The T&F Green Week, now in its 4th year, gives us an opportunity to engage directly with environmental issues that have stormed into our lives in recent years. During this week, the Green Brigade at T&F India has a host of imaginatively planned activities to put ‘green’ on the forefront.

We have all been exhorted and besieged for the last several days to participate whole heartedly and I for one have not been able to withstand either the pressure or their enthusiasm for the cause.

More seriously, the current floods in Kashmir, where some of us have colleagues, family and/ or friends at the receiving end of our collective neglect, brings home the urgency of taking heed. This newsletter is just one of the several ways that have been chosen to up the ante.

So fellow T&Fers, this week, let us individually and collectively, agree to do our bit, both at home and at work, to become conscious of the way we interact and behave with our immediate environment and actively live green.

Nitasha Devasar Managing Director, Taylor & Francis India

VasudhaThe producer and giver of wealth,

our Mother Earth

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Monday: Rediscovering the Beauty of our Mother Earth

The Taylor & Francis Green Week is in 4th year of running now. The Green week is designed to raise awareness of global environmental developments and help us consider how we might act on them, locally and globally. There are Group-wide competitions and local activities running in offices through the week.

In the India office, we have celebrated the Green Week every year for the past 4 years. Our celebrations have included events, such as

- Create from waste- Poster making with a storyboard- Photography competition- Online green quiz

History of the Green Week

- Gift a plant- Environment movie followed by a discussion- Green lunch – community sharing

Green Week 2014Green Week 2014 is divided into five themes:

MONDAY: Our Beautiful Mother Earth Launch of the Newsletter: A Green Week Newsletter will be brought out every day from 15-19 September 2014. The newsletter would include interesting articles, research, and staff contribution in form of poems, short stories, personal experiences and photographs. Each issue would correspond with the relevant theme of the day.

Newsletter team: Namita Singh, Ramaswamy Seshadri and Anjali Maggon

Introductory teasers of the Online Quiz Competition: The competition aims to involve people to read and understand issues related to conservation and environment. It also aims to awaken the conscious responsibility of people towards contributing to the reduction of the carbon footprint in their own way.

The Green Quiz Team: Kamran Alam, Norkim Lepcha and Meenakshi Chaudhary

TUESDAY: Health is Wealth Green Recipe Booklet: The T&F Green Recipe Booklet will be launched today. Colleagues will be invited to submit their recipes online to the T&F Green Food Team. Perhaps with enough interested green cooks, we may also organize a ‘Mystery Box Challenge’. The mystery box challenge will involve giving each team a set of ingredients to produce a green dish which does not involve any cooking.

Green Recipe Team: Moasenla Jamir, Antara Chaudhury and Jayendrina RayOur newsletter on Tuesday would include personal experiences of staff and some interesting health articles.

Taylor & Francis India | Green Week 2014 | 15-19 September 2014

Green Week 2014WEDNESDAY: Waste Not Wednesday Create from Waste: The CREATE from WASTE competition will be launched today by the Waste Green Heroes. Waste is usually something that lands up in a dustbin or the backyard. Our aim this Green Week is to give it a ‘new beginning’. Wood, Paper, Plastic, Glass — one could pick anything around that has been discarded and give it a story and purpose.

Create a Story Team: Moasenla Jamir, Antara Chaudhury and Jayendrina RayWednesday’s newsletter would carry a special issue on Waste Not Water.

THURSDAY: Reduce, Reuse and RecycleJAAGRUTI: It will be a day of Green Heroes to do their bit towards the Green Week. So, we start the day by inviting our partners JAAGRUTI to deliver a speech on Paper Conservation.

Jaagruti Team: Sonali Bhardwaj, Shafina Segon

Green Skit: The green heroes will present a skit today on Going Green to all the colleagues

The Green Skit Team: Bhawna Chauhan, Purnima Agarwal, Robinson Raju, Disha Lakhanpal, Rituparna SenguptaThe newsletter will cover the details of the day

FRIDAY: Fuel Up FridayMARATHON: Today is the day of the marathon. The concluding day, it will embody the essence of the Green Week by inviting people to walk together towards a greener future

Run for a Cause Team: Bhawna Chauhan, Swati Gambhir and Namita SinghNewsletter to cover the event as scheduled.

Prize distribution ceremony

GREEN – that is how we would like the world to be

Green contributions from T&FersTHE TREE AND THE GRASSThe sun shone high and bright,Upon the mighty tree,as he laughed hard at the green grass,“What art thou before me?”

“I am tall, strong and mighty,I house birds and beasts,People thank me as Ibring sweet fruits to their feasts”

“But, tiny, narrow and bleak,People upon thee tread,Does it not hurt thy honouras thou around me spread?”

The grass smiled gently,as his friend gloated in pride.“Thou shall know tonight,” he said“Let time set thy query aside”

When the sun lay itself to rest,And stars began to glow,A heavy storm raised havoc,A wind started to blow.

It blew over the houses,It blew past the sea,It blew over the green grass,And it blew over the tree.

It shattered the window panes,It put out the light,It hissed over the chimney,It hissed all through the night.

Finally the dawn arrivedAs fresh and bright it could be.Shocking what the unstoppable wind had done,To the immovable tree.

Anindita Mondal

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar:

I love not man the less, but Nature more.

~Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

Anindita Mondal

Sushmita Das

Disha Lakhanpal

Taylor & Francis India | Green Week 2014 | 15-19 September 2014

We have roped in the Green TV – a new television channel due to be launched soon. The channel will focus on agri-culture, environmental issues and rural concerns. They have agreed to show-case Taylor & Francis Green Week on their programme Dharti.

