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Trees are important, valuable and necessary to our very existence. It’s not too hard to believe that,without trees we humans would not exist on this beautiful planet. Trees for Life conserves and develops the natural environment and heritage of this historic holy land by planting friut trees such as mango, guava, orange, lime, lemon, amla, jackfruit, starfruit (Carambola), pomegranate (grenadine), jamun, and mulberry. Feeding People For Life By giving these trees we feed many, many generations to come as well. We maintain our own organic farm and nursery, and take thousands of saplings to places which are destitute, desert-like and poor, such as the villages in and around the holy land of Vrindavan. In 2007 alone we planted more than 2,100 tree saplings. The survival rate is very high, only 127 trees needed replanting. This is because we place our saplings carefully in the hands of people looking at what kind of land they have and asking which kind of trees they would like. We also educate them if necesary how to nurture, protect and maintain the tree, checking back with them periodically. Trees For Life gave saplings to 687 family homes this year as well as to ashrams (monasteries), schoolyards and to public places such as lakes, ponds and roadways. We also give sacred trees, shade trees and flower-bearing trees. FFLV in cooperation with FTPF, USA has begun the Trees for Life campaign, which will be donating fruit tree saplings to poor households in Braja villages. Tree saplings will be given to those who can assure us that they will plant the tree in a proper place and look after it with care. The program is expected to plant an average of 200 fruit trees per month. FTPF has also donated an orchard with 256 trees to FFLV. Plant for the planet – Tree Consciousness @ SMS Mr and Mrs Oberoi plant trees: On their recent visit to the school, Mr. Vivek Oberoi and his wife Priyanka Oberoi planted their favourite astonia trees and named them too, strengthening our efforts. The Sandipani Muni School children regularly participate in environmental protection. Their message— “Please help us keep our home clean and green. Clean Vrindavan, Clean Heart” Clean Vrindavan, Green Vrindavan! Clean Vrindavan, Green Vrindavan! Clean and Green Vrindavan On October 1, 2005, this slogan was resounding throughout Vrindavan, as hundreds of our Sandipani Muni School children took to the streets with gloves and bags, determined to show everyone that Vrindavan could and should be a clean environment. Varahadev Project: A special cleaning program operated by six full time employees and one tractor with trolley that have been engaged by the FFLV society to beautify the 11 km long Parikrama route, used daily by thousands of pilgrims and visitors to Vrindavan. The Varahadev Project also provides garbage removal from Vrindavan’s central dump and distributes free literature to local residents on environmental issues. All ten cleaning friends daily sweep the roads and alleys, clean drains, and go door to door collecting the garbage and shifting it to the dumping ground. The aim of the Varahadev Project is to create awareness and keep Vrindavan clean and green. Free dustbins and jute bags (to avoid polythene) were also distributed to the local people. The Project was launched on April 2nd, 2003, by performing a Pooja Ceremony & devotional Kirtan music by FFLV’s enthusiastic members. FFLV-Vrindavan Initiative for a Sustainable and Holistic Waste System (Vishwas). Vishwas The project, sponsored by the United Nations Development Program, includes door-to-door collection of household and shop-segregated waste, collection of organic waste and flowers from temples and ashrams. This organic waste is used for the FFLV vermi-compost unit. The project covers 500 houses, 475 shops, 15 ashrams and 10 temples. Under the Vishwas Project, two more areas have been added: Raman Reti and Davanala Kund where 600 houses have been selected. Road and drain cleaning has also been included. This project has been implemented under YAP (Yamuna Action Plan phase two). The FFLV Varahadev project cleans and maintains the Vrindavan parikrama route. This includes managing the municipal waste collection point, Yugal Ghat, where everyday a huge quantity of waste is collected and moved to the dumping ground. Also in the parikrama area, FFLV Tree for Life Program has planted more than 350 trees. SMS Environmental Awareness Shines Through in Fulbright Survey On September 22nd, U.S. Fulbright-Nehru researcher Katie Walter conducted a survey on local environmental issues with children in the 7th-10th standards at SMS. Ms.Walter’s research looks at current environment and development issues in Vrindavan, laying the groundwork for obtaining maximum community participation in future conservation efforts. After the survey, Ms. Walter commented: “The students here are very well informed about threats to the local environment and aware that they must personally act to eliminate or mitigate these risks.” Ms. Walter also commented on the positive effects of other environmental awareness activities undertaken by FFLV, such as drawing contests, waste management and participation in public rallies. A list of issues presented to the children in descending order of how big of a threat they think each poses to Vrindavan: 1. polythenes/plastics 2. loss of trees 3. land pollution from waste and construction rubble 5. noise pollution 6. pollution from cars 7. pollution from burning rubbish 8. number of people, crowding 9. monkey menace (they destroy young trees/plants & rummage through rubbish, leaving it strewn about) 10.toxic chemicals (from light bulbs, batteries, etc) in garbage 11. shortage of potable water Sandipani Muni School Students during a “Clean Yamuna Drive” sponsored by the UNDP and the Mathura Pollution Board. Cleaning up and raising awareness: Recycling Festival 2011 The streets of Vrindavan are often found littered with heaps of used plastic bottles, cups, empty food packets, and other manmade wastes, collecting in the wake of the many religious visitors who come to Vrindavan on holy pilgrimage. Residents of Vrindavan, previously accustomed to biodegradable packaging in the form of clay cups, leaf plates, and