All posts by anirbanghosh97

Pottery: A sustainable alternative

For the love of pottery | Delhi/NCR Activity with TogetherV

With the current environmental situations prevailing in our surroundings, it has become a duty and responsibility of each individual to use more renewable and recyclable products. It is a known fact that not all the products can be recycled, in which case, using products which have a high level of recyclability is advisable. Earthenware products are easily recycled and its recyclability rate is also extremely high. From the broken pots to old utensils, all can be recycled completely, with the help of a simple process and can be carved easily and quickly into newly desirable shapes. The recyclability rate of clay is 95 percent. This is a very high rate, highlighting that people should buy terracotta products more for preserving the environment. All the products that are made of clay possess the attribute of being highly durable and they are built with the main focus of being long-lasting. It is due to this aspect that they can tolerate a high level of wear and tear. In addition to this, the product has a high level of weather and heat resistance.

With growing concern for environment many people are replacing their steel/aluminum cookware with traditional vessels made of clay just like their ancestors. From cooking food to setting curd and storing water, their aim is to be self-sustainable and eco-friendly. Cooking in earthen pots and utensils also has additional benefits. These are:

Clay is alkaline in nature and when it interacts with the acidity in the food, it neutralizes the pH balance eventually making it healthier.

Due to its heat resistance, the food retains all the natural oils and moisture while slow-cooking, hence, extra oil need not be added.

Earthen utensils are not very expensive and cost-efficient compared to most other types of utensil.

Cooking in a clay vessel infuses the food with many important nutrients like calcium, phosphorous, iron, magnesium and Sulphur

Boiling milk, or making curd in Clay pots gives it better taste and texture than metal vessels, as told by veteran Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

Clay being a porous material, allows heat and moisture circulate evenly through the pot during cooking, unlike with metal or stainless steel pots. This superior form of heat circulation helps in cooking vegetables and meat evenly.

Firstly, Clay cooking pots are extremely effective for slow cooking. Clay cooking vessels are porous in nature. It allows both moisture and heat to circulate easily through them. This aids in even, slow and delicate cooking.  Curry, gravy, and sautéing vegetables/meat are best done in earthenware.

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Traditional water conservation techniques of India

Traditional water wisdom and systems of RajasthanNews Cusp | News Cusp
A jhalara in Rajasthan

1. Jhalaras

Jhalaras are typically rectangular-shaped stepwells that have tiered steps on three or four sides. These stepwells collect the subterranean seepage of an upstream reservoir or a lake. Jhalaras were built to ensure easy and regular supply of water for religious rites, royal ceremonies and community use. The city of Jodhpur has eight jhalaras, the oldest being the Mahamandir Jhalara that dates back to 1660 AD.

2. Talab /Bandhi

Talabs are reservoirs that store water for household consumption and drinking purposes. They may be natural, such as the pokhariyan ponds at Tikamgarh in the Bundelkhand region or man made, such as the lakes of Udaipur. A reservoir with an area less than five bighas is called a talai, a medium sized lake is called a bandhi and bigger lakes are called sagar or samand.

3. Bawari

Bawari | Hindi Water | Flickr

Bawaris are unique stepwells that were once a part of the ancient networks of water storage in the cities of Rajasthan. The little rain that the region received would be diverted to man-made tanks through canals built on the hilly outskirts of cities. The water would then percolate into the ground, raising the water table and recharging a deep and  intricate network of aquifers. To minimise water loss through evaporation, a series of layered steps were built around the reservoirs to narrow and deepen the wells.

4. Taanka

Taanka is a traditional rainwater harvesting technique indigenous to the Thar desert region of Rajasthan. A Taanka is a cylindrical paved underground pit into which rainwater from rooftops, courtyards or artificially prepared catchments flows. Once completely filled, the water stored in a taanka can last throughout the dry season and is sufficient for a family of 5-6 members. An important element of water security in these arid regions, taankas can save families from the everyday drudgery of fetching water from distant sources.

