The Nation Newspaper

Category: Online Special

  • A Black Market For Pollution

    In 2016, when the average final-year engineering graduate at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi (ITT Delhi) was frantic about campus placements, Kushagra Srivastava, 24, decided that he wasn’t going to join the rat race. As CEO, he was already looking at expanding his start-up, established in June of that year.

    A student of textile engineering, Srivastava and his colleagues, after scraping up money from alumni, family and friends, were looking to build a machine—in essence an efficient filter—that could trap the particulate matter in the exhaust from diesel generators and ensure clean air is emitted by the engine. These carbonised emissions, so extracted, are then turned into ink that can be used as paint or ink for printers.

    Their device, Chakr Shield, a retrofit emission control device for diesel generators, is the mainstay of their company, Chakr Innovations (CI), now in the third year of its existence. Srivastava and his colleagues, Arpit Dhupar, a mechanical engineer two years his senior from IIT Delhi and Prateek Sachan, in the Chemical Engineering department, have so far installed 70 particulate-capturing machines in a slew of industries and claimed to have “purified about 50,000 billion litres of air” that would have otherwise gone unfiltered into the atmosphere.

    Srivastava and Dhupar claimed to have been personally affected by pollution while they were students in Delhi. “I was heavily into football but the bad air often affected my outdoor playing,” said Dhupar, in a promotional film about CI.

    Fourteen out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India, as per figures compiled and released last year by the World Health Organization (WHO). Delhi topped that list.

    The Chakr Shield fits in the exhaust pipe of a diesel generator and captures 70 to 90 percent of the particulate matter generated as engine exhaust. The device draws inspiration from commercially available diesel particulate filters (DPF), fitted in diesel cars in Europe to trap fine, toxic diesel emissions. But it turns the concept on its head, Srivastava said.

    The typical DPF is made up of a system of sieves that captures ultra-fine diesel particulate matter emitted from the engine tailpipe. The air from the heat of the engine “burns” these fine particles and converts them into carbon dioxide or monoxide. “Thus hazardous fine particulate matter is converted into less hazardous gases [which are emitted from the engine exhaust],” said Srivastava. A traditional DPF only converts one form of carbon into another and requires the engine to use more energy (and hence fuel) to push out the carbon.

    Chakr Shield does away with the sieves, and works by cooling the engine exhaust. When small particles are rapidly cooled, they coagulate and expand, due to a phenomenon called thermophoresis, becoming easier to capture. These larger particles are then made to pass through a snaking “maze of contours and meshes” into which they are inhaled. A solvent then passes through this winding path and the resulting liquid extract can be turned into ink. The engine, wiped clean of these particles, emits relatively clean air.

    Srivastava expects CI to be profitable in two years and has already gone through two rounds of investor funding — a sum that the company doesn’t disclose. Irrespective of the companies that CI is associated with, such as Titan, Jyoti Sagar Associates and Mahindra & Mahindra, Srivastava said that their mainstay is going to be producing black ink. He expects that a variety of applications in printers and the printing industry in general will turn this into a “humongous” business.

    With an estimated market of 232 million tonnes, valued at about 54 billion Indian rupees (USD 830 million), the Indian ink industry has grown at an average of more than 8 percent per year over the past 10 years, according to trade publication InkWorld Magazine. “We supply to Dell [for the computer company’s printers] and their demand is already 100 times more than what we can produce…. and they want it for their China division too,” said Srivastava.

    The global printer ink market is expected to witness an annual growth rate of 4.7 percent until 2023, reaching nearly USD 24 million, said market research agency Prescient & Strategic (P&S).

    The idea of making ink from diesel emissions isn’t exclusive to CI. Graviky, a Bengaluru-based company, also extracts ink from a DPF installed in automobile engines. However, Srivastava – inspired by Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk – said that his company isn’t looking at cars because they are likely to be outdated. “In about a decade, I believe, electric vehicles are going to take over and there won’t be a market for diesel cars. We’d like to target industries that cannot be electrified. For instance, we collaborate with ONGC [the leading oil and natural gas company in India] to extract the soot from industrial chimneys. Then there are boilers… We are a business-to-business company and not a consumer-facing one,” he explained.

    The company is looking to improve the efficiency of its product as well as explore “parallel applications.” Activated carbon – products that employ charcoal or carbon with increased surface area (and thus a greater ability to absorb pollutants) – is one potential product. Such carbon can be used in water filters or similar applications, according to Srivastava.

     

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution.

