Sustainable Youth Online Magazine

Activity: Member Registration

2009-06-09T06:17:00.005+05:30

We are happy to announce that Sustainable Youth now has registered member/subscribers/contributors/advertiser from five continents. Till now (as on 2.05 am (GMT), June 09,2009), 26 buddies around the world have registered as member/contributor/subscriber/advertiser, 24 are member, 4 are contributor, 7 advertiser and 20 have subscribed to our web magazine. I would like to introduce our members in alphabetical order with their location and comments.

Amit Singh (Member/Subscriber)[New Delhi,DL,India]
Comment: Well, its so nice a feeling to browse on your web-site and I feel happy that this initiative is a significant step by you all young-hearts towards adopting the habit of sustainable consumption by all of us to live sustainably on this planet. My best wishes with all of you!!!
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Anil Kumar (Member/Advertiser/Subscriber)[Mumbai,MH,India]
Comment:Good initiative, "Better late than Never" I am with you for each and every kind of contribution that I can make.
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Anand Acharya (Member/Subscriber)[Ujjain,MP,India]
Comment:
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Aravind Balakrishanan (Member/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Thiruvananthapuram,KE,India]
Comment:to live a simple sustainable life and to spread the idea of conserving nature..
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Arn Banerjee (Member)[Mumbai,MH, India]
Comment:
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Ayyappan V.R. (Member/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Kakinada,AP,India]
Comment:Being a sustainable Youth Member, I want to serve create sustainable world.
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Chandrashekhar Biradar (Member/Subscriber) [Norman,OK,USA]
Comment:
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Eglantine (Member/Subscriber) []
Comment:
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Gunajit Brahma (Member/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Bangaloru,KA,India]
Comment:I am a socialpreneur. Planning to start work on Algae fuel in India.
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Jay Thakkar (Member/Subscriber) [Lake Hiawatha,NJ,USA]
Comment:
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Juliana Gehlen (Member/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Brasilia,Brazil]
Comment:
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K. L. Raghu (Member/Subscriber) [Bangaloru,KA,India]
Comment:
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Kuldeep Gupta (Member) [Delhi,DL,India]
Comment:save environment save earth
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Aravind Balakrishanan (Member/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Thiruvananthapuram, KE,India]
Comment:to live a simple sustainable life and to spread the idea of conserving nature..
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Manoj Toparam (Member/Subscriber) [Hyderabad,AP,India]
Comment:
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Mardgie Torres (Member/Contributor/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Tagbilaran City, Philippines]
Comment:I was very happy knowing that yo have this kind of site and the kind of activities and organization you have. I am fond of doing research that is why I am interested to join and I am looking forward to have more of your ideas for my further plan in doing research. thank you and more power!
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Mirte van den Oosterkamp (Subscriber) [Amsterdam,Netherlands]
Comment:
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Murtaza Baramatiwala (Member/Contributor/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Baramati,UP,India]
Comment:to live a simple sustainable life and to spread the idea of conserving nature..
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Neha Patil (Member/Subscriber) [Thane, MH,India]
Comment:
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Paritosh Srivastava (Member/Contributor/Subscriber) [Allahabad,UP,India]
Comment:Good approach for Indian Context, Keep Growing
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Pushan Chatterjee (Member/Subscriber) [Kanpur,UP,India]
Comment:Good idea. Some SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS USING CONCRETE http://www.theconcretecentre.net/PDF/MBCESusSol.pdf
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Ram Sekhar (Member) []
Comment:
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Ravi Menon (Member) [Kolkata,WB,India]
Comment:
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Rosine Pema Sanga (Member) [New Orleans,LA,USA]
Comment:
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Shyam Janakiraman (Member) [Hamburg,Germany]
Comment:
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Srinivas Cherla (Member/Contributor/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Hyderabad,AP,India]
Comment:
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Stephen Peck (Member/Contributor/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Byron Bay,Australia]
Comment:fantastic...just discovered you today...I would like to work with your organisation as an associate member... I have 32 years experience as a qualified youth worker in australia...last 15 years working with aboriginal peoples...
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Sudhakaran Nair (Member/Contributor/Advertiser/Subscriber) [Ahmedabad, India]
Comment:
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Tamara Alfraihat
(Member/Subscriber) [Amman, Jordan]
Comment:
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Zaid Shopeju (Member) [Lagos,Nigeria]
Comment:I believe a world of peace, equality, justice, love and disease-free is attainable. For these reasons I am singing up for a better world through proactive youth involvement.
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WED 2009: Love Ur Environ as much as Ur Sweetheart

2009-06-05T09:09:00.009+05:30

World Environment Day for 2009 is at our doorstep. Do you remember what you did for WED 2008? Do you remember what you did in last one year to reduce the pollution or carbon footprint? Or at least do you noticed whomever you are, whatever you are doing, you can't live healthy without natural environment for long. You can try by locking yourself in a room without natural light or air ventilation till next WED comes. Probably you can't take the pain. Better you realize the reality. Feel guilty and do something that you can.
On the wake of Global Warming scenario, lots of initiatives being planned to reduce Greenhouse Gas level, protect rain forest or saving coral reefs. But, all these effort will go in vein unless we stop abusing the beautiful nature. There are lot of personal struggles, pains in our daily life to earn a living, make our family members especially our sweethearts happy and keep our status in society. However, our happy life not be there if disasters start to happen due to abrupt and adverse change in global climate in next few decades, as scientists has predicted. So, let us do something for our environment with love and bring our effort to community level.