5. Ahar Pynes

Ahar Pynes are traditional floodwater harvesting systems indigenous to South Bihar. Ahars are reservoirs with embankments on three sides that are built at the end of diversion channels like pynes. Pynes are artificial rivulets led off from rivers to collect water in the ahars for irrigation in the dry months.  Paddy cultivation in this relatively low rainfall area depends mostly on ahar pynes.

6. Johads

Water Johads: A Low-Tech Alternative to Mega-Dams in India

Johads, one of the oldest systems used to conserve and recharge ground water, are small earthen check dams that capture and store rainwater. Constructed in an area with naturally high elevation on three sides, a storage pit is made by excavating the area, and excavated soil is used to create a wall on the fourth side. Sometimes, several johads are interconnected through deep channels, with a single outlet opening into a river or stream nearby. This prevents structural damage to the water pits that are also called madakas in Karnataka and pemghara in Odisha.

7. Panam Keni

The Kuruma tribe (a native tribe of Wayanad) uses a special type of well, called the panam keni, to store water. Wooden cylinders are made by soaking the stems of toddy palms in water for a long time so that the core rots away until only the hard outer layer remains. These cylinders, four feet in diameter as well as depth, are then immersed in groundwater springs located in fields and forests. This is the secret behind how these wells have abundant water even in the hottest summer months.

8. Bamboo Drip Irrigation

Bamboo Drip Irrigation

Bamboo Drip irrigation System is an ingenious system of efficient water management that has been practised for over two centuries in northeast India. The tribal farmers of the region have developed a system for irrigation in which water from perennial springs is diverted to the terrace fields using varying sizes and shapes of bamboo pipes. Best suited for crops requiring less water, the system ensures that small drops of water are delivered directly to the roots of the plants. This ancient system is used by the farmers of Khasi and Jaintia hills to drip-irrigate their black pepper cultivation.

9. Eri

The Eri (tank) system of Tamil Nadu is one of the oldest water management systems in India. Still widely used in the state, eris act as flood-control systems, prevent soil erosion and wastage of runoff during periods of heavy rainfall, and also recharge the groundwater. Eris can either be a system eri, which is fed by channels that divert river water, or a non-system eri, that is fed solely by rain. The tanks are interconnected in order to enable access to the farthest village and to balance the water level in case of excess supply. The eri system enables the complete use of  river water for irrigation and without them, paddy cultivation would have been impossible in Tamil Nadu.

Pat System

The Pat system, in which the peculiarities of the terrain are used to divert water from hill streams into irrigation channels, was developed in the Bhitada village in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Diversion bunds are made across a stream near the village by piling up stones and then lining them with teak leaves and mud to make them leak-proof. The Pat channel then passes through deep ditches and stone aqueducts that are skilfully cut info stone cliffs to create an irrigation system that the villagers use in turn.

Trends in Contemporary Public Relations

Public Relations: Why It Matters - Activated Growth

Public Relations is regarded as the cornerstone for individuals, companies and start-ups to establish their credibility in the market. Public relations is rapidly changing, evolving and adapting new methods such as engaging videos, online content, bloggers outreach, influencers and many more such techniques to achieve maximum limelight. There are a few major trends that are easy to spot. These are:

  1. Big Data: New age public relations have become ever dependent on data. Audiences today are tech-savvy they are highly dependent upon technology for their day-to-day activities. Digital and social media communications have opened up a new channel through which PR firms can reach a brand’s target audience. The business is headed into a new direction where devising and executing digital and social media campaigns are imperative to create brand awareness.
  2. Influencer Outreach: The world today consists of people who are trusted and highly followed by people. Bloggers too have become extremely influential and those who are credible can be the go-to person when you need to send the word out about your company. In the past few years, influencer outreach has garnered immense limelight in the field. Targeting relevant influencers is an important segment to reach a wider audience.
  3. Importance of leadership: Earlier, the role of imparting thought leadership content was confined only for top-level executives such as the CEO, COO, and CMO, etc. Now, this trend will gradually shift to other leaders and consultants within the company who will share note-worthy and interesting insights with the public. The emphasis will be on people of lower leadership and making them essential to the company. This will help a brand target a wider, more diverse audience and share more content. Also, encouraging employees to take an active thought leadership role will aid companies to grow their own personal brand.
  4. Use of analytics: Companies in modern public relations are embracing numbers and analytics. Companies, including the tech, market themselves based on social impact, and they do their research, collect their data from both prospective and existing clients, and then put some sense in those data. Putting them into perspective in the form of website traffic, a number of leads, etc. makes sense of the drill of analytics.
  5. Customer satisfaction: The final outcome of any PR exercise has to be customer satisfaction. It is mandatory to ensure that the product or service has to be perfect. Startups looking for press coverage after developing the minimum viable product (MVP) should ensure that the core part of that MVP executes the idea and solves the problem it set out to solve first.

benefits of sun drying your clothes

Hanging your clothes under sun OR using laundry dryer | SiOWfa15 ...

It is cheap: Sun drying your clothes is much cheaper than buying a clothes dryer and dryer sheets. It is technically free of cost and saves money.

Sun Drying Clothes Promotes Energy Conservation: Sun drying laundry conserves energy and helps to protect the environment by saving precious fossil fuels. It is the pinnacle of green laundry and sustainable living. According to Pew research centre, there are more than 90 million clothes dryers in the United States and sun-drying clothes can reduce the average household’s carbon footprint 2,400 pounds a year. Experts determined that if all Americans line-dried clothing for just half of a year, it would save 3.3 percent of the country’s total residential output of carbon dioxide.

Sun drying clothes enhances freshness and helps remove strong odors: Sun dried clothes and sheets smell much fresher than clothes that are tumble dried without the use of additional chemical laundry fresheners like dryer sheets and fabric softener. This is particularly important for those sensitive to perfumes and dyes used in detergents and dryer products. And fresh air is less expensive than dryer sheets.

Sun drying is gentle on clothing: Tossing and tumbling in a dryer can cause wear and strain on clothing fabric due to stress on seams and snags from buttons and zippers. Excessively high heat in the dryer can ruin some fabrics and cause irreversible damage. When not tumbled around and subjected to the high heat of the dryer, clothing and home linens don’t wear out, fade, develop holes, or pill as quickly.Line drying prevents clothes from withering or shrinking each time it’s sent to get dried, and it will also save the cost of re-purchasing them over time.

Sun drying helps whiten and disinfect laundry: The ultra-violet rays of sunlight help to bleach and disinfect laundry. This is particularly beneficial for white sheets, towels and cloth diapers. However, for dark-colored clothes, excessive sunlight can cause some harm. So keep dark colors in the shade, if possible, to prevent fading.

Sun drying increases physical activity: Hanging up laundry is a physical activity that you can do inside or outside. Fifteen minutes of hanging laundry or removing it from the line burn 68 calories. That’s saving enough calories to enjoy a snack of 20 olives or three mini candy bars. There is something very therapeutic about sun-drying clothes outside, especially when the weather is refreshingly beautiful. Sun-drying clothes means a little extra time in the sun which is good for vitamin-d and for overall health.

It reduces wrinkles: After drying your clothes from pins on a clothesline, hang them up outside and let the wrinkles dissipate. Since the clothes are weighed down by the water, they naturally stretch to their original form, thus removing any wrinkles that may appear.