  • Composting in Lebanon, one tonne at a time

    About 20 km north of Beirut, Dalida Sneifer and Marc Beyrouthy walk among piles of pallets and tarpaulins, sinking into the rainwater-soaked soil. “If only you knew what land costs here in Kaslik – building here would generate millions in profits. But the management [of Kaslik Holy Spirit University, or USEK] has agreed to build a waste management center instead,” says Beyrouthy, a professor and member of the USEK Green Committee.

    The Green Committee was founded in 2016, one year after the beginning of a serious waste crisis in Lebanon, caused by the closure, without a backup plan, of the Naamé landfill, south of Beirut. Beyrouthy notes, “To students outraged by the images of waste piling up on the streets of the capital and its suburbs, in rivers and forests, we said: ‘What happens here, at USEK, it’s not the state’s responsibility, it’s yours. If you start sorting waste, we can show that a 10,000-person community like ours can take action, find solutions and set an example.’”

    Today, the commitment is as real as the margin for progress. “Only 50 of the 350 kg of organic waste produced per day at USEK is actually transformed into compost,” says Sneifer, the committee coordinator. This is mainly due to the fact that the four kitchens on campus have refused to sort their waste. However, the Green Committee is now applying pressure to make sorting mandatory. “We have to do better, of course, but there’s at least 50 kg of organic waste that won’t end up in the sea or in nature! They can also replace expensive and polluting chemical fertilizers,” says Beyrouthy.

    According to a 2014 report published by Sweepnet (the Regional Network for the Exchange of Information and Expertise on Solid Waste in the Mashreq and Maghreb Countries), 15 percent of the waste produced in Lebanon is composted, eight percent recycled, 48 percent landfilled and 29 percent end up in illegal garbage pits. Composting is a major challenge in Lebanon because 52 percent of the country’s waste is organic.

    Aware of the situation, Sneifer is working to turn students into eco-citizens “before,” she says, “it’s too late.” Marc Aoun, co-founder of Compost Baladi, the company that installed compost boxes at USEK, aims to make this practice accessible to everyone.

    “Our objective is to inspire behavior change and offer relatively cheap solutions [a 200-liter composting box costs USD 220, while a large 1,100-litre composting box for a building costs USD 650] while ensuring that there are no nuisances, such as odors or flies,” explains Aoun, whose company, founded in 2017, has only recently become profitable.

    Compost Baladi employs six full-time and four part-time employees and has already installed about 50 Earth Cube composting units at the American University of Beirut (AUB), as well as in companies, villas and a Syrian refugee camp in Ersal, eastern Lebanon.  It also works with municipalities.

    “Even some professors at the American University of Beirut, despite their commitment to environmental protection, find it difficult to actually compost, mainly because it requires them to change their habits,” says the 25-year-old, standing in front of compost crates installed near the university professors’ houses. “We try to set up an integrated system, so that the act of composting is as close as possible to the act of throwing garbage in the trash bin.”

    At the AUB campus, novice composters simply throw their sorted organic waste into the boxes and cover it with dead leaves that will act as a biofilter and prevent flies from entering. A small motor sends air into the box at regular intervals to allow the decomposition of waste by aerobic bacteria and the formation of compost without added water.

    “Our goal is for nobody to be able to say it’s impossible to compost,” says Aoun, who regrets his fellow citizens’ apathy. “Since the mountains of garbage have disappeared from their daily lives, they feel that the problem of waste management has been solved,” he says.

    However, nothing was fundamentally solved after 2015, and a new waste crisis is looming with the impending saturation of the Bourj Hammoud landfill, which was set up as an emergency measure on the Beirut coast after the 2015 crisis. Reopening the Naamé landfill or installing an incinerator in Beirut are some of the options being discussed.

    Aoun is scheduled to meet Lebanon’s new Environment Minister, Fadi Jreissati, to convince him of the benefits of composting. In the meantime, he’s trying to raise awareness among different municipalities, including Beirut. “The president of the municipality wants 200 of the 800 tonnes of waste Beirut produces per day to be recycled and composted,” he says. “We talked with him about implementing a pilot project to compost 1.5 tonnes of organic waste per day. If it works, it will serve as an example and could be replicated.”

     

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution.

  • A sweet way to take care of the environment

    It is hard to resist the flavor of this Honduran ingredient that sweetens and seduces the most demanding of palates. Panela, or unrefined whole cane sugar, is a traditional ingredient in Honduran gastronomy and one of the main sources of income for dozens of families in the municipality of Cantarranas, south of the Francisco Morazán department.