Wish all SY member, subscriber, advertiser, contributors, well wishers and their family members Happy World Environment Day, 2009.

Don't forget to tell us about what you did for environment in last one year or at least on the World Environment Day.

At this occasion, we are happy to announce that now Sustainable Youth Community has registered contributors, members, subscribers and advertiser from 5 continents. If you have not registered yet, please do it ASAP here: www.sycomm.byethost9.com/feedback.php.

Soon we are going to start our fund raiser program and make our activism a profitable venture. Details will be shared with all.

Sustainable Youth Community

2009-01-30T21:44:00.003+05:30

Web:
www.syouth.net

Infobase:
www.sycomm.byethost9.com/home.html

News Service:
http://groups.google.com/group/synews

Feedback/Registration:
http://www.sycomm.byethost9.com/feedback.php

Orkut Community: http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=12663294

Facebook Community:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31576457247

Activity: Cool Summer Fest, 2007

2009-01-30T20:23:00.003+05:30

‘Cool Summer Fest 2007’ : In Detail

This is the first field activity of SY. On March 25, 2007 at IIT Bombay, SY, jointly with Research Scholars Forum, IIT Bombay has organized India’s first Symposium cum Technical Festival on Solution for Global Warming. It was designed combining excitement and spirit of the game of cricket and seriousness of the game of scientific research to encourage interdisciplinary innovation to solve environmental problems like Global Warming. And now, most likely, next year Institute’s Yearly Technical Fest , Techfest that is Asia’s biggest technical carnival as well, will be based on Global Warming.

The program started with a positive yet skeptic note from Associate Dean R&D Prof. K.K. Kurien. However its jumped in to vibrant mode when Prof. Anand Rao opened his talk on “Threat and Opportunities of Global Warming”. The presentation on big screen does not only shown the reliable statistics, it demonstrated the whole paradigm of the issue of Climate Change and Global initiatives taken till date. This ended with the urge to do something using the opportunities to save this unique habitat in the universe.

Immediately after the first of the three lecture series, the competitions started. Field Games and Poster Competition started simultaneously. Whereas Idea-Research-Innovation, the fast track environmental problem solution game began at little late. Every competition was full of excitement to enjoy the fun out of environmental issues. Field Game was there to create awareness about using alternate energy sources like solar energy and the way to get maximum energy by following simple engineering tricks. For poster competition, we received 18 posters from different departments . Former IIT director and Atomic Energy Board Chairman, Prof. S.P. Sukhatme and HOD, CESE, Prof. S.R. Asolekar had long chat and vibrant discussion with the poster presenters before the judgment.

Videos:
Part-1:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3087598685009979406&hl=en
Part-2:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4039290168656802492&hl=en
Part-3:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=444719799048770069&hl=en
Part-4:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2365309897198617110&hl=en
Part-5:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-474071462885008057&hl=en
Part-6:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7067047561256110869&hl=en

WED 2008: Make a SMALL change for a BIG difference

2008-06-05T08:23:00.007+05:30

Another World Environment Day is at the corner. UNEP is celebrating this year's WED as making good habits for a low carbon economy, KICK THE HABIT! But how long we will take to change ourselves for better future? A teenage girl, Severn Suzuki called for this change from the stage of UN Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro, 16 years ago. However, still most people around the world are not able change themselves for a better environment. Why so? May be, most of us are not sensitive to environmental issues. May be, who are really sensitive are thinking of big changes in short time. But the rate of change of habits about irresponsible usage of energy everyday is still slower than the rate of heating up of earth due to global warming. One may wait for oil price goes up over the affordable range and then make a plan for least usage of his or her vehicle. Or someone may wait for an incredible electricity bill and switch from Air-conditioner to fans.

Just put a second thought. Why not we start changing from today itself. This change may be SMALL, may be only one of those numerous habits which can make a difference; a BIG difference to take this world towards sustainable development or low carbon economy in real sense.

So, don't wait for a late start..begin today.....Wish you all a Happy World Environment Day!!

Here are some links for make a SMALL change in your habit.

Twelve steps to help you kick the CO2 habit:
http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/Information_Material/factsheet.asp

Sustainable Habits:
http://www.natural-environment.com/sustainable_living/sustainable_habits.php

I have already started with keeping my Air Conditioner in Car off and using fresh air to cool me down. What change you made and going to make today?????

Please reply to this post.

Happy Earth Day ! Celebrate in SY style....

2008-04-21T22:57:00.008+05:30

Earth Day is being celebrated on April 22 by United Nations from 1970. It is the day of March Equinox and the day of doing something for environment in SY style. This year's Earth Day is just round the corner...let's celebrate this occasion in a greener way...

Check this link to find 10 Green Ways to Fix the Planet Green:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Pollution/10_green_ways_to_fix_the_planet/articleshow/2950466.cms

Know more about Earth Day, April 22:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day

And send your friends an Earth Day greetings card:

http://support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ecard_earthday2006&kw=google&gclid=CLPhy-3S7JICFQFjxwodB1I-5Q

Watch Earth Day, 2008 Nat-Geo video:

http://in.promos.yahoo.com/earth-day/enlarge.html

Comment on this or reply to a thread on orkut.com to express your views and crazy thoughts on preserving our environment..

http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=12663294&tid=2595820077714474792

Domain renewed and accessible now

2008-03-24T14:08:00.001+05:30

Here is a good news. Our domain www.sustainableyouth.org on byethost server is automatically renewed till March, 2009. The payment is done from my Paypal account . A copy of screen shot of the Paypal transaction is attached for confirmation. The expenditure and balance of SY fund is given below.

