Access to Clean Drinking Water – This World Environment Day
This World Environment Day, let us learn about a startup engaged in providing clean drinking water to millions of Indians at cheap rates and through sustainable means. Not only power but access to clean drinking water is also the right of people. Nearly 19% of the world’s population who do not have access to clean water live in India. When we were kids we used to hear, that one day you will have to pay to get clean drinking water and that day is not very far my friends. In fact, the popular holiday destination Shimla in water is facing acute water crisis this year, so much that tourists have been asked to postpone their trips to this hill station. Schools have also been shut down. The situation is so worse, that a 20-rupee-bottle of water is being sold at five times its price.
Swajal’s – Solar Powered Water ATMs
Swajal is an initiative that engages in providing clean drinking water systems using the Internet of Things (IoT). The project aims to reach out to 10 lakh people by 2018-19, including rural parts of India. The organization also uses solar energy to power its Water ATMs which have their own control panels, dispensing, water treatment and logging units. It currently serves nearly 2.5 lakh people every day and partners with P&G, Gillette, and Hershey. Not only are these water machines efficient and sustainable, but are also rugged to withstand any type of weather and are RFID and QR-code enabled. In rural areas, solar pumps are used to draw groundwater which is then treated with UV light. The water is sold at even cheaper rates (50 paise for a glass) in rural areas and at Re 1 in towns and cities.
We need more such projects in India and other parts of the world which do not have access to clean drinking water. It could be a boon to the more than 840 million people worldwide who currently do not have access to clean drinking water. Combining these units with solar energy is a win-win situation for Planet Earth! Not only do these water machines cater to the need of providing clean drinking water but are also using clean and green energy which is non-polluting. This World Environment day, other startups in India are also doing their bit with activities ranging from planting trees, reducing their paper and plastic consumption to switching off extra lights when not in use.
Say No to Plastic – This World Environment Day
The focus this year on the occasion of World Environment Day is on reducing and re-using plastic which is non-degradable and is hazardous to the environment
. It has become extremely critical now to raise awareness amongst people towards this serious issue, who most carelessly use plastic in their day-to-day lives. If every individual realizes this and starts putting in his/ her little effort, it could go a long way to reduce the use of plastic collectively as a nation. So let us pledge to always carry a small cloth bag whenever we step out for shopping. For morning walkers and joggers a new term called Plogging has been coined which means picking up plastic waste while jogging 