    Its artisanal production is part of the local heritage, transmitted through generations. It is now in the hands of a group of families who make up an agroforestry cooperative called Chabosuji. They have been making the sweetener without cutting down a single tree, minimizing the release of carbon dioxide and fine particles into the air.

    Chabosuji operates with the support of the Climate Change Adaptation Programme in the Forest Sector (CLIFOR), with funding from the European Union and the German government. The program is run by the Institute of Forest Conservation (ICF) and the German Cooperation (GIZ), and supported by the Mayor of Cantarranas.

    The Cantarranas families make panela in a pilot center called trapiche ecológico (“ecological mill”), located in the micro-basin of La Nevada, in one of the municipality’s 20 villages. They have installed an innovative system that allows them to cook it using bagasse, or dry cane residue, for the fire rather than wood. This prevents deforestation, particularly in the micro-basin area, where the cooperative has also planted mahogany, cedar and pine trees donated by the ICF.

    “The trapiche ecológico initiative shows us how climate, agriculture and forestry can converge. We are extremely happy to see that Chabosuji is creating jobs and producing eco-friendly and sustainable products,” said CLIFOR’s national coordinator, Mario Martínez.

    The process of turning sugarcane into panela begins at harvest season, when the cane reaches maturity. The first step is to extract juice from the sugarcane. The liquid is poured into a container and cooked until all the water evaporates, for a thick honey. As it cools, the honey becomes liquid panela that, once condensed, is poured into a container and mixed to give it consistency and thickness.

    People with a preference for natural, chemical-free foods are the product’s target market. Hondurans consume panela mainly at Easter, Christmas and New Year, using it to make desserts such as pancakes, honey donuts, or fruit in honey.

    The panela production in Cantarranas is already beginning to bear fruit. A local chain of supermarkets selected the Chabosuji cooperative to be one of their suppliers, thanks to CLIFOR’s work, which ranges from organizational to technical assistance.

    By also producing granulated panela, the agroforestry cooperative is targeting a growing clientele that is not only looking for organic products, but also healthy ones. In contrast to refined sugar, or white sugar, panela retains all the nutrients of sugarcane.

    “Due to totally natural processing, this product includes elements such as carbohydrates, vitamins, protein, fat, water, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium and magnesium, so it is healthy and of high nutritional value,” said Carlos Ovidio Mejia, president of Chabosuji.

    Mejía explained that the CLIFOR program, the ICF and the Municipality of Cantarranas “gave us an opportunity and we decided to take advantage of it. And as an agroforestry cooperative we have demonstrated that we can work ecologically and adapt to climate change.”

    The ICF authorities are satisfied with the project. “With the trapiche ecológico, we are significantly reducing the amount of firewood normally used in traditional mills, and helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming,” said Manuel Alvarado, the ICF’s regional manager. The project is also helping to reducing air pollution, which causes cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

    The picturesque municipality, filled with murals painted by dozens of national artists, turned to sugarcane after years as an agricultural and cattle zone, according to the municipal councilman Marco Guzmán. Cantarranas receives more than 10,000 visitors a year, attracted by its scenic beauty, its native gastronomy and its sweet panelas.

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution.

     

  • Sailing, an efficient solution to maritime transport pollution

    An increasing number of goods are transported by water, polluting both air and oceans. Several French companies are starting to use sailboats to tackle the situation, which is responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths.

    Ninety percent of the worldwide transportation of goods happens on the oceans. The maritime transport sector accounts for about three percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention sulfur dioxide and fine particulate matter. According to a 2015 study conducted by the University of Rostock, maritime transport is responsible for 60,000 premature deaths in Europe. That figure could rise, as the sector’s activity is expected to grow anywhere from 50 to 250 percent by 2050, according to the International Maritime Organization. Faced with this global predicament, stakeholders in France are aiming to revive sail freight shipping. This ecological solution is particularly effective because it reduces CO2 emissions by 90 percent.

    “We charter existing ships capable of carrying 10, 200 or 300 tonnes of goods,” says Guillaume Le Grand, president of the Trans Oceanic Wind Transport (Towt) shipping company, specialized in sailing. Created in 2009, the company relies on a fleet of four old rigs, 20 to 40 meters in length, to reach England, Portugal, Scandinavia, or even cross the Atlantic.

    To identify and promote goods transported by sail power, the group has created the label “Anemos,” ancient Greek for “the wind.” This logo is stamped onto products, which are also labeled with a tracking travel number. “We provide information on the product’s route and carbon footprint, with complete transparency,” says Le Grand. “We are offering complete traceability to consumers who can also see, for example, from which cooperative the cocoa beans have come.”