Fund left after registration of the domain in March, 2007:USD 38.00
Fund donated by Mr. Sauman Dasgupta in Dec, 2007 :USD 88.00
Fund utilized for renewal of the domain in March, 2008:USD 36.00
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Fund left in SY account:USD 52.00
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Fund needed for re-design of portal and related issues:USD 2000.00

Note: all figures are rounded up and recalculated from Indian Rupee using average conversion factor as 1 USD=40.00 INR

P.S. We need to redesign the portal as soon as possible. I am now involved in a Landfill Management Project. I will approach to the project proponent for some donation. Hope all of you are ready to help us out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a bad news. Today, I have found SY content is totally missing from www.sustainableyouth.org. Though the content is accessible through the control panel. I have already contacted the host byet.net to seek help. Please keep patience and check our Online Magazine www.syinfo.blogspot.com for latest updates about SY.

kudos to Sauman Dasgupta for providing good links useful to raise funds. I am going to share the links with you all soon for follow up.
thanks to Juliana for response. the site map including placing of advertisements is almost ready, will share with you to correct the loop holes on the map.

for those are new, please remember, we collected initial fund of USD 74.00 from our first ever field program named "Cool Summer Fest" held at IIT Bombay on March 25 with sponsorship jointly from R&D Department of IIT Bombay and ONGC, India.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Byet.net officers has taken quick step to fix the problem with DNS for SY portal. It's working fine again. Looking for prompt for fund raising.

Tata nano : love it or hate, but challenge it

2008-02-04T12:15:00.000+05:30

""Tata Motors today took the covers off the world’s cheapest car — the Nano.

