Govt offices wave carbon neutrality wand for eco-friendly cause
LUCKNOW : The mission to achieve carbon neutrality has received a fillip, thanks to a set of government offices in the Agra division of western Uttar Pradesh.
These offices of National Savings in Agra, Mainpuri, Mathura and Firozabad districts have cut their electricity consumption, reduced power bills considerably, planted trees outdoors and kept potted plants indoors. Such an initiative is usually not heard of in the government sector, those in the know of things say.
In championing the cause, they have given the concept of carbon neutrality a leg-up. Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions. This is brought about by balancing carbon dioxide emissions with removal or simply eliminating carbon dioxide emissions altogether. It is a key concept for environment protection and fighting global warming. “Power generation and power consumption, fossil fuel burning and reduction of plants are major contributors to carbon emission that leads to global warming,” says Prabhat Mishra, deputy director, National Savings, Agra division.
In February last year, he sent out an office circular for the four offices under him to cut power bills and increase the green cover on the office premises. It worked. For instance, the Agra office power bill in August 2019 was Rs 3,259 while for the same month this year, the bill was Rs 2,525.
“Normally, power bills increase gradually every year, but we have reduced it by conscious effort,” says Mishra, who, despite being a government official, also runs an environment protection movement called the Red Tape movement. The movement began with tree protection by red-taping trees more than a decade ago.
The carbon neutrality mission is also inspired by 17-yearold Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist who is internationally known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action against climate change. Greta follows the Red Tape movement on Twitter.
“She is the biggest carbon neutrality activist in the world. We thought of making a beginning in the direction. What we did is just a baby step, but if all government offices, institutions, households follow our model, together it can make a huge difference,” says Mishra.
The four National Savings offices took out bricks from the paved outdoor areas of their office premises and planted large surface area leafed trees in those spots. Every office planted five to a dozen trees, besides crotons and aloe vera in pots (the two plants are known as indoor air purifiers as they
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