    Products such as chocolate bars, coffee, rum or tea are labeled, transported, then sold via Towt’s online store or directly at its brick-and-mortar store, located in Douarnenez, Brittany. The startup also transports products for other customers, such as Portuguese wine, beer or olive oil for the organic grocery store chain Biocoop.

    The idea seems to please restaurant owners, retailers and even some of France’s largest companies. “We offer a concrete solution to companies that wish to reduce their carbon footprint and meet consumer expectations,” says the founder. Last year, his company reached a turnover of 300,000 euros (USD 340,000).

    “In 2016, we transported 120 tonnes of products, then 180 tonnes in 2017 and 220 tonnes last year,” says Le Grand, adding that the company has saved 300 tonnes in greenhouse gas emissions so far. “It is still low, but we are the only ones enabling neutral figures in maritime transport,” he notes. “We are doing our part.”

    Even if their activity is growing, it remains a drop in the ocean compared to the 10.5 billion tonnes of freight that traveled via more than 5,000 container ships last year. However, Le Grand believes that his concept has proven its worth and that the solution is economically viable. According to his estimations, sailing freight is only slightly more expensive than conventional transport. As a result, the products are a bit more expensive, too: “Roughly 10 cents more per bottle of wine, for example,” he says.

    The success of the model has encouraged him to aim even higher, and the company is now building a modern sailboat. The future three-masted ship, which is expected to set sail by late 2021, will measure 67 meters and be able to carry 1,000 tonnes of cargo at a cruising speed of 11 knots – a similar speed as cargo ships that pollute, and twice as fast as the old rigs now chartered by Towt. “Once in the water, the Cargo Sailboat will save more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and more than 300,000 tonnes over its lifetime,” calculates Le Grand.

    Towt is not the only group investing in sending cargo by sail. The French company Grain de Sail, which manufactures and markets chocolate and coffee, is building a ship that will sail twice a year across the Atlantic and bring back up to 35 tonnes of goods. The Nantes-based Neoline, which develops sailing and wind-powered cargo ships, goes even further. At the end of last year, the startup signed a three-year partnership with Renault to transport vehicles to the St. Pierre and Miquelon archipelago, south of the Canadian island of Newfoundland. The agreement entails the construction of two 136-meter-long roll-on/roll-off wind-powered cargo ships, able to cross the Atlantic and deliver freight under sail. This will help the car manufacturer achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 25 percent between 2010 and 2022.

    The sailing cargo sector is likely to continue developing. In fact, last year, the International Maritime Organization announced the signing of an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions from shipping by “at least 50 percent” by 2050, compared to 2008 levels. Until the sector invents a new economic model, using wind power to reduce CO2 emissions as well as air and ocean pollution remains the most effective solution.

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution.

  • The Argentine city full of fruit trees

    It is Saturday morning, and time for the volunteers in the garden of the Emilio Ferreyra Municipal Hospital of Necochea, in Buenos Aires Province, to sink their fingers into the ground, uproot weeds, harvest fruit and even cut fresh chives to season the spaghetti sauce that they will be eating at lunchtime, to restore their energy so they can continue working in the afternoon. At this health center, the kitchen staff need only to walk a few meters each day to the organic garden to obtain fresh vegetables, fruit and spices to prepare food for hospitalized patients.

    The Necochea Ciudad Frutal project is a group of people determined to fill the sidewalks of this small Argentine city with fruit trees. Their solidarity and commitment to agroecology (a type of sustainable farming) is what gives the project its 100% natural added value.

    The project’s co-founders, Juan García and Eugenia Podlesny, began their adventure almost a decade ago. They were hoping to plant a lemon tree in their backyard, but there wasn’t enough room, so they thought of placing it in front of their house instead. They studied municipal regulations to see whether it could be done, and immediately got excited about an idea that could be replicated in different neighborhoods.

    “We decided to plant the streets with tree species that were different from the typical ornamental ones, hoping to grow food that anyone could access,” explain the young co-founders, who have since added 13 volunteers to their team, most under 19 years old.

    Once they started, they grew even more enthusiastic, as studies showed that this seaside town 510 km from the city of Buenos Aires had 10,000 less trees than it should.

    The Necochea Ciudad Frutal group, always self-managed, carried on its efforts. One member planted a cherry tree, another a lemon tree, and soon the town’s sidewalks were bursting with different species. Some 500 fruit trees have been planted in public spaces so far.