Over the past year, Tata has been building hype for a car that would cost a mere 100,000 rupees (roughly $2,500) and bring automotive transportation to the mainstream Indian population. It has been nicknamed the “People’s Car.” Over the course of the New Delhi Auto Expo, which began this week, anticipation had grown to fever pitch.""

~~~New York Times, Jan 10, 2008.

Though there is possibility of more congestion, more pollution, it is not practically possible rolling out of Tnano in next 6 months. Its market demand, not even Dr. Pachauri or Sunita Narayan can stop it. its good to salute this innovation and try for a better alternative.

So, let's challenge Tata Nano. but, the alternative design may not be a single car rather an personalized, affordable and eco-friendly transport system for home to office commuting and weekend tours.

let's share your views and crazy ideas also suggest names...

Talk hard on Tnano:
http://sytalk.phpbb.instant-forum.com

a few good Tnano links:

NY Times full report: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/tata-nano-the-worlds-cheapest-car/index.html?ref=business

Vote for Tnano on orkut:
http://www.orkut.com/CommPollVote.aspx?cmm=12663294&pct=1201428750&pid=1164774658

Vote for Tnano beyond orkut:
http://www.sustainableyouth.org/contact.html

Tnano official site:
http://www.tatapeoplescar.com
or
http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com

Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano

Reviews:
http://www.auto-power-girl.com/cars-2008/tata_motors-specifications/tata_nano-2361

http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/tata-nano-is-greener-than-most-cars/

http://fromgoodtogold.blogspot.com/2008/01/tata-nano-is-it-social-entrepreneurship.html

Tata nano: video gallery

2008-02-04T11:39:00.000+05:30

Official:

Tata Nano Launch Event - Part I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3brUB8IZhAo

Tata Nano Launch Event - Part II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Mw6BuMJEM

Tata Nano Launch Event - Part III

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvjhg2Zh84k

Launch in news:

Tata Nano World's Cheapest Car 100,000 rupees US $ 2,545.18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpYkm1A_K8s

Live Unveiling of the $2,500 Tata Nano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM2LEVdxdc4&e

TATA NANO Launch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymeLyO4mb0

Tata Motors Peoples' Car - One lakh Car - TATA NANO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOnQpP5haUQ

*New* Tata Nano Pictures - World's Cheapest Car...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UCwUqterV4

TATA's 1 Lakh car - TATA NANO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX64M_1qN0s

TATA NANO {cheapest car in the world}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfhxmnnXD4I

Tata Nano En Ucuz Araba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=728h8KKNiTs

Tata Nano 1 Lakh Car India, worlds cheapest car $2500 car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ8Ap602JUA

Tata NANO....the one lakh rupees dream car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvRI-6T0nnM

Tata Nano 1 Lakh Car India, worlds cheapest car $2500 car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmNtNA-DmyE

Tata Nano, 1 Lakh Car Closeup Revolving View

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boyUUo-fWjk

Tata nano lowest car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blGbgJeihWo

TATA nano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVvEmHvxglo

Tata Nano Autotest SelMcKenzie Selzer-McKenzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THnP3HFOf7k

TATA-NANO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzuy3Aw0iDo

WHY TATA NANO?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZvPclqkziQ

TATA NANO $2,500 car - Clinton advocates $5,000 tax on V-8's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdZL4lMgVF8

tata nano india red

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS_tPGSMZTY

tata nano 1 lakh car in the closest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzbbgfLuAdc

Tata Nano -- Autoexpo2008 by Japs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN1DSPjXT_8

Tata NANO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zedaRpzQjXk

US2500 Tata Nano - World's Cheapest Car - 10 Jan 08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agSF8upEg5I

tata nano india cream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWG-8vvFDeM

India 9th Auto Expo 2008 TATA Motors nano car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suE9vjoxvcQ

Check Out The World's Cheapest Car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwTxUvlMNCU

Tata Nano 1lahk car タタ自動車　インド　ナノ　10万ルピー　ニューデリー

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1imMDMMYxMg

Riz Khan - Street Talk - 15 Jan 08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD5je7BmyWI

Bush in Middle East_TATA Nano_Cashier's Blog_Pocket Printer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip7acPinADI

"World's cheapest 4+1 seater car" TATA NANO @ Auto Expo 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h88VWdyNTqU

Tata Nano Car's Enormous Possibilities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQCuAL9PQb0

Nano Tata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JYz6VKoXH0

Nano red

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ABm6pWaeEA

Dutch:

FTD-Thema vom 10.01.: Tata präsentiert 1700-Euro-Auto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR_J2LwZX00

German:

Billig-Auto Tata Nano - Spiegel TV Beitrag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WotNJfaNFZs

Tata Nano - Das billigste Auto der Welt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0twfjUPa9mc

Tata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm99MpzKCYQ

German/ Japanese:

インド　タタ自動車　ナノ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N-FPQ6aV50

People’s View:

Tata's Nano: The People's Car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUcap1TbCxw

Side Effects of Tata's Nano Car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm3Gd1TzAro

Auto Expo 2008 Superstar Nano gets 2 lakh fans at auto fair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LINLKDSgXqQ

Nano’s Competitor:

360 degree view of Bajaj Auto's 3000 dollar car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIeLTzmwXEg

Bajaj Lite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWM6M4qfQzo&

TATA low cost car (warning - Slovak TV!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUMPIHp1rck

Happy Christmas and New Year: make these green

2007-12-24T23:35:00.000+05:30

SY is wishing happy christmas and new year, 2008. due to time crunch i could not upload the full text for our campaign on Green Christmas. That will be uploaded soon, till then please check following links and make your celebration green.

You can grow your own Christmas tree [Statesman.com]
http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/gardening/12/08/1208garden.html

Green Cars on the road [Economic Times]
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/2599283.cms

Eco fashion? A world consumed by guilt [Herald Tribune]
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/13/style/13green.php

SY future plan: a global community of purpose..join us actively

2007-11-28T20:57:00.000+05:30

Dear all,
Thanks for showing interest to be with us at Sustainable Youth Community. as you know, Sustainable Youth is promoting Green Lifestyle among youth and trying to contribute towards Sustainable Development. This is not a NGO rather a Global Community or Greater Family solely based on interest to create a futuristic eco-friendly society with innovative alternatives. To extend the existence of human beings on Earth.