bowls, continue to toss their waste on the ground but the plastic containers in use today cannot break down. Trash collects, polluting the water supply and creating a dangerous environment for the spread of disease. This creates a serious problem for the community, but increased awareness and better options for individuals to deal with waste can make a real difference. To take our campaign to clean up the city to the next level, FFLV hosted a Recycling Festival in celebration of Earth Day on May 4th. The children preformed, created displays, and produced a small magazine to spread awareness about recycling throughout Vrindavan. They made musical instruments and clothing for a fashion show out of plastic bottles, old tin and cardboard boxes, old sacks, jute bags, bottle caps, dried leaves, plastic bottles, and newspaper, and used them in their performances. Groups of children sang and danced songs about protecting the planet and keeping it clean. By teaching students at the FFLV schools the importance of being responsible for their trash, we are able to bring awareness straight into the homes of Vrindavan residents. The children and their families see that at SMS we have recycling bins, a paper recycling plant where we send all our used paper, and our food scraps are used for compost at our organic farm. We have “clean-up” days where some of the students go and pick up trash around Vrindavan. We help people understand how easy it can be to make a difference. Check out these pictures from the event, which was a huge success. We had many attendees, and the magazine the children produced was distributed. Drawing Competition Helps Inform Community About Environment On August 6th, Food For Life Vrindavan’s Sandipani Muni School held a drawing competition with the theme of “Clean Vrindavan, Green Vrindavan,” promoting environmental awareness, sustainable development and responsible driving. Six hundred of the school’s students created artwork relating to the theme. The art was judged to determine nine finalists whose pieces reflected artistic skill as well as a clear environmental message. Chitra and Poonam received the 1st and 2nd prizes respectively, while Lakshmi and Beauty tied for third. FFLV is grateful for the efforts of Federico and Stella, representatives of ALTEA, the IT business from Italy that sponsored the drawing competition. FFLV will also sponsor the nine finalists of the competition to have their art displayed on nine billboards throughout Vrindavan for a period of two months. It is the hope of SMS that displaying the students’ “clean, green” Vrindavan artwork throughout the town will inspire the environmental awareness necessary for a sustainable future for all of Vrindavan. We hope it will inspire Vrindavan’s residents. The Paper Recycling Plant Paper recycling Pleased with Food for Life Vrindavan’s work in environmental protection and sanitation, the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) awarded FFLV a grant to start a paper recycling plant. Upon getting the grant, Food for Life immediately went to work on constructing a large shed and purchasing machines to make handmade paper and paper goods. We now have a paper recycling plant that produces as much as 250 2’x 1’3″ papers at 256 grams per meter. Recycled Paper The paper comes in many colors and textures One style lookes like marble, another looks like picasso, another is mixed with leaves and grass and there are many ordinary papers in production in various colors and thicknesses. We use them to make many different paper products including notebooks, folders, bags, and file holders. We are using plastic in the production of sacks and we buy scrap cotton to be used in the production of mattresses. For these women it is the first time they ever had a paying job. The women make paper out of waste paper collected from the Sandipani Muni schools and other local schools and offices. The waste paper is pulped and mixed with scraps of cloth that are bought from local tailors and garment factories. FFLV bags, notebooks, and other items made of recycled paper have found a place in Vrindavan’s shops as well as in Delhi markets. Village women are employed in the paper plant. Waste paper comes from FFLV Sandipani Muni School and from Wholesome shops. Clean & Green Vrindavan On January 25, our “One-Month Cleaning Drive” was inaugurated by the chairman of Vrindavan Municipality, FFLV manager, and local elected municipal ward members. The drive has been sponsored by GTZ Germany and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Thirty workers, two supervisors and two tractors with trolleys worked for thirty days cleaning open drains and roads in residential areas. The work covered 75% of Vrindavan town. During the drive, a mass campaign was undertaken to educate the local population on the importance of properly collecting and segregating household waste. A survey was conducted door-to-door. It was found that even though 100% of the people agree that proper collection of household waste is necessary, only 35% agree to pay a nominal fee for the service. Cleaning up and raising awareness: Recycling Festival 2011 The streets of Vrindavan are often found littered with heaps of used plastic bottles, cups, empty food packets, and other manmade wastes, collecting in the wake of the many religious visitors who come to Vrindavan on holy pilgrimage. Residents of Vrindavan, previously accustomed to biodegradable packaging in the form of clay cups, leaf plates, and bowls, continue to toss their waste on the ground but the plastic containers in use today cannot break down. Trash collects, polluting the water supply and creating a dangerous environment for the spread of disease. This creates a serious problem for the community, but increased awareness and better options for individuals to deal with waste can make a real difference. To take our campaign to clean up the city to the next level, FFLV hosted a Recycling Festival in celebration of Earth Day on May 4th. The children preformed, created displays, and produced a small magazine to spread awareness about recycling throughout Vrindavan. They made musical instruments and clothing for a fashion show out of plastic bottles, old tin and cardboard boxes, old sacks, jute