    “The idea is to eat fresh fruit from the streets, as has been done in other parts of the world,” says Podlesny, making reference to the Incredible Edible experience in the small town of Todmorden, England, where locals can consume free produce from more than 80 orchards and fruit plantations in public spaces.

    The project is a collective response to the individual need to access and eat fresh, healthy and chemical-free food, Podlesny and García emphasize. “Going to the grocery store nowadays exposes people to all sorts of dangers,” Garcia says, referring to the plethora of fertilizers used on industrial fruits and vegetables.

    The first communal garden was born eight years ago in the local Rivadavia Club, formerly the site of a court for a local game called pelota a paleta. In its very few square meters, the group installed a mini greenhouse with different types of plant beds for multiple species. Students from schools in the area went to visit and learn, or welcomed these agroecology entrepreneurs in their classrooms. “That corner was the beginning of a whole new healthy lifestyle,” says Podlesny.

    The agreement ended when the club changed hands, so they moved the project to the municipal hospital. At first it seemed impossible to open a furrow with a shovel in the hospital’s nearly one-hectare stone floor, but the group worked hard and turned the place into a generous plot of land.

    Figs, lemons, plums and kumquats appear according to the season. Green onions, chives, tomato, rosemary and dozens of other fruits, vegetables and herbs perfume the garden. A plum tree produces between 100 and 120 kilos of fruit per year. Some 70 new plants are sprouting, and the goal is for the place to become a forest of fruit trees.

    “These agroecological foods add value to the patients’ diets,” the co-founders say. The youngsters who learn from this experience and later become volunteers guarantee the project’s continuity. They prepare the land, uproot weeds and also play among the trees that will provide their snacks.

    It’s all about sharing and growing. That is why Podlesny and García also created a meeting point in front of the municipal library where some 300 locals exchange seeds, with the promise to plant them somewhere in town.

    Aside from providing material, the group seeks to spread knowledge. They have set up a seed library with written records of what each person donates, and personal recommendations so that these species take root and grow well.

    Necochea Ciudad Frutal’s efforts are neither easy nor cheap, they say. While volunteers ensure the workforce, the group produces jam from the fruit trees and sells it at fairs to cover their expenses.

    The seeds of the project have now taken root beyond Necochea’s sidewalks, and the concept has moved to households, thanks to a home garden contest. A jury visits each house’s backyard to evaluate and determine who will win a modest financial prize and, much more valued, a plant, thereby spreading the mindset. Little by little, so that everyone in town advances in this “help yourself,” mindset. So that this city becomes less known for its intense winds and better known for its streets full of chemical-free fruit trees.

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution.

     

     

    Contact author:

    Darío Palavecino

    Tel: 54 0223 5 206641

    dpalavecino@lanacion.com.ar

    @palavecinodario

  • Using the sun to reduce air pollution in Kabul

    On a recent warm spring afternoon, I went to the suburbs of Kabul to meet Habib al Rahman Qadardan, a 63 year-old man who has spent three decades producing environmentally friendly products for manufacture. An environmental advocate and paramedic, he has been working on the optimal use of solar and wind energy for years, and founded the Qadardan Company in 2003.

    At first glance upon entry to his workshop, I saw stoves he produced to heat houses. The smallest stove was 70 cm wide and 180 cm long, composed of a glass plate and a metal frame. One of these placed in direct sunlight would be enough to heat a room up to 70 square meters in size.

    “We are hopeful that our products can reduce the use of coal in the winter and wood in all seasons,” said Qadardan. “Using coal and wood for heating and cooking is a threat to clean air, especially in large cities.”

    According to Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), air pollution is at its peak in cities, particularly Kabul, in late November and early December. In December 2018, the air pollution in Kabul city reached 625 micrograms per cubic meter – significantly above the quality standard, 150 micrograms per cubic meter. Excessive coal consumption in winter is the biggest factor in air pollution here. Meanwhile, people cut down trees and forests for fuel, causing deforestation.

    Qadardan Company produces several products, including solar baths with water heated by the thermal energy of the sun. Each one is composed of a metal room, a water storage system and two pipes. The roof is set at a steep slope to absorb the heat of the sun. Its outer surface is covered by a piece of glass, with black metal pipes underneath. Water running through the pipes heats up before reaching the shower. One of these baths is able to provide enough warm water for 20 showers per day.