Sustainable Lifestyle does not only mean using eco-friendly products, it's about a healthy lifestyle that is going to fit into our future. In brief within current and future economic set up nuclear families are coming under enormous mental/economic pressures to cope up with various needs and expenditures. Many such families are even broken up in divorce. In this situation, community life is the only way out.
Community like Sustainable Youth will provide services like: medical insurance, legal and financial guidance, logistics transfer, recreation tour etc. Even your children can be looked after by other community members who gets time. However, we need to follow practical steps with enthusiasm to build this dream community.

~*~As the second step of the growth plan, Sustainable Youth wants to
make www.sustainableyouth.org as next generation social networking site with field activities and community support services for paid members (both associate and advisory) who are willing to commit for SY activities. The beta version is already uploaded. The portal would invite visitors for following purposes:

1. investors, financiers and advertisers> information about activities/ projects

2. non-members> information about activities/ projects, topics on forum, sample member's home page, benefits for a paid member

3. free-members>information about activities/ projects, access forum and information database/links, member's home page, benefits for a paid member

4. paid-members (both associate and advisory)>information about activities/ projects, access forum and information database/links, member's home page, registration for community services like medical insurance, financial planning guidance, travelling and logistics booking service etc. registration for activities, submission of report in text, graphic and video format, payment account for honorarium transfer or yearly membership fees submission.

SY Web (beta):
www.sustainableyouth.org

this portal is going to be re-designed by professionals. above 10 people including some web design farms and freelance designers have shown interest and we have received 3 full quotations. the most economical one would around INR 35000-40000 or USD 875-1000 (revised on Nov 28, 07). we are looking for sponsorships from companies or organizations dealing with eco-friendly products and services now. we hope to get generous help from all of you.

~*~however the sub domain with detail reports of our previous
activities will remain available at:
SY Infobase:
www.sycomm.byethost9.com/home.html

~*~Sustainable Youth has opened a News Service through googlegroups.com to mailcast news on environment, lifestyle and sustainability related issues (daily), job openings (as soon as received), community activities (weekly) and member responses (monthly). Anyone interested to have this mailcast is welcome to subscribe at

SY News Service:
http://groups.google.com/group/synews

~*~Sustainable Youth has opened a Blog to publish its Online Magazine. this will contain recent reports of our activities both online and on the field. please visit the blog site and catch the feed.

SY Online Magazine:
www.syinfo.blogspot.com

~*~and till today, we are most active on orkut.com where we originated on April 30, 2006. check our forum and take part in discussion.

SY on Orkut:
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=12663294

The online forum, wiki and shopping mall are still to follow.

our future activities will focused on 5 basic stands:
1. activities should be useful or real time initiatives towards sustainable development.
2. activities should fit into lives of both crazy pupil inside University campus as well as busy professional in the office or field.
3. activities should primarily aimed at changing our own lifestyle to preserve both our joy and natural resources.
4. activities should be innovative and practical enough to change the conventional approach whenever it is required.
5. activities should fit into our long term growth plan.

~*~The community will be registered as trust, will be handled by the core members (comprising committed associate as well as advisory members) and will abide by legal bindings of the location where it's going to be registered.

~*~Sarit is just one of the initiator, along with Arun Murali,Srinivas Cherla and Rahul Bhat et al. and will help this system to run on its feet.

~*~we have our draft constitution comprising vision, commitment, policy and growth plan. the document is attached herewith. please take a look. its only a draft to start with. every member and well wisher has the right to point out fallacies and is welcome to put more innovative thoughts as well as practical planning.

So, join us actively. those who really take part in designing our activities or want to share similar activities, please send your ideas to this id . we need people around the world to make teams to manage our services described above. we also need to locate sources of funding and unconditional donations.

Happy Diwali , make it Green

2007-11-07T17:02:00.000+05:30

Diwali is the Festival of Lights being celebrated in different parts of India and by Indian communities around the world. It is being celebrated with fervour and gaiety during November first week, just before the winter sets in. The festival is celebrated by young and old, rich and poor, to dispel darkness and light up their lives. The festival symbolizes unity in diversity as every state celebrates it in its own special way. Diwali is common for Hindus, Sikhs and Jain religious communities. Diwali is known in various names in different parts of India like Deepabali, Deepavali, Deepawali etc. These festivals with their own history and origin are very much similar in style of celebration, the motto and obviously relevant questions of sustainability.

For getting more details on history and origin, please check the following links:

http://www.indiaexpress.com/faith/festivals/dhistory.html
http://rumela.com/events/festival_diwali_history.htm
and many more by searching “diwali, history” on any search engine.

Diwali is generally celebrated by illuminating houses with diya or pradeep or deep (a handmade illuminating stuff with small bowl and a lit), candles and chain of tiny lamps along with decorating floor and walls with rangoli (a decoration practice using coloured pastes) bursting fire crackers and distributing sweets and sharing exciting gifts.

For getting more details on celebration in India as well as around the world, please check the following links:

http://rumela.com/events/festival_diwali.htm
http://www.thatsqingdao.com/images/qingdao/chinaFirecracker.jpg
and many more by searching “diwali, celebration” on any search engine.

Diwali celebration brings joy and fun for millions of people around the world. However, the usual way of bursting lots of noisy fire crackers, using excessive packing for gifts as well as electricity for illumination make the festival harmful to human health and environment and wasteful as well. The fire crackers made of a kind of gun powder create noise in the range of 100-150dBA which is well above the human tolerance of 80-90dBA. Such noise can cause hearing loss, increase in blood pressure and even heart attack. The crackers along other fireworks cause smoke with contains high amount of Sulphur di-oxide, Nitrogen oxides and heavy metals like Lead, Cadmium etc. According Government of NCT, Delhi, the air pollution level in the city manifolds upto 10 times during diwali. Exposure to such smoky air, could lead one to diseases like asthma, anaemia with kidney damage. The unburnt parts of the fireworks containing harmful chemicals like lead, copper, cadmium, sodium nitrite or potassium nitrate can contamination to water bodies. The wrapping for gift and other items piles up substantial amount of solid waste across the country. The washout of such mostly non-biodegradable substances chocks the drainage system and create flood like that in July, 2005 in Mumbai.

For getting more details on harmful side of diwali celebration as well as the legal initiatives taken to stop this menace, please check the following links:

