EA FARMS and without the use of artificial chemicals).

- NATURAL - Every input into the farm is from natural materials produced in the farm (also following Nature and Eco-justice) in proper limited amount (not excess amounts).

At EA FARMS Agriculture - we understand that - "when the limit exceeds even Ambrosia (Amurtham) is poisonous" as our traditional old saying.

Some suggests that weeds are there for a reason.That is also true. That takes me into two directions -

1) Natural farming:
          experience by the great Japanese natural farming pioneer Masanobu Fukuoka. Again you can google about him, read and acquire his natural farm methodologies.

2) Spiritual farming:
            Never go for single type of crop, always have different types of trees, plants, crops (different layers). Diversification is the key word. You need to have COWS for farming. We consider cattle as main part of our agriculture and they provide milk, fertilizer and help in ploughing and transportation. We heart fully thank them during Pongal.

Kankrej Cow @ EA Farms

Even chickens will help in reducing the pests. There are agricultural universities and best researchers in the them. Discuss with them understand your soil and ask them for natural methods.

Creating seedballs (earth balls) consisting of variety of seeds

In spiritual farming,  I think the first step is to love your farm (each part of your farm - what I mean is soil, plants, animal and people involved in it). If you do that in your farm, your trees, plants, crops, animals and farm will flourish. Even Scientifically, Scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose, long back have found that plants can feel pain, understand affection etc.,

Just by touching and interacting with plants, you see them flourish 

Which we have experienced personally. You might have also experienced that. Finally you work with your farm naturally and spiritually to make it a wonderland.

Great to have several guides (Subash Palekar Ji, Nammalavar, Pasumai Vikatan)  for practicing natural farming.

We will and are following these steps at EA Farms -  and share our knowledge to everyone.

We should be thankful for all these and follow Natural Farming.

Good Luck to farmers all over the world.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from EnviroApps

It is that time of the year when everyone should enjoy peace,  festivities and happiness. Year end holidays bring lots of positiveness. It is end of the year, let us put all the things behind and look for a bright future.

From our group we wish - Happy Holidays and Happy New Year:

EnviroApps - Environment & Information Technology

Environment - EA FARMS - Sustainable Organic Natural Agriculture - EA Farms Facebook

                        Farm Startup - Steps for people to start a farm

Information Technology - EAPHARMICS - electronic stability testing and analysis software for pharmaceutical companies

                                          EA DATA DEN - Database and IT Training

Environment & Information Technology - ZoomVin - creating environmental areas and presenting it digitally to create environmental awareness.

                                          Birds | Butterflies | Flowers | Nature

I stress to share your positive knowledge to others and guide them to better life.

I pray for peace and prosperity all over the World.

Once again Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

Makesh Karuppiah, PhD
Environmental Scientist and Information Technologist.