If people around the world, especially in the US, used a clothesline for sun drying just once a week, we could make a huge difference in reducing the damage we are doing to our environment with our dependence on fossil fuels, which is not only important for the planet, but is absolutely vital for the health of our families and communities too.

reducing your carbon footprint

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint : 7 Instant Ways - CO2 Living

Carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent. Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbon dioxide and methane, can be emitted through the burning of fossil fuels, land clearance and the production and consumption of food, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, transportation and other services. Here are some ways to reduce your carbon footprint:

  1. The choice of diet is a major influence on a person’s carbon footprint. Animal sources of protein like red meat, rice (typically produced in high methane-emitting paddies), foods transported long-distance or via fuel-inefficient transport (e.g., highly perishable produce flown long-distance) and heavily processed and packaged foods are among the major contributors to a high carbon diet. Scientists at the University of Chicago have estimated that the average American diet – which derives 28% of its calories from animal foods – is responsible for approximately one and a half more tonnes of greenhouse gasses.
  2. Another option for reducing the carbon footprint of humans is to use less air conditioning and heating in the home. By adding insulation to the walls and attic of one’s home, and installing weather stripping, or caulking around doors and windows one can lower their heating costs more than 25 percent. Similarly, one can very inexpensively upgrade the “insulation” (clothing) worn by residents of the home. For example, it’s estimated that wearing a base layer of long underwear with top and bottom, made from a lightweight, super-insulating fabric like microfleece, can conserve as much body heat as a full set of clothing, allowing a person to remain warm with the thermostat lowered by over 5 °C. These measures all help because they reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool the house.
  3. There are many simple changes that can be made to the everyday lifestyle of a person that would reduce their GHG footprint. Reducing energy consumption within a household can include lowering one’s dependence on air conditioning and heating, using CFL light bulbs, choosing ENERGY STAR appliances, recycling, using cold water to wash clothes, and avoiding a dryer. Another adjustment would be to use a motor vehicle that is fuel-efficient as well as reducing reliance on motor vehicles. Motor vehicles produce many GHGs, thus an adjustment to one’s usage will greatly affect a GHG footprint.

Top mass communication colleges and universities in india

There are lot of job opportunities available in the field of mass communication. to be successful in this field one needs to possess some traits which are having a natural flair/talent to ace different job profiles and the ability to multi-task as well as the ability to make an informed decision to pursue a mass communication course from a good college or a university. Mass Communication is a very diverse field and includes careers like print and TV journalism, online media, radio, advertising, public relations (PR), corporate communication, media research and even filmmaking and photography. Careers in Mass Communication are not only high paying but also bring in a great deal of job satisfaction and expression of creativity. There are many courses available in both graduate and post graduate levels in various colleges across the country. They all have very different admission processes and fee structure.

 Here are the best mass communication colleges in India:

1. Indian Institute of Mass Communication: Mass Communication has emerged as a major area of interest and has immensely contributed to the development & empowerment of society. As an academic discipline it has rapidly acquired importance and become a major attraction for students. It is one of the most prestigious mass communication colleges of India. However it only provides post graduate 1-year diploma in different fields of mass communication. The entrance exam is also very tough to crack.

Location: New Delhi

IIMC Entrance Exam 2019: All about PG Diploma Courses, Campus and ...

2. AJK Mass Communication Research Centre Jamia Millia Islamia: The AJK Mass Communication Research Centre is a premier media institution in India. Founded in 1982 by Anwar Jamal Kidwai (former VC of Jamia Millia Islamia and later Chairman of the Centre) the MCRC offers graduate and post-graduate courses in the art craft and technology of the modern media. Offers both diploma and full time courses graduation and post-graduation courses.

Location: New Delhi

Jamia Millia Islamia Admission 2020: Courses, Eligibility, Form ...

3. Department of Communication University of Hyderabad: The Department of Communication at University of Hyderabad has been ranked the Best University Department four times in a row by Outlook-MDRA.

Location: Hyderabad

Hyderabad University (UoH) Admission 2020: Registration(Starts ...

4. Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication: The Symbiosis Center of Journalism & Communication (SCMC) opened in 1990 with only 40 students. In 1999 it was renamed as Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication and eventually as Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication. Today it has evolved into a world-class media and communication education and training Institute providing the industry with trained and competent professionals. The placement is excellent with many media companies recruiting students directly from campus. However, the tuition fee is quite high and the selection process is very tough.