bags, bottle caps, dried leaves, plastic bottles, and newspaper, and used them in their performances. Groups of children sang and danced songs about protecting the planet and keeping it clean. By teaching students at the FFLV schools the importance of being responsible for their trash, we are able to bring awareness straight into the homes of Vrindavan residents. The children and their families see that at SMS we have recycling bins, a paper recycling plant where we send all our used paper, and our food scraps are used for compost at our organic farm. We have “clean-up” days where some of the students go and pick up trash around Vrindavan. We help people understand how easy it can be to make a difference. Check out these pictures from the event, which was a huge success. We had many attendees, and the magazine the children produced was distributed. Volunteers make recycling fun With on-going environmental awareness programs, Sandipani Muni School’s children are well on the way to becoming stewards of their community’s future. In past years, they’ve been treated to speeches on recycling and an environmental art contest. This semester, volunteers Maribel and Yohanna from Spain, are taking things up a notch. “We visited Vrindavan for the first time one year ago,” said Maribel, “and were greatly impacted by what we saw. Such an ancient and culturally rich place, but with so much pollution! we were inspired to return, to do something about the environmental education and revitalization of inorganic materials. What better way to start than with children because children really are the future.” The course consist of five workshops wherein the children create musical instruments, customes and masks, toys, puppets and collages with sanitized inorganic waste. On the last day, the children will hold a “Festival of Recycling” to exhibit their creations to the community. Maribel says, “We can see that the children are developing their creativity while learning to recycle plastics, cardbord, cans, etc. They are having fun while they are learning and are taking to it enthusiastically. Thanks to this course, they are really developing their vision of how Vrindavan was and how it could be.” Eco-friendly paper bags! Every day during the months of May and June, our students at SMS participate in the eco-friendly activity of making paper bags made from newspapers, which is a great replacement for plastic! Glue, scissors and newspapers are the only utensils needed for this practice, which is as simple as cutting, gluing and folding. When asked, Visnu Priya, one of the teachers in charge of this task, she responded: “We started on May 1st with this extracurricular activity, we do it to save the environment and create awareness amongst our students and the persons that buy them at the shop. Recycling is a must in our society, we need to take care of the planet and guarantee a sane and better planet for our children and future generations”. With an average of 10 students and 3 teachers, 20 to 30 bags are daily made, engaging the students in work and apprenticeship! To see more picture of this activities, please click here Food for Life Vrindavan Organic Farming For the last ten years, FFLV has provided organic vegetables for the Vrindavan community as well as for Sandipani Muni schools’ midday meals and FFLV kitchri. Thanks to the ample supply of cow dung available from our Care for Cows, we do not use any pesticide or fertilisers. We have been using a mixture of cow urine and neem leaves to protect small plants from bugs and insects. Now we will also be using Aloe Vera to protect plants’ growth. Our organic vegetables include broccoli, Swiss chard, asparagus, various kinds of lettuce, and most of the local varieties like cauliflower, cabbage, spinach etc. FFLV farm also has 265 fruit trees growing, including pomegranate, amla, jamun and guava. Fruits are distributed to Sandipani Muni School children. The Environmentally-Friendly Transportation Bull Power The Sandipani Muni Schools have built another bullock cart, bringing the total number of our carts to seven. Two more are under construction. These carts transport more than 300 hundred children to school every day in a safe and environmentally-friendly way. Thanks to “Project Ganesh,” which donated the third cart, and to Care for Cows, which supplies the “Bull Power.” 
¨Trees for Life¨, sprouted from the Varahadev project which aims to conserve and develop the natural beautiful environment by propagation of indigenous, useful, fruit and flower bearing trees. Trees for Life Project is supported by the Vrindavan Municipal Corporation, plus by all the supporters of the similar Project Vishwas. (launched on world environment day, 2006). We have also organized a special fortnightly sanitation drive in the interior residential localities of town in cooperation with the Vrindavan Municipal Corporation.
A kind contribution from Earth Restoration Trees Consciousness Service UK to this great environmental cause has helped us to bring an awareness of the importance of trees to our children. It has also made it possible for the students to plant trees and flowering shrubs around our newly constructed campus.
Children from kindergarten through 7th grade spent two enjoyable days making awareness posters for an exhibition on trees and their value to life on Earth for their classmates, who viewed the exhibition with visible interest and learned many new facts. A few days later, they got down and, happily, dirty to do the actual work of planting saplings.
4. water pollution
FFLV Sandipani Muni School has always been a green organization from water harvesting, to organic food, to recycled paper, and a green (bull) power. FFLV has nice bullock carts ferrying 500 children to school daily. Not only this is very eco-friendly, but it actually gives the bulls a life. Our Care for Cows director, Kurma Rupa Das, said that since the bulls have been pulling the carts, they are much more peaceful and satisfied. It seems they like their job. It gives them a chance also to serve this wonderful children.
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The project in Vrindavan Food for Life is precious and has many blessings, we are keen to visit the facilities.
congrats on the job.
David C.