Renewable World is supporting the United Nations World Environment Day on 5th June and encourages our supporters and partners to do the same. The theme for this year’s celebration is protecting our forests and the natural services they provide.
This is an issue which is very important to Renewable World as many of our renewable energy projects are aimed at removing the need to collect firewood to provide energy for cooking and lighting, which not only reduces deforestation but also the time spent by women and children collecting wood and the negative health impacts of the fumes from burning firewood and other biomass indoors. Indoor air pollution from burning wood, grass, animal dung and paraffin kills nearly 2 million people every year – mainly women and children.
We are planning a new project in Nepal with partner BSP who are experts in household bio-gas, to pilot a community biogas model in three communities in Nepal, building their capacity to use this renewable energy technology to enhance various economic activities within the community. This project will use biogas for small dairy agro-processing. Cow dung provides the fuel for the biogas plant, and the gas can be used to process dairy products. Excess biogas will be channelled to houses for clean and cost-efficient cooking and lighting. The project not only has positive environmental and health outcomes, but provides economic benefits for vegetable farmers within the community as the slurry output from the biogas plant is an excellent fertilizer with nutrients in a form more easily taken up by plants – increasing yields and reducing costs.
World Environment Day is not just relevant for people living in places where deforestation is a problem, but is also a day for people from all walks of life to come together to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter outlook for themselves and future generations.
So whoever you are and wherever you live, everyone has a role to play in celebrating World Environment Day! You could organize a neighbourhood clean-up, stop using plastic bags and get your community to do the same, plant a tree or better still organise a collective tree planting effort, walk to work, start a recycling drive . . . the possibilities are endless.
Check out the World Environment Day website for more ideas or to see if there is an event is happening near to you.