Location: Pune

Work from home not travel holiday': Symbiosis holds staffers ...

5. Xavier Institute of Communications: Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC) is a professional media centre which offers a variety of services in training and production. It is one of the oldest colleges to offer mass communication courses but like IIMC offers only post graduate diploma courses.

Location: Mumbai

St Xavier's College unveils font and year-long events calendar ...

6. Department of Media and Communication Studies Savitribai Phule Pune University: Savitribai Phule Pune University was one of the first universities in India to recognize that academic training in Communication means much more than Mass Communication in general and Journalism in particular. Offers both diploma and full time post graduate courses.

Location: Pune

Case filed against Savitribai Phule Pune University Vice ...

7. Department of Media Studies Christ (Deemed to be University): The Department of Media Studies at Christ University is one of the most vibrant and academically rigorous centres of media higher education in India, with the passion of honing student’s skills, knowledge and attitude for effective leadership in varied local national and global media platforms. They provide both graduation and post-graduation diploma and full time degrees. Their entrance exam is relatively easy but they have a strict academic conduct.  Following dress codes are mandatory.

Location: Bengaluru

Christ golden jubilee valedictory on July 4 | Deccan Herald

8. Department of Journalism, Madras Christian College: Although Madras Christian College was established in 1937, however, Department of Journalism was only established in 2005. The journalism course offered at the department lays emphasis on print and broadcast journalism. The media labs of this journalism college comprise of latest technology and adequate exposure to aspirants.

Location: Madras

Christian coed institutions 'highly unsafe' for future of girl ...

9. Delhi College of Arts & Commerce: Among all Delhi University colleges, Delhi College of Arts & Commerce (DCAC) was the first one to introduce a journalism course and that too in 1989. The college campus houses state-of-the art media labs and provides all the required infrastructure required to train students in different media fields. The journalism course offered at DCAC provides aspirants with adequate knowledge of news writing, reporting, editing as well as helps them develop a broad perspective of contemporary national and international scenarios. Admissions are done based on DU cutoffs.

Location: Delhi

Delhi College of Arts and Commerce (DCAC) Delhi University ...

10. Amity School of Communication: Established in 1999, Amity School of Communication offers media courses to students at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate level. Amity School of Communication is known to have very good infrastructure. Apart from that the college is also known to offer good industry exposure to students.  Many big media firms visit the college campus for placements.

Location: Noida, Gurgaon

Amity School of Communication: Courses, Fees, Placements ...

More animals in the endangered list

great Indian bustard | Features, IUCN Status, & Facts | Britannica
Less than 300 Great Indian Bustard are left in the world

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global organization that keeps tabs of endangered species, and classifying them in categories like ‘near threatened’, ‘endangered’ ‘extinct’ and so on based on the threat level of their extinction . Their study reveals that the number of flora and fauna species in the endangered category has increased in the past two decades. More than 23,000 plant and animal species are facing extinction, including corals, birds, mammals and amphibians.

In the latest list submitted to IUCN by India more than 683 species are now in the endangered list as compared to 413 species which were found to be endangered in 2009.

Rapid economic growth, industrialization, development project clearances have threatened the natural habitat of other species of fauna. More than 10 states in India got clearance for 15 projects which would divert land reserved for wildlife sanctuaries and national parks for development or commercial activities. This rapid increase in the number of endangered species indicates severe stress on biodiversity and wild habitats.

Illegal poaching of animals for rarity items, leisure have severely threatened many species and some of them are even in the extinction list. Illegal poaching in Sariskaand Panna tiger reserves in the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have led to their vanishing from their sanctuaries. The same has happened to Buxa tiger reserve in West Bengal. Almost 222 lions died in 2018-2019, in the Gir forest reserve in Gujarat.