http://www.diwalifestival.org/environmentally-safe-diwali.html
http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/articles/diwali.htm
http://environment.delhigovt.nic.in/cm_msg.html
and many more by searching “diwali, environment” on any search engine.

So, can we compromise our joy in Festival like Diwali for environment safety or healthy life? Surely, it’s a difficult choice for most of the common people and may be easy to choose joy for many of the youth despite knowing the harmful effects. Recently Yahoo Answers floated an online question on “How can we celebrate Diwali without harming the environment?” There are over 300 answers have been received for the resolved question. Many were a bit casual in answer, some answered in practical way making sceptic remarks like “Come on! diwali is the celebration of light and sound, if we compromise with fire crackers, then whats the diwali meant for????” Yes, you cannot ignore there voices, but you may look for some practical alternatives which keep the balance between these two sentiments. There are crazy people like the members of Sustainable Youth to suggest some innovative ways. And the best chosen answer has given the following blue print:

“we can have a crackers show for 2 hours in a common place where people can see and enjoy the crackers, instead of each doing at their home in a small way and making the whole city dusty with paper if in a common place

(1)the sound will be only for a particular time
(2) the paper dust will be only in one place
(3) the cost of diwali celebrations can be reduced
(4) no neighbours envy
(5) only a little of air and sound pollution
(6) can be had in a place far from hospitals
(7) safe measures can be ensured in that place
(8) monitoring of the safety of the people is easy
(9) enjoyment can be shared by all at the same place
(10) a get-together is easy”

She is not alone there are plenty of sensitive as well as innovative people out there. Even leading daily new papers in India viz. Indian Express, Times of India have come out with eco-friendly or sustainable way to celebrate diwali with available options.

For getting more details on question related to eco-friendly diwali celebration on yahoo answer and ways suggested in Indian Express and Times of India, please check the following links:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071021080004AAysxRm
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/235205._.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-251216,prtpage-1.cms
and many more by searching “diwali, green” on any search engine.

Sustainable Youth, being a crazy community which believes in youthful innovation for sustainable lifestyle would like to offer following tips to “Make your Diwali Green” without compromising the level of joy and fun for people in India and abroad:

@ Buy and sell fire crackers which are tested not to create noise above 100dBA.
# Use fire crackers in the open field, during the days of Diwali only and within 10 pm.
$ Buy and send gifts with minimum wrapping.
% Collect the residues of fireworks and gift items and discard them to municipal solid waste collection system only.
@ Use earthen diyas or pradeeps or handmade candles to illuminate your home, reduce or do not use electric bulbs.
# Use public transport or pack up your new car with relatives or neighbours to have efficient usage of fuel.
% Be responsive to the inconvenience of your neighbours.
@ Go for community celebration, share the joy and happiness.

These tips are applicable for 2007 only, next year we may come up a new breed of fire crackers which produces maximum light with minimum harmful residues and noise to make diwali greener. And we would like to continue our similar campaign during Christmas this year.

Check our community page on Orkut for more discussion on Green Diwali tips:
http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=12663294&tid=2564838554463078184&start=1

Sustainable Youth wishes a very happy diwali and requests to make it Green.

So what could happen if Global Warming continues unhindered?....

2007-10-14T05:38:00.000+05:30

The predicted effects for the environment and for human life are numerous and varied. The main effect is an increasing global average temperature. From this flow a variety of resulting effects, namely, rising sea levels, altered patterns of agriculture, increased extreme weather events, and the expansion of the range of tropical diseases. In some cases, the effects may already be occurring, although it is generally difficult to attribute specific natural phenomena to long-term global warming.

A summary of possible effects and our current understanding can be found in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II; a discussion of projected climate changes is found in Working Group I. The more recent IPCC Fourth Assessment Report outlines the latest agreed international thinking.

Scientific and business groups in individual countries are also producing reports on the effects of global warming on their nation, such as in Australia.

Proposed responses to the effects of global warming include mitigation and adaptation.

EFFECTS ON WEATHER:
Global warming is responsible in part for some trends in natural disasters such as extreme weather. Pascal Peduzzi (2004) "Is climate change increasing the frequency of hazardous events?" Environment Times UNEP/GRID-ArendalIncreasing temperature is likely to lead to increasing precipitation but the effects on storms are less clear. Extratropical storms partly depend on the temperature gradient, which is predicted to weaken in the northern hemisphere as the polar region warms more than the rest of the hemisphere.

Storm strength leading to extreme weather is increasing, such as the Emanuel (2005) "power dissipation index" of hurricane intensity. Kerry Emmanuel in Nature writes that hurricane power dissipation is highly correlated with temperature, reflecting global warming. Hurricane modeling has produced similar results, finding that hurricanes, simulated under warmer, high-CO2 conditions, are more intense than under present-day conditions; there is less confidence in projections of a global decrease in numbers of hurricanes. Worldwide, the proportion of hurricanes reaching categories 4 or 5 – with wind speeds above 56 metres per second – has risen from 20% in the 1970s to 35% in the 1990s.Precipitation hitting the US from hurricanes increased by 7% over the twentieth century . See also Time Magazine's "Global Warming: The Culprit?" and . (The extent to which this is due to global warming as opposed to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation is unclear.)

Catastrophes resulting from extreme weather are exacerbated by increasing population densities. The World Meteorological Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have linked increasing extreme weather events to global warming, as have Hoyos et al. (2006), writing that the increasing number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes is directly linked to increasing temperatures. Thomas Knutson and Robert E. Tuleya of the NOAA stated in 2004 that warming induced by greenhouse gas may lead to increasing occurrence of highly destructive category-5 storms. Vecchi and Soden find that wind shear, the increase of which acts to inhibit tropical cyclones, also changes in model-projections of global warming. There are projected increases of wind shear in the tropical Atlantic and East Pacific associated with the deceleration of the Walker circulation, as well as decreases of wind shear in the western and central Pacific. The study does not make claims about the net effect on Atlantic and East Pacific hurricanes of the warming and moistening atmospheres, and the model-projected increases in Atlantic wind shear.

