DHARAMSHALA, June 5: Tibetan Women’s Association, the largest women’s group in the exile Tibetan community, today observed World Environment Day on the theme “Think. Eat. Save.”
This year’s theme ‘Think. Eat. Save’ is a global anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages the reduction of ‘food print.’ The campaign is aimed at encouraging people to become more aware of the environment impact of their food choices and empower them to make informed food decisions.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, every year 1.3 billion tones of food is wasted. In a sad contrast, UN notes that one in every seven people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five die daily from hunger.
Responding to this year’s theme on reducing food wastage, staff of the TWA gave a demonstration to the public on how to make enzyme fertilizer by using fruit peels at the Mc leod Ganj Square.
Speaking to Phayul, Dorjee Kyi from TWA’s Environment and Development Desk said the enzyme can be used for the growth of plant, to remove stain from clothes, as a dish washer and to heal wounds and rashes.
World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5 to raise global awareness of the need to take positive environment action. The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972.
Destruction of Tibet’s fragile environment by the Chinese government following rampant mining and unsustainable ‘development projects’ have been a major cause of concern for neighbouring countries and continues to remain a flashpoint between local Tibetans and Chinese authorities.
The exile Tibetan administration maintains that China’s environmental destruction of Tibet is one of the reasons for the critical situation in Tibet heralded by the ongoing wave of self-immolations.
In one of the many anti-mining protests in Tibet, last month, over 4,500 Tibetans gathered near Naglha Zamba, a sacred hill rich in mineral resources in eastern Tibet, to protest against its exploitation by Chinese miners.
Chinese authorities responded by deploying over 50 military convoys at the protest site, giving rise to a “tense situation” in the entire region.