T&F India to be on TV Soon!

Interview with Professor M.H.Fulekar

Q: As an environmentalist, what is your view about mother earth and the condition that it is in today?

Rapid growth of industrialization, urbanization, modern agriculture practices and energy generation have resulted in exploitation of natural resources. Human activities have contributed in disturbing the ecological balance of earth and its environment. The modern technological innovations and chemical processes: e-waste, nuclear waste, solid waste, hazardous waste generation and its dumping on earth have led to rise in pollution level above the self-cleaning capacity of the environment.

Q: What according to you should be done to save the planet?

The preventive and control measures should be taken at the source for limiting the emission of pollution and generation of waste. The advancement in the waste treatment shall be introduced to comply with the standards of the waste contaminant as per the Environment Protection Act 1986. The research in the direction may be promoted to save the planet from pollution, ozone depletion, global warming, and climate change effect, thus preventing deterioration and degradation of the planet’s health and environment.

Professor M.H.Fulekar is Dean at the School of Environment & Sustainable Development, Central University of Gujarat. His research has been published in various international journals. He is also the author of a book Environmental Biotechnology, published by CRC Press. Here are excerpts from his meeting with Ramaswamy Seshadri.

Q: You have conducted many seminars in the last few years on combating Climate Change, Urban Solid Waste and Plastic Waste Management, Low Carbon Economy, Nurture Nature for future etc. Have such events helped in changing the mindset of people towards nature? Could you share a few examples?

The seminars, conferences and workshops on these subjects have brought awareness among the researchers, teachers, environmentalists and public. The scientists and technocrats have to modify processes and operations, substitute raw materials to combat the impact of pollution on the planet.

Q: As an expert environmentalist and author of numerous books on environment, what do you think about this initiative of Green Week undertaken by Taylor & Francis India?

As an environmentalist I appreciate the efforts taken by Taylor & Francis, to invite the opinion on the degradation and deterioration of mother earth/planet and measures to be taken to save the planet. The readers will be motivated to take initiatives for understanding the present environmental problems and help prevent and control pollution, by substituting any hazardous material with less toxic or environment friendly raw material and developing products which comply with health and environment standards.

New NASA probe will study Earth’s forests in 3-D: A laser-based instrument being developed for the International Space Station will provide a unique 3-D view of Earth’s forests, helping to fill in missing information about their role in the carbon cycle.

J&K floods a grim reminder of increasing climate change impact in India: Climate models predict that India will be hit more and more by extreme rainfall events. You may be interested in reading: http://www.cseindia.org/node/5516

GREEN – that is how we would like the world to be

Taylor & Francis India | Green Week 2014 | 15-19 September 2014

Fish filmed spitting ostracod ‘fireworks’: Ostracods are one of the ocean-living animals which give off light when they are disturbed. They produce the chemicals luciferin and luciferase, which emit light when mixed together. The process is called bioluminescence, an adaptation that allows animals to be seen in the complete darkness of the deep sea.

Himalayas: World’s Highest Mountain RangeThe Himalayas include the highest mountains in the world, with more than 110 peaks rising to elevations of 24,000ft (7,300m) or more above sea level. One of these peaks is Mount Everest, the world’s highest, with an elevation of 29,035ft (8,850m).

Different Shades of Nature

Source: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/365-photos/night-stars-mount-everest/

Venezuela’s Angel Falls – Highest Waterfall in the WorldWith a height of 979m (3,212ft), Angel Falls defines majesty. They are fifteen times higher than the Niagara Falls. Angel Falls is named after the American aviator Jimmie Angel, the first person to fly over them.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picture-galleries/6307028/UP-The-real-locations-behind-the-classic-Pixar-movie.html?image=1

Rafflesia arnoldii (corpse flower) – Biggest flower in the worldA rare, parasitic, rootless and leafless plant, Rafflesia arnoldii is found in southeastern Asia, on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines. The flower may be over 100cm (39in) in diameter, and weigh up to 10kgs. The flowers look and smell like rotting flesh, hence the local name which translates to “corpse flower” or “meat flower”.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/sci_nat_enl_1168606097/html/1.stm

Plants Listen for Hungry Caterpillars, First-of-Its-Kind Study Suggests: Mousear cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) creates an increased amount of mustard oil, a defense meant to deter an insect attacker, when it “hears” a caterpillar chewing on its leaves.

Elephants - Largest Land Based Mammals The African Bush Elephant is the largest of all living creatures on land today, with some individuals growing to weigh more than 6 tons. The male African Bush Elephants can reach up to 3.5m in height and the females being slightly smaller at around 3m tall. The body of the African Bush Elephants can also grow to between 6 and 7m long. The tusks of an African Bush Elephant can be nearly 2.5m in length and generally weigh between 50 and 100 pounds, which is about the same as a small adult Human.

Different Shades of Nature

Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/african-elephant/

Blue Whales – Largest Creatures on EarthBlue whales are so big they are the biggest creatures ever to have lived on earth - even bigger than the biggest dinosaurs! The largest whale ever measured was a female weighing 171,000kgs and measuring over 90ft/27m long. The longest whale measured in at over 110ft/33m. If you laid him out on the ground he would take up the length of nine family-sized cars! Their blood vessels are so large you could swim through them. They can produce the loudest sound of any animal. At 188 decibels, the noise can be detected over 800kms away.

Source: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/blue-whales/brower-text

GREEN – that is how we would like the world to be

This newsletter has been put together by Namita Singh, Ramaswamy Sesdhary and Anjali Maggon. Design by Deepak Chhabra.