A two-day national exhibition and programme of environment friendly activities on the LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) themes was organized on 9th and 10th February at India Gate, Delhi. Over 2,500 school and college students from over 60 institutions participated at the event, and brought their energy and creativity to the LiFE actions; more than 3,000 people overall visited the exhibitions over the two days.
On the second day school students demonstrated their ideas for an eco-friendly lifestyle, which ranged from harnessing kinetic energy from the everyday mechanical activities, generating energy from agricultural stubble to making decorative products from e-waste. The ideas were well thought-out and practical.
There was an on-the-spot face painting and poster making competition, the school children and the youth made a creative expression of their view of environmental consciousness, which ranged from adopting a healthy lifestyle and optimally usingelectric appliancesto planting trees to enhance the flora and fauna around us.
A workshop was also conducted on waste management by Sulabh-International Institute of Health and Hygiene, it showed how simply we can segregatedry and wet waste at source, namely, at our homes, which can make waste management by local bodies more effective.
At the exhibition of LiFE themed products, non-government organizations and 18EIACP (Environment Information Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme) centresacross India, from Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Almora, Chennai, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Patna andPuneas well as WWF India, Sulabh-IIHH, IIT-ISM Dhanbad, TERI, JNU, School of Planning and Architecture,and Central Pollution Control Board EIACP centres displayed environment-friendly products made by people trained under the green skill development programme of EIACP. The products displayed ranged from millets-based foods, organic honey, utility items from non-timbre forest produce such as cutlery, lampshades, basketsand bagsto manure from kitchen waste andportable solar panel for powering an electric stove.
The youngsters displayed inspiring ideas and creative expression of environmental consciousness.The participants were outstanding in their display of LiFE themes, as well as in their enthusiasm and collective action towards it. Individual participants, teams as well as schools and colleges received awards from Ms Nameeta Prasad, Joint Secretary, MoEF&CC.
The event was organized by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India EIACP centre, with support from MoEF&CC.
LiFE was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26, as a mass movement for “mindful and deliberate utilization, instead of mindless and destructive consumption” to protect and preserve the environment. It aims to nudge individuals and communities to practice a lifestyle that is synchronous with nature and does not harm it. Mission LiFE seeks to translate the vision of LiFE into measurable impact.
