Integrated Human Practices
Our project is designed out of an increasing need to address the issue of environmental pollution. Our interactions with the slum dwellers of Mohali made us conscious as to their plight of having to breathe in toxic gases released upon burning cheap firewood, since they couldn't afford better alternatives for fuel. This inspired us to design a model based on co-cultures that can simultaneously detect, capture, and consume pollutants from the air we breathe. Our intention is to market the color based biosensor cum detoxifier into a cheap wristband model, that can be worn by anyone to assess the contaminant levels in the air we breathe.
Thus, people can be better cautioned to adopt greener practices in their life including:
1) Adopting a non smoking lifestyle.
2) Encouraging the government to distribute clean gas to poverty stricken slum dwellers for cooking, as opposed to burning firewood.
Slum Awareness
With an aim of creating awareness among people, following activities were carried out by the iGEM team members:
Awareness session for pollution control and waste management conducted by team members at Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Mandi Village, New Delhi, 110047 on 23rd September 2017. 10:00 Hrs.
Pollution is responsible for most health problems in the urban areas. Pollution status in Delhi has undergone many changes even in terms of the levels of pollutants and the control measures taken to reduce them. Studies on pollution and mortality from Delhi found that all-natural-cause mortality and morbidity increased with increased pollution. Delhi has taken several steps to reduce the level of pollution in the city during the last 10 years. However, more still needs to be done to further reduce the levels of air pollution. We as a team found the need to educate every tier of the society. Thus we on our level possible went to schools in Delhi.
During this session, children were told the very basic steps that can be taken at the individual level that can be taken by anyone to contribute towards pollution control and waste management. It was an event worth learning from as students too gave a few innovative ideas to deal with the environmental problems being faced by the society particularly as a part of the way onto development by countries like India.
A slum survey was done and people living there were given guidance to lead a healthy life. The details of the same are as written below :
Time and Date: 17:30 Hrs - 20:00 Hrs on 07-10-2017 and 17:30 Hrs - 19:00 Hrs on 08-10-2017 Place: Jagatpura, Beside Sector 48-C, Chandigarh (30.679218, 76.756539). The team members met 5 families and 2 cluster joint families consisting of 6 nuclear families each. It was found that:
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All of them settled temporarily and most of them had no identity proof.
People settled there were from different states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Punjab.
No sanitary facilities were available in their settlements. All went for open defecation near the drainage that passed through the slums.
No waste disposal mechanism was provided. Large piles of plastic were seen everywhere.
Except two families that alternatively used gas, all others permanently used wood as fuel for Cooking food.
Wood, used as fuel, was mainly procured from nearby woodland and waste grounds. While some said they picked the dry, dead branches, others axed out fresh trees and dried them in their localities.
Also we were told that whenever they came to know about any clearing of forests for industrial purposes by the government, they picked up wood from there in masses.
During winters, even those who use gas, shift to wood burning as they don't want to spend their money on heaters and electricity.
| Number of members | Wood used |
|---|---|
| Family of 5 (1 adult and four children) | 2 kg |
| Family of 2 (2 adults) | 5 kg |
| Family of 3 (2 adults and 1 child) | Alternatively gas and wood (No figures) |
| Family of 7 (2 adults and 5 children) | 15 kg |
| Family of 4 | Alternatively gas and wood (No figures) |
| Cluster family | 15 kg per family |
| Cluster family | 10 kg per family |
Gas was filled at the rate of Rs. 50 / Kg.
Despite government distribution of free gas connection, most of them did not register and it was attributed to the lack of address proof.
On being asked about the government scheme Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, they said that the number of people using wood as fuel has fallen a lot.
It was found that nearby government toilets charged Rs. 5 for one instance and it was even unknown whether the ones collecting money are instructed to do so or not.
We told the people about the issues with using wood as fuel, about the breathing problems it can lead to in a long run and also about the pollutants released in the environment as a consequence of such practices. Also we told them about the problems with open defecation since it Leads to mixing of toxic substances and harmful bacteria with the underground water resources.
Green Survey
We conducted a green survey via a set of questions and collated data from the responses we got from various countries. The countries that participated include India, France, Sweden, Costa Rica, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Taiwan, Slovenia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Panama, Honduras, Mexico, Spain, Egypt, Chile and Bulgaria. The total number of responses came out to be 119. This survey highlighted many aspects that need to be taken care of if we wish to make people participate in mitigating the effects or controlling further pollution:
58.5 % of the population does experience the effects of pollution in their everyday life. This includes problems becoming very common like respiratory problems and affects in vision to be counted as a few among them. This points towards the fact that people do realize the problems associated with pollution and this would help in motivating them to work towards it.
33.1 % responses were received for either they do not know about "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" or they know but do not practice. This calls for requirement of awareness!
Among all the people that participated in the survey, 39.3 % never make use of the public transport. This is due to many reasons including poor transport facilities, using personal vehicles as a symbol of status, lack of awareness about advantages of car pool system etc. The number of personal vehicles increase the carbon-footprint many folds contributing heavily to not only pollution but also to the quick consumption of resources like petrol, diesel, etc. This can be checked by focussing only the public transport facilities such that people opt for them.
The results of the survey that 59.3 % of people think that the governing authorities are not taking up effective measures to check the issue of pollution calls for attention on the part of the higher authorities like Pollutions Control Boards. And this needs to be focussed upon mainly in the developed countries due to their many folds energy needs in comparison to those of the developing or under-developed countries.
In short, the survey points out the requirement of awareness among the public, to encourage their participation with the authorities, the latter being required to be more responsible on their part to take actions to deal with the pollution and waste related issues.
Fountain Pen Survey
Our dependency on plastic items has increased manyfolds. So recently we passed out a Google Form and asked people to mention the number of pens they used throughout an year with the typically used brand. We recorded 26 responses to it which we will present here.