A substantially higher risk of extreme weather does not necessarily mean a noticeably greater risk of slightly-above-average weather. However, the evidence is clear that severe weather and moderate rainfall are also increasing.

Stephen Mwakifwamba, national co-ordinator of the Centre for Energy, Environment, Science and Technology - which prepared the Tanzanian government's climate change report to the UN - says that change is happening in Tanzania right now. "In the past, we had a drought about every 10 years", he says. "Now we just don't know when they will come. They are more frequent, but then so are floods. The climate is far less predictable. We might have floods in May or droughts every three years. Upland areas, which were never affected by mosquitoes, now are. Water levels are decreasing every day. The rains come at the wrong time for farmers and it is leading to many problems".

Greg Holland, director of the Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Division at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, said on April 24, 2006, "The hurricanes we are seeing are indeed a direct result of climate change," and that the wind and warmer water conditions that fuel storms when they form in the Caribbean are, "increasingly due to greenhouse gases.

There seems to be no other conclusion you can logically draw." Holland said, "The large bulk of the scientific community say what we are seeing now is linked directly to greenhouse gases."

INCREASED EVAPORATION
Increasing water vapor at Boulder, Colorado.Over the course of the 20th century, evaporation rates have reduced worldwide ; this is thought by many to be explained by global dimming. As the climate grows warmer and the causes of global dimming are reduced, evaporation will increase due to warmer oceans. Because the world is a closed system this will cause heavier rainfall and more erosion, and in more vulnerable tropical areas (especially in Africa), desertification due to deforestation. Many scientists think that it could result in more extreme weather as global warming progresses. The IPCC Third Annual Report says: "...global average water vapor concentration and precipitation are projected to increase during the 21st century. By the second half of the 21st century, it is likely that precipitation will have increased over northern mid- to high latitudes and Antarctica in winter. At low latitudes there are both regional increases and decreases over land areas. Larger year to year variations in precipitation are very likely over most areas where an increase in mean precipitation is projected".

COST OF MORE EXTREME WEATHER
Choi and Fisher, writing in Climate Change, vol. 58 (2003) pp. 149, predict that each 1% increase in annual precipitation would enlarge the cost of catastrophic storms by 2.8%.The Association of British Insurers has stated that limiting carbon emissions would avoid 80% of the projected additional annual cost of tropical cyclones by the 2080s. The cost is also increasing partly because of building in exposed areas such as coasts and floodplains. The ABI claims that reduction of the vulnerability to some inevitable impacts of climate change, for example through more resilient buildings and improved ﬂood defences, could also result in considerable cost-savings in the longterm.Destabilization of local climatesThe first recorded South Atlantic hurricane, "Catarina", which hit Brazil in March 2004In the northern hemisphere, the southern part of the Arctic region (home to 4,000,000 people) has experienced a temperature rise 1 °C to 3 °C (1.8 °F to 5.4 °F) over the last 50 years. Canada, Alaska and Russia are experiencing initial melting of permafrost. This may disrupt ecosystems and by increasing bacterial activity in the soil lead to these areas becoming carbon sources instead of carbon sinks . A study (published in Science) of changes to eastern Siberia's permafrost suggests that it is gradually disappearing in the southern regions, leading to the loss of nearly 11% of Siberia's nearly 11,000 lakes since 1971. At the same time, western Siberia is at the initial stage where melting permafrost is creating new lakes, which will eventually start disappearing as in the east. Western Siberia is the world's largest peat bog, and the melting of its permafrost is likely to lead to the release, over decades, of large quantities of methane—creating an additional source of greenhouse gas emissions

Hurricanes were thought to be an entirely North Atlantic phenomenon. In late March 2004, the first Atlantic cyclone to form south of the equator hit Brazil with 40 m/s (144 km/h) winds, although some Brazilian meteorologists deny that it was a hurricane.Monitoring systems may have to be extended 1,600 km (1,000 miles) further south. There is no agreement as to whether this hurricane is linked to climate change.

India has 1/5th of the top polluted places in world...

2007-09-16T06:44:00.001+05:30

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6995621.stm

Letter by me to local authorities via Greenpeace

2007-07-19T04:55:00.000+05:30

I was first inspired to get involved into conservation activities after learning about Richard Ogust, a man who sheltered 1200+ critically endangered fresh water turtle species from ending up on dinner plates. His continuous effort for more than a decade, brought into spotlight the issues faced by people like him against environmental agencies, civic authorities and other governmental organizations, who are supposed to be helping people in such noble efforts. It is no wonder that even today organizations like Green Peace have to fight pitched battles to convince authorities to atleast consider looking at the issues, let alone take action on them.

It is disheartening to learn about the current plight of marine life in places like Bering Sea and other commercial fishing hotspots. I am writing to urge you to strengthen and finalize the Steller sea lion recovery plan and help put them on the path towards healthier populations. The draft Steller sea lion recovery plan has been six years in the making. Meanwhile, the sea lions have been fighting off starvation and the population remains at risk.

Over the last four decades, the sea lion population has plummeted by almost 90 percent, coinciding with a virtual explosion of commercial fishing in the region. A network of marine reserves and an adaptive management approach is needed to assess the relative impacts of factors such as the effects of fishing and climate variability on sea lion prey. I would therefore request concerned authorities to do things in their jurisdiction to help conserve the marine life in these areas.

The chances of the world changing

2007-07-18T08:53:00.000+05:30

Hi folks, I wrote an essay but lost it to a wrong mouse click, and am in no mood to write it all over again. All I want to say is that here is a person who has a noble goal and a pure passion to do something to achieve it. After all he has done and gone through, all he is waiting to see is for the world to change for good.

Please go through this article. http://www.tribecatrib.com/newsoct03/turtle_guy.htm

Also find a documentary about him here: http://www.thechancesoftheworldchanging.com/

What is sustainability

2007-06-27T08:22:00.000+05:30

So what exactly is sustainability? Is it just a different way of saying that someone is environmentally conscious, does it have something to do with supporting animal rights activism or is it about using renewable resources etc. The most widely accepted definition for sustainable development comes from Brundtland report (1987). It defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Ever since the publication of the report environmentally friendly practices have been receiving greater public attention because of their impact on the society, leading to some interest among politicians. Of late NGO’s and motivated groups like our own have been working on highlighting the concept of environmentally sustainable practices in every day life.