In the oceans and the seas, the threat to the coral reefs from blast fishing, poisoning and overfishing is also very real. 60% or more coral reefs are under severe risk because of destructive fishing practices. The growing trawling and industrial fishing is wiping out sea turtles and many other endangered species. Sharks, swordfish, marlin, grouper, croaker and other top predator species have also experienced significant population declines.

What is composting and how it helps the environment?

Learn About Composting Liquids – Is Adding Liquids To Compost Bins ...
A compost bin

Composting is a treatment process that facilitates the decomposition of organic matter in an oxygenated environment and creates a nutrient-rich fertilizer or soil amendment. Food scraps, landscape trimmings, wood products and animal byproducts, packaging and other discarded material can be composted. Bio-waste from food instead of dumping in a landfilled is turned in to compost and forms a resource for organic soil improvers, fertilizers, and bio-based products. The carbon and nutrient contents of bio-waste are mainly concentrated in organic fertilizers. By bringing these nutrients back to the soil, rather than letting organic waste rot away in landfills composting can feed diverse life in the soil. The bacteria, fungi, insects and worms in compost support better soil health and plant growth, ultimately boosting its resilience to cope with harsh drought conditions. These nutrients and can also be extracted, modified or transformed into a range of different bio-based products, too. All these secondary products can replace fossil-based products such as mineral fertilisers, peat and fossil fuels. After use, the residues of these products can flow back safely into the biosphere, thereby closing carbon and nutrient cycles.

Furthermore, compost has the ability to help regenerate poor soils. The composting process encourages the production of beneficial micro-organisms (mainly bacteria and fungi) which in turn break down organic matter to create humus. Humus–a rich nutrient-filled material–increases the nutrient content in soils and helps soils retain moisture. Compost has also been shown to suppress plant diseases and pests, reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers, and promote higher yields of agricultural crops.

Composting organic materials that have been diverted from landfills ultimately avoids the production of methane and leachate formulation in the landfills. Compost has the ability to prevent pollutants in stormwater runoff from reaching surface water resources. Compost has also been shown to prevent erosion and silting on embankments parallel to creeks, lakes, and rivers, and prevents erosion and turf loss on roadsides, hillsides, playing fields, and golf courses.

The benefits of improving organic collection for composting are potentially far reaching. Direct benefits include an improved urban environment for human health, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced costs for municipalities and households. Indirect benefits can include improved soils in peri-urban areas through cycling of organic fertilisers, more feedstock for the local bioeconomy, and clean renewable energy for electricity, district heating, and even transport systems.

Courses you can complete while staying at home

All schools and colleges are closed in India because of coronavirus. We are all locked in our homes, binge-watching series, watching movies, and keeping ourselves busy through our hobbies. However, our academic lives have taken a pause and many students might feel that this break is huge waste of their lives and their time. However, we can utilize this time to acquire a new skills in a variety of online that are being offered by various private and public institutions. Courses are offered by websites like coursera, udemy, edx etc and many government colleges and institutions like FTII, Jamia Milia Islamia, GSSIPU etc.

These will be helpful for getting a significant salary increase and adding extra skills. Also, by opting for these courses, students will increase their chance to get selected in their next interview. So, below are some online courses that students and professionals can pursue during the lockdown.

Language Course

As the world is becoming more globalized, the needs for language speakers from companies are in high demand. Moreover, it is an advantage for students and that is highly regarded by multinational companies

Digital Marketing Course

In this day and age of present-day innovation, there is no denying the fact that web advertising or digital marketing is on high demand. In only a brief timeframe, advanced advertising has developed from an insignificant questionable pattern to a considerable impact. Indeed, even the government of India has pronounced to make the nation advanced. Prior, computerized advertising courses were considered as unimportant modules among the plenty of other showcasing courses, yet now the situation is extraordinary, particularly in India. In both expert and academic educational plans, this course has now shown up as an independent subject in its field.

