BLOOD DONATION

Date of BDC camp: 26 May 2010

Venue: Ashok Leyland Technical Centre

My office in conjunction with the Indian Red Cross Society had organized a blood donation camp on 26 May 2010. This is one of the initiatives taken by our social forum KRITI here at Ashok Leyland Technical Centre. Coincidently this is the same date on which the blood donation camp was organized last year.

Blood donation is a noble act and by donating blood we directly or indirectly aid in saving human lives. Hundreds of people throughout the country are in urgent of blood either because they or their relatives have met with an accident or they are undergoing a major surgery or they need a complete transfusion of blood.


Blood banks spread though out the country are doing a wonderful job by storing blood of different blood groups so that in case of an emergency the requirement can be fulfilled. By participating in a blood donation camp one can do his part in taking forward this noble cause.

I along with my Raja, Karthik and Himani were the volunteers for our floor. It was our responsibility to take down names of people willing to donate blood, compile the list and send it across to Jasdeep who is the main head of this campaign. The representatives from the Indian Red Cross society were to arrive by 8:30 hrs and the blood donation camp was supposed to begin by 9:00 hrs. Instead the camp began at 9:40 hrs. It was heartening to see a lot of people coming forward willingly to donate blood. I too did my part in donating blood. This is the third instance in which I am donating blood. Last year I was asked not to donate because I had suffered a typhoid attack in Oct 2008. The minimum gap between any illness and blood donation must be one year.

I feel elated and happy that I donated blood and was a part of this noble campaign. In an office where the total strength exceeds 500 people the response was just satisfactory, around 140 people tuning up for the campaign. The camp was organized in a better way this time and I would say that it was a combined effort from all the volunteers, representatives from the Indian Red Cross Society and our dear helper friends who assisted us in setting up the tables and beds.



A total of 48.3 litres of blood was collected and appreciation certificates distributed. Lots of photographs were taken and we made sure the campaign was organized in a smooth manner. We could have campaigned better by putting up posters at frequently visited places such as the water dispenser, canteen notice board and also the online notice board. This would have roped in more people to donate blood.

COMPOSTING

I started disposing the vegetable waste generated in my home in a clean, efficient and fruitful way. Lots of vegetable waste used to get generated while my mom prepares lunch for us. This ranges from carrot peels, cucumber peels, onion skins, stems of green leafy vegetables etc etc.

We have two dust bins at home. One for the dry waste generated (e.g. paper, hairs, cobwebs, dust) and the other for the damp or wet waste generated (left over food, skins of fruits and vegetables, coffee powder residue, tea residue etc). The organic waste was being dumped in the second dustbin mentioned above all these years. It did not occur to any of us that there can be a better way of disposing these organic wastes and so the same old practice of disposing the organic waste was being continued.



I got inspired by my cousin at Delhi. She is an environmentalist and I used to visit her frequently during my on-duty trips to Alwar (this place is located at a distance of 160 Km from Delhi). I was a bit surprised to find that they had no dustbins at home. The kitchen waste for the day was accumulated in a polythene cover and later dumped in their kitchen garden. The practice is called “Vermi-composting” ie putting all the vegetable matter into the soil after digging a small trench in the ground. The trench is then covered with soil and water sprinkled over so that the vegetable matter decays and gets converted into soil.



The organic waste is completely decomposed in time span of two to three weeks and the soil is also enriched with nutrients. Last Sunday after having my lunch I thought why not I try disposing the organic waste in an efficient manner. So I took a small shovel and the organic waste dumped in the second dustbin at my home. The soil was hard and rocky, all moisture being sucked due to the intense heat. I poured a little water to aid the digging process. I dug a small pit about ten centimeters deep and fifteen centimeters wide. Then I put half the organic waste in that pit, covered it with loose soil, sprinkled water and flattened the ground surface. I dug up another pit of that size adjacent to the first one and dumped the other half of the waste in that and covered that put also.



Today is the second day and I believe that by the end of two weeks this organic matter would have decomposed to a certain extent. I feel happy that I was able dispose the waste in a clean way. The other advantages include fewer burdens on the municipality to clear the organic wastes, less pressure on the landfills and cleaner roads and streets.



The most important advantage is that your kitchen garden is replenished with nutrients and the soil quality will be better, helping your plants to grow healthier. If all people realize this and make a conscious effort towards disposing vegetable waste by composting it then we could have cleaner streets, less overflowing dustbins and healthier surroundings.