Being environmentally sustainable does not mean putting an end to scientific and technological progress and going back to 18th lifestyle. Rather, it is about constantly improving existing products, processes and day-to-day activities so as to achieve more with less, without interfering with the natural ecosystem. This would mean eliminating wastage, reducing energy consumption, end of product life management, recycling etc. So sustainability and technology go hand in hand to result in a positive ecological impact.
This is where contributions from our generation will play a crucial role in defining future trends. We must put our forces together in stopping the transition of our country from the sustainable land it always has been, to an unsustainable one. Please stay active and spread the word of sustainability whenever there is a possibility. For example, college functions can sport an environmental theme, any kind of community public event etc. Thank you and hope to hear back.

Editorial

2007-06-21T21:30:00.000+05:30

A Few Words from ‘In-place’ Editor

The first edition of Bi-Weekly turned into Monthly Info Letter of Sustainable Youth Community had been published on April 1, 2007. The unavoidable transformation is happened due lack of time in editorial desk. Anyone interested to contribute or want to subscribe is requested to send a mail to sustainableyouth@gmail.com or comment on the posts where one is interested to contribute.The Common Sense section is converted into Contribution for this purpose. Interested guys and gals can search our websites or try the Google search to know more about us.

Contribution

2007-06-21T21:16:00.000+05:30

The Impact of Bio-fuel on Global Warming

Arun Murali

There has been a lot of talk on Bio-Fuels in the international news, lately. US vows to cut down their dependency on foreign oil and reduce pollution by 20% in next 10 years. The UK government is all set to make 10% bio-fuel blended fuels compulsory. The US sells upto 85% ethanol blended fuel. Home made bio-diesels becoming common. And a lot more. So, what are bio-fuels ? And why are they given so much of importance ?

Bio-Fuels are basically fuels that can be extracted out of any natural content. One bio-fuel that we know and were using is the Gobar-Gas(Methane). The gobar gas is produced by putting a lot of compost and dried plants together. The fuel is then produced after some days. Some other bio-fuels are ethanol and biodiesel, which are making big news in the international energy market.

The Petroleum that we currently refine and use are extracted from underground where it was believed to have got accumulated some billion years ago through burying of carbon rich plants and animals through death and earth quakes. The fuels were formed under extreme pressures under the earth surface. The fuel that we extract is actually tons of carbon dioxide that are stored underground directly by plants and indirectly by animals. So, when we pump the fuel to burn them then we essentially are uprooting carbon dioxide(and energy) that was stored deep long time ago. The carbon dioxide is the reason bio-fuels got its attention, what if we produce some thing similar to the age old fuels from the currently living plants or animal fats. In fact the vegetable oils are the first used biodiesel(bio-fuel), used by diesel to demonstrate the idea of diesel engines.

The increase in carbon dioxide in our environment, most scientists believe, is the reason for global warming. In numbers we have produced about 27,000 million tons of Carbon dioxide in 2004. This is because carbon dioxide is believed to be a heat trapping gas. What is a heat trapping gas? The heat that the earth is absorbs from the sun during the day will generally be expelled during the night, thus bringing constant temperature for plants and animals to live in. But when carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere all the heat that is absorbed during the day is not expelled during the night resulting in increase in temperature of the earths atmosphere. This is in principle is similar to the green house. Thus it is called the Green House Effect.

The Infra Red rays are considered the carrier of heat energy. In frequency band infrared light is just below the visible red and hence the name. The infra red rays that enter the earth and hits the earth surface. On hitting the ground the frequency of the infrared rays decreases. The Carbon dioxide particles have a property that allow only high frequency infra red rays to pass through, low Frequency infrared particles are reflected back. Thus, the carbon dioxide particles reflects back the earth reflected infrared waves back into the earth and thus the heat, which leads to raise in heat.

The raise in heat is resulting in melting of ice mainly in arctic and antarctic regions and also in numerous other regions resulting in more water. Not only that, the raise in heat also makes earth non-livable for many animals and wipes out many animals, directly, living in the arctic and antarctic regions and indirectly in other regions by discouraging them to multiply. This will also affect humans by increasing the disease breeding rate and slowly reducing the chances of survival. So, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emission is very important for our very own survival. Thus, the global warming issue is very clearly one of the biggest challenges that humans have delved upon.

This is the reason reducing carbon emission has taken the front seat in recent years. Kyoto protocol was designed and signed by many nations who have agreed to reduce carbon dioxide production in their countries (Different nations have different goals based on economic viability and other factors). Nations in turn introduced carbon trading where companies that emit more carbon paid more tax. Encouraging all of them to reduce carbon emission by investing in more carbon saving technologies. This took care of emissions from industries. There are various other sources which emit carbon dioxide, the power generation and Transportation takes the next two biggest slots. In order to reduce carbon emission all the sources has to reduce, then we can achieve balanced reduction and load on industries. The power generation sector can easily reduce carbon emission by bringing renewable source power generation plants, like Hydro electric, wind, solar, geothermal etc. The transportation sector contributes upto 30% of carbon production and more than 15% are from road transports. Thus the automobile manufacturers are under high pressure to reduce the carbon emission. Many solutions have been found, some are implemented based on economic viability. One such a solution is bio-fuels. The bio-fuels do not directly emit much less carbon from the car's tail pipe. However, pollution from the overall process of making bio-fuels and using them, is less than extracting and using petroleum based fuels.

One of the biggest back log of the Kyoto protocol is US(biggest single carbon emitter) not signing it, being individually the source for 30% of the worlds Carbon dioxide emission. Some other nations like Australia are also in dilemma. This results in Kyoto protocol responsible for only controlling 55% of pollution.... [ to be continued ]

Sustainable Youth: the making

2007-06-21T19:12:00.000+05:30

This community was created on 30th April, 2006 on orkut to prove the statistics wrong that said around 80% youth live with an unsustainable lifestyle. The information is given by Prof. Shirish Sangle working on sustainable development of corporate sector in UK that time during his talk (03.04.06) in our Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Being a young buddy motivated towards sustainable development I was desperate to club little serious guys and gals together to do something for Sustainable Development. Check Sustainable Youth’s websites at www.sustainableyouth.org