Content Writing Course

With the appearance of digital marketing, organizations are keeping up an extraordinary virtual presence on different stages through web journals, articles, emails, advertisements, and so on. Therefore, content writing has now advanced with expanding on the web advancements. There are wide ranges of courses available to improve your writing skills. The course will mostly cover SEO writing, technical writing, copywriting, creative writing etc.

Data Science Course

For students interested in learning data science, an online course will help them to become a data science master. Many courses are available in the essentials of Data Science, for example, Python or SQL to Basic Data Analysis and Machine Learning. Some of the specializations which are widely available under the course are; data analytics, data engineering, deep learning, business analytics, business intelligence etc.

Advanced Microsoft Excel Course

Excel is a difficult to master, but by beginning to utilize the tool for fundamental assignments and learning the basics, students can see signs of improvement and learn how to master the software use. By opting for excel course, students can learn how to arrange information in a simple way and do essential and complex numerical calculations.

Programming Course

Writing computer programs is significant for upgrading and boosting the intensity of computers and the web. Writing programs is essential to robotize, gather, oversee, figure, and examine the preparing of information and data precisely. Getting the hang of programming course should be an essential part of a student’s educational plan. There are many plans available from C++ to Java.

Graphic Designing Course

Designing is one of the most important fields in the market today. By undergoing the course, students can learn how to design a famous logo or a poster. They can even do fun outlines for blog passages and make ads for Google. This sort of job role offers an assortment of work, and there are many choices available from Photoshop to Corel draw.

Blockchain Course

Considering the way that this modern and potential bearing innovation has all the tick-marks for being the innovation of the future, there are adequate reasons to learn blockchain course it and get block chain accreditation. The infrastructure is simple and offers a variety of infrastructures. The technology alters the way any data is shared, and it provides an ideal platform for future growth.

Producing food in a sustainable way

Redirecting EU CAP payments to sustainable farming | IUCN

By making great strides in productivity, the industrial food system has managed largely to meet the demands of a growing global population. However, this approach to food production, and the management of food by-products, is endangering biodiversity and human health. It has become clear that this food system is no longer fit for the 21st century and that a new model is required.

The increasingly wasteful way of producing food today, relies on extracting finite resources like phosphorus, potassium, and oil, to grow food in ways that harm the natural systems upon which agriculture depends. The damage also includes the degradation of 12 million hectares of arable land a year and requires almost one-fourth of the forest land. Then, in cities we capture and use an extremely small fraction of the valuable nutrients in discarded food, food by-products and sewage. Air pollution, antibiotic resistance, water contamination and chemical exposure from food production will claim almost five million lives a year by 2050 which is twice as many as the current toll from obesity. Food production also accounts for around one-quarter or 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

With cities soon expected to consume 80% of food globally, a new report titled by Cities and Circular Economy for Food released by Ellen McCarthy Foundation lays out a vision of how to harness the power of a city to influence how food is grown and prepared to benefit the economy, human health, and the environment.

To tackle these pressing food issues, the report recommends redesigning the urban food system to incorporate circular economy principles: design out waste and pollution; keep products and materials in use; and regenerate natural systems. But what does a circular economy for food in cities look like?

The research team reached out to businesses from across the food value chain, city governments, waste managers, as well as food system experts such as the SDG2 Advocacy Hub to reach a consensus from the broadest ​set of stakeholders. By the end, over a hundred organizations helped to develop three interconnected ambitions for a more resilient food system:

  1. Source food grown regeneratively, and locally where appropriate: ​food entering cities should be produced in ways that improve natural ecosystems, i.e. builds soil health. Local sourcing is key in supporting this.
  2. Make the most of food: ​surplus edible food should be redistributed where possible; unavoidable food waste should be transformed into new revenue streams, i.e. organic fertilizers, as well as new food products, textiles, structural materials and energy.
  3. Design and market healthy products: ​food designers, processors, and marketing departments, can create and promote innovative food products that enable citizens to make healthy food choices for people and the environment.