    Of all the items produced by Qadardan Company, solar ovens sell the most. The entrepreneur says that last year, he sold 400 ovens in Badakhshan province alone, located in northern Afghanistan, nearly 400 km from Kabul. He is trying to distribute the products across Afghanistan.

    As I walked around, I found cooking utensils on the other side of the company yard. The ovens are made of reflective metal pieces that concentrate solar heat in one spot. Cooking appliances are placed at this point, and in a very short time, a three-liter pot boils without the use of wood, gas, electricity or any other fuel.

    Qadardan Company has other initiatives, too, notably baking special bricks for construction out of cement, dirt and sand. These bricks are extremely durable and also insulate buildings against heat and cold. They can serve as a complement to the solar stoves, helping to keep houses warm in the winter and cold during summertime.

    “I expect the government to help reduce air pollution and prevent further degradation of forests by encouraging people to use sun-energy heaters, baths and cooking utensils,” said Qadardan. With 300 sunny days per year, and a capacity to produce 222,000 megawatts of electricity from solar energy annually, Afghanistan is an ideal market for investments in this area.

     

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution.

  • The essence of Easter

    Adeyinka Akintunde

     

     

    Easter is a celebration observed by Christians all over the world. It is a season that marks the major essence of the Christian faith, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    As recorded in the Holy Bible, after the fall of man, fellowship was lost between man and God. Man kept on sinning against a holy God, which led to the destruction of the world, by water. A certain man called Noah was however saved, with his family, with God hoping that the new generation would live without sin. But that turned out false, as sin started again, this time from the house of Noah.

    The Bible also tells us of prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea and even John the Baptist who prophesied ahead of time of a coming Messiah, who would take away the sins of the world. The Messiah came, and was named Jesus Christ.

    He lived his life on earth without sin, but according to the plan of God, he was later betrayed with a kiss by one of his disciples after he and his disciples had the “last supper”, accused of claiming to be the son of God, and he was crucified with two thieves.

    Jesus died, and rose again, three days later. He became the ultimate sacrifice of sin, paying the highest price of death, shedding his blood to reconcile man back to God.

    This forms the essence of Easter. It is a period to reflect on Jesus Christ, the savior of mankind, who came to die for the sins of the whole world, so that all men who believe in him, through his death can live a triumphant life on earth, and gain full access to the holy God.

    Easter is usually celebrated somewhere within the first four months of the year. There are some who stay away from meat and pork during the period of the Easter season, especially on Good Friday, the day Jesus died (as widely accepted), unlike the Christmas, where chicken becomes the major food to enjoy. Some Catholic members in Nigeria believe that eating meat or any of those sorts on Good Friday amounts to eating the flesh of Jesus.

    Read Also: Easter: Ambode preaches love, sacrifice, tolerance

    Prominent Nigerians have addressed the nation on the essence of Easter and lessons to learn from it. According to President Muhammadu Buhari, Easter is a time to emulate the love, sacrifice and forgiveness shown by Jesus Christ.

    “The Christian festival commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ is also a time to emulate the virtues of love, sacrifice, forgiveness, humility, courage and endurance, which Christ embodied and remarkably demonstrated during His earthly ministry. Let us use this auspicious season to show love to our neighbours, and cater to the needs of the less-privileged in our midst.”

    For former President Goodluck Jonathan, there is hope of triumph ahead for the nation, and it will not be wise to give up now.

    “I urge us not to give up on our ourselves and our nation no matter the challenges that confront us today. Through our faith and collective actions, we will overcome the tempests of violence, misery and insecurity that threaten our nation. We are more than conquerors and the future of our nation is bright, if we work as one.

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode told Nigerians to see this season as one “that presents us the viable opportunity to think about how we can help to steer our nation back on the road to peace, stability and prosperity, by working in the spirit of togetherness because no nation can make any meaningful progress in an atmosphere riddled with pockets of violence and killings. This is the time for us to avoid all divisive, parochial, ethnic and religious sentiments and rivalries, and begin to live more harmoniously with one another, as Jesus Christ enjoined us to.”

    Easter is a time of reflection. It is a time to see how best we can reconcile back to Jesus Christ, and live the life he taught us to live, for the world to be better. It is a season of love, sacrifice and forgiveness. It is important to note this fact, and live by it.

    Adeyinka Akintunde is a graduate of Philosophy from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria. A social commentator and Online Reporter

     

  • Healing environmental ills through recycling

    In low-income countries like Nigeria, World Bank statistics show that more than 90 per cent of waste is mismanaged: disposed in unregulated dumps, along waterways, or openly burned. Poor management of waste has consequences on the environment, safety and health.

