How CUBA survived oil crisis ?

How CUBA survived oil crisis ?

The greatest consumer of oil in Cuba was the agricultural sector. As a result of the sudden collapse of oil imports, food production was effectively paralysed and signs of malnutrition appeared. The crisis was termed "the Special Period".

Before the Special Period, Cuba relied on food imports to feed its people. It is only since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and with that Cuba's forced transition to permaculture and organic agriculture, that the country has really achieved food security. The transition has also provided innumerable health benefits for the Cuban people.

The Power of Community explains Cuba's transition from large farms or plantations and reliance on fossil-fuel-based pesticides and fertilizers, to small organic farms and urban gardens. Cuba has undergone a transition from a highly industrial society to an ecologically sustainable one — a transition confronting us all as peak oil approaches.

The power of community (How cuba survived oil crisis)  Click here to watch the video

Rays meet

It was a fabulous experience meeting K.Babu Rao garu (a retd Scientist , IICT) .  He is currently associated with Peoples Movement for a sustainable Movement and also a Resource Person for IYCN.  We discussed about various issues ranging from education and empowerment , energy efficiency , waste management , community involvement  to climate change and its impact on our economy. 

Celebrate an Eco-friendly Holi

Ideally, the joyous festival of Holi is meant to celebrate the arrival of Spring while the colors used in Holi are to reflect of the various hues of spring season. But unfortunately, in modern times Holi does not stand for all things beautiful. Like various other festivals, Holi too has become ruthlessly commercialized, boisterous and yet another source of environmental degradation.

Harmful Chemicals in Holi Paste type colors
According to their researched fact sheet on Holi, the pastes contain very toxic chemicals that can have severe health effects. Please check the table below to know about the chemical used in various Holi colors and their harmful effects on human body.

Color

Chemical

Health Effects

Black	Lead oxide	Renal Failure
Green	Copper Sulphate	Eye Allergy, Puffiness and temporary blindness
Silver	Aluminium Bromide	Carcinogenic
Blue	Prussian Blue	Contract Dermatitis
Red	Mercury Sulphite	Highly toxic can cause skin cancer

Make your own Holi colours
Holi festival lovers will be thrilled to know that it is possible to make simple natural colors in one’s own kitchen.

Here is a simple and quick way of making some eco-friendly colours for Holi.

• Put some pieces of beet-root in boiling water and let it stay overnight. Amazing coloured water will be ready to be used for Holi in the morning.
  
  
• Take some black grapes and amla and cut them in fine pieces. Put the pieces in boiling water and let the water cool down to get a nice black colour for Holi.
  
  
• Dry petals of marigold flower in shadow and grind them in a mixer; a yellow is ready for you. You can also use turmeric powder as yellow colour. Turmeric powder is very good for skin
  
  
• Prepare green colour by putting spinach, mint and neem leaves in hot water and let it stay for some time. You can also make dry green colour by grinding dried leaves of spinach, mint and neem leaves.
  
  

Carpooling for the planet

Carpooling (also known as car-sharing, ride-sharing, lift-sharing and covoiturage), is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car.
By having more people using one vehicle, carpooling reduces each person's travel costs such as,toll, and the stress of driving. Carpooling is also seen as a more environmentally friendly and sustainable way to travel as sharing journeys reduces carbon emission, traffic congestion on the roads, and the need for parking spaces. Authorities often encourage carpooling, especially during high pollution periods and high fuel prices.

How it works ?

Drivers and passengers offer and search for journeys through one of the several mediums available. After finding a match they contact each other to arrange any details for the journey(s). Costs, meeting points and other details like space for luggage are discussed and agreed on. They then meet and carry out their shared car journey(s) as planned.

Carpooling is commonly implemented for commuting but is also popular for longer one-off journeys, with the formality and regularity of arrangements varying between schemes and journeys.

Forms of Carpooling

Carpooling also exists in other forms:

• Slugging is a form of ad-hoc, informal carpooling between strangers. No money changes hands, but a mutual benefit still exists between the driver and passenger(s) making the practice worthwhile.

• Flexible Carpooling expands the idea of ad-hoc carpooling by designating formal locations for travelers to join carpools.

• Real-time ride sharing allows people to arrange ad-hoc rides on very short notice, through the use of smartphone applications or the internet. Passengers are simply picked up at their current location.

What fools indeed we morals are
To lavish care upon a Car,
With ne'er a bit of time to see
About our own machinery!

Carpooling is slightly inconvenient, but it saves tremendously on transportation costs, fuel prices and a good way to spend time with friends.