    It creates breeding grounds for disease, contributes to global climate change through methane generation, and threatens ecosystems.

    Studies have shown that more than 60 per cent of the trash put in waste bins could be recycled. Estimates say that Nigeria generates more than 32 million tons of solid waste annually, and collects only 20 to 30 percent.

    Recycling has also proven to be a solution to unemployment, which is good news for a country with more than 30 million unemployed youth. Some young Nigerians are already setting the pace in the recycling industry. Aside
    from contributing to a cleaner and safer environment, they can earn a sustainable living from recycling or upcycling.

    Olabanke Banjo is one such example. Her passion for minimizing environmental pollution gave rise to Cyrus45factory, a creative agency focused on creating bespoke avant-garde and ultra-modern furniture products using tires.

    Cyrus45factory was “actually born out of pure coincidence,” says Banjo. “In 2016, I was staying with my big sister in Lagos and her neighbor wanted to get rid of a huge pile of tires. Where they saw a problem I saw an opportunity. Being a lover of revamping old items, I told them not to throw away the tires, that I’d figure out how to discard of them. I really didn’t have any idea what I was going to do with the tires.”

    “But the creative mind in me thought I should be able to make a table out of them, because of their round shape. And if I put some wood underneath, they might look like a table. So, with the help of Google and my very creative mind, I made my first coffee table, and that is how Cyrus45factory started.”

    According to Banjo, one of Cyrus45factoy’s goals is to minimize the damage caused by tire waste – tires are non-biodegradable, and burning them creates both environmental and health hazards.

    environmental

    “Every year, there are about 150 billion tires disposed of around the world. SoCyrus45factory seeks to prevent them from going to incinerators, where they’d be burned, by turning them into artsy and functional household items and furniture. This is how we are providing solutions to environmental challenges,” says Banjo.
    Since 2016, Cyrus45factory has been able to upcycle close to 500 tyres, and has
    received local and international accolades.

    “We’ve won some awards,” says Banjo. “We were awarded the ACE Award best eco-friendly product in 2018, and I personally won the 2017 All Youth Award most enterprising youth entrepreneur. We were invited by the African Union to come and speak on entrepreneurship in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. We have also been featured in
    several international media platforms such as the BBC and the Financial Times. Generally, we have made some strides, and we still intend to do more in the coming years.”

    Banjo says the company is " implementing a method that Nigeria and the entire world can use in disposing of waste, particularly tire waste.”

    The entrepreneur would also like to change the current narrative about made-in- Nigeria products – that they are of inferior quality and lower standards. She would like her products to be able to compete in international markets.

    “In the next ten years, we hope to expand to other parts of Africa, as well as to homes and offices, and ensure that everybody uses eco-friendly products,” she says.

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution.

  • Helpful international travel tips for first-time travelers

    You’re excited, obviously because you’re about to head off for your first international trip, and it’s an amazing feeling. It’s also a daunting feeling. How will you cope? How much money will you spend trying to deal with it? It’s inevitable that you’ll make mistakes the first time you travel. Regardless, you can limit these mistakes by following these helpful international travel tips especially if it is your first time.

    Get your passport in advance

    This is the most important of all tips for first-time international travellers. Avoid unnecessary stress by applying for a passport well before your expected departure date. Don’t book a flight or make any arrangements that can’t be changed until you have a passport in your hand. Some international flights require that you enter your passport number when booking or during online check-in, so it’s best to just have it first before you start booking anything.

    Ensure you have access to your money

    Gone are the days when you need to carry cash or travellers’ cheques to travel overseas. Now, thanks to the internet, it’s much easier to manage and access money while travelling all over the world. Check with your bank to see if you need to set up a travel alert while you’re abroad so your bank knows when and where you’re travelling. You can also inquire about international fees, and whether they have partner banks in the destination that will help you save money on costly foreign transaction ATM fees. Overall, ensure that you have access to your money.

    Book everything in advance

    How advance should you book everything? Some experts say that booking airfare between 56-62 days before the departure date is the best way to get a good deal. No matter what, the best time to book is whenever you have the money and are ready to commit to your first international trip. However, as earlier stated, ensure that your documents are ready before booking your flight. Notwithstanding, when you are ready to travel, you can visit Jumia’s hotel and flight marketplace to book your flight. You will get the best available rate.

    Give yourself ample time to get over jet lag

    As you start booking your first international trip, you may want to pack it all in by planning to visit as many destinations as possible immediately you arrive. This is an action that will leave you stressed. The best advice is to slow down, at least for the first day or two, to recover from jetlag.

    Research events going on while you’re there

    This will help you make sure that you’re not missing the best events going on in the city — fun things like festivals and ceremonies. Also, be sure to research some of their best cuisines. You don’t want to leave the country without experiencing it.

  • Is packaging necessary? Not for these shops

    Brooklyn resident Katerina Bogatireva had long carried reusable bags to the grocery store and rejected single-use plastic water bottles. But when her son, Sepand, was in kindergarten, she stepped up her game.

    After having a sustainability lesson in school, she says, “He was very concerned. And he said, ‘Mummy, do you know how long plastic will remain in the landfill?’ And that sort of broke my heart.”

    For Ms. Bogatireva, that moment spurred a lifestyle change that led to a business venture. Now, four years later, she owns a grocery store called Precycle, where shoppers can buy their fruits and vegetables, pastas and grains, flours and legumes, and oils and vinegars without the packaging that typically comes with them.

    Precycle isn’t the only packaging-free business cropping up in the United States in recent years. There’s also Zero market in Colorado, Fillgood.co in California, and Package Free Shop, also in Brooklyn. And large corporations are starting to take notice, too. Companies like Starbucks, Nestlé, Häagen-Dazs, Procter & Gamble, and others are taking steps to reduce their packaging waste.

    Starbucks has made plans to ditch plastic straws, Nestlé pledged to make its packaging entirely recyclable or reusable, and British grocer Iceland has promised to eliminate plastic packaging from its own brand products.

    This comes as part of a broader cultural shift in the popular environmental movement, from touting recycling to emphasizing efforts to reuse and reduce consumption of single-use items like bags, cutlery, and containers. And if this approach continues to catch on, that could say something about what people value.

    “Plastic is everywhere in our economy,” says Thomas Kinnaman, an environmental economist at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. So if companies like Precycle take off, he says, it will signal that people really do want to find another way, despite the benefits plastic packaging can provide.

    One benefit of plastic packaging has been convenience. If grocery goods are already portioned out into lightweight packaging and plastic bags are on hand, the only things shoppers need to bring to the store are themselves and their wallets. Furthermore, such packaging has allowed for the development of convenience items like pre-made meals and individual snack bags for children’s lunches.

    Opting to avoid packaging entirely can be particularly inconvenient, says Ms. Bogatireva. When she decided to reduce her own contributions to landfills, she found that she had to cobble together her shopping trips, stopping at multiple stores and farmers markets to find the items she needed without the plastic. Precycle grew out of that hassle, officially opening its doors in December 2018 to make it easier for consumers to choose packaging-free options.

    Here’s how it works: Customers bring their own containers to Precycle, or buy reusable vessels sold there. When they enter the store, they have to weigh their empty containers, which they then weigh again at checkout to know how much to pay for. Despite the inconvenience of carrying containers to the store, people are buying into it, says Ms. Bogatireva.

    Precycle has a loyalty program and already about 1,200 people have signed up.

    Another benefit of packaging that has become integral to modern society is its ability to make something perishable last much longer, says Susan Selke, director of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

    “The advent of modern packaging is often tied to the change from crackers in a barrel at the store to prepackaged crackers that could sit on the shelf and stay fresh and crispy for a lot longer,” she says. “Could we conceivably go back to that cracker barrel-style economy? Maybe.

    But it would involve drastic societal changes.” That is a limitation for Precycle, says Ms. Bogatireva. As a result, the store primarily carries ingredients rather than ready-made foods. But even then, there are challenges. Ms. Bogatireva has no plans to stock meat or fish, but customers want cheese, so she has opted for wax- wrapped cheeses, and encourages customers to make candles from the wax.

    Not everyone is inclined to make these lifestyle choices, says Dr. Kinnaman. But those who do are often doing a sort of informal cost-benefit analysis weighing factors like the convenience and nonperishability against the guilt they may feel for filling up their trash cans and their understanding of the danger to the environment posed by that waste.

    Some things are beyond individual consumers’ actions, though. “My biggest challenge is to reduce waste as a business”, says Ms. Bogatireva. It’s tricky to find suppliers that use no single-use packaging whatsoever. For Precycle, she opts for suppliers who use recyclable packaging, like cardboard, when there isn’t a waste-free way to transport products.

    “The idea is to do what you can,” she says. “Every little bit counts.”

    This article is being published as part of Earth Beats, an international and collaborative
    initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions
    to waste and pollution.