GNML ends - But the campaign goes on!

Hello! This blog post is dedicated to the GNML Online sessions (which sadly enough have come to an end) and some reflections on the social media tools I have been using to spread my social media campaign i-e: "There's no Planet B. Save the Planet A!"
               
                First of all I'm grateful to the GNML (Global New Media Lab) for introducing me to some great social media tools, which I could use to strengthen my campaign!
            
               Secondly I would like to reflect upon the social media platforms that I've been using for this campaign. So, I will start with "Blogger" . Blogger was probably the most important tool I've used to actually streamline my campaign, and to put my thoughts into words. It serves as a one-stop-solution as I people can access my youtube videos, facebook page, twitter, and instagram etc all at one place!
"Twitter"is one of my personal favorites! The power of #hastag cannot be denied. Twitter provided me with instant access to all the GNML online students and their stories. I made several connections with people all over the globe, who are interested in my campaign. "YouTube": The elevator pitch video was a whole new experience for me. It is a great way to convey your message to the whole world, as it is a global phenomenon! "Facebook": Almost everybody is familiar with facebook nowadays. The power of likes and shares is unmatchable. I have been working on several facebook pages in the past and a facebook page for my campaign was a really important deal for me. It is a great way to connect with different people having same interests! "Instagram": It is a great platform for spreading out the campaign. Over here, the picture matters a lot! Not to mention a good caption along with that! Finally "LinkedIn": It was a new experience for me, although I had a profile on LinkedIn but I wasn't much active. Now I realize the importance of one of the most impressive social media platforms that can introduce you to a lot of people who are actually interested in your campaign. It helped me make great connections!
In the end, I will once again say thank you to the  whole GNML team. Kudos to you guys for such a wonderful workshop! And I will keep using the above mentioned tools to strengthen my campaign!

Thanks, Mujtaba

"Green girl Recycling ~ 9 Tips for Turning Your Business Green"

Hello everyone! I found this great blog about recycling stuff, through my RSS feed. One of the blog posts caught my attention, as it had simple but great ideas about recycling. Here they are:

1.    Offer Commuting Incentives – Come up with incentives to encourage your employees to use public transportation or car pool.
2.   Make Telecommuting an Option – Allowing employees to work from home at least one day per week not only increases productivity, but it reduces office space needs and cuts down on carbon emissions. Everyone wins.
3 .  Do an Energy Consumption Audit – Determine the average energy used per square foot in your office and make plans to reduce through equipment modification and use of natural light.
4.   Print Less – Paper comprises about 35% of an average company’s total waste stream. Go digital wherever you can!
5.   Water Conservation – Manage water use…in the kitchen, in the bathrooms, on the grounds.
6.   Make a Green Policy  – Raise eco awareness through company policies and self audits. Hold informational meetings.
7.  Conserve Resources – Consider materials used across the entire value chain…reduce, reuse, recycle.
8.  Packaging – Use as little packaging material as needed and use recyclable and biodegradable materials.
9.  Recycling and Waste Reduction – Anywhere there is a trash can, there should be a recycling bin!

It's a great blog, give it a look:
http://blog.greengirlrecycling.com/

"Pull a solution to pollution"

A great article in the newspaper: "The Nation". It was published on the World's environment day and pretty much summarizes the whole campaign and provides some solutions to the problems. A small extract from the article that I really liked is quoted here:

"Deforestation, soil erosion and desertification add insult. But instead of giving due attention to the growing problem, state institutions continue wasting resources on stereotypical methods (named above) to highlight environment-related issues. Addressing the problem practically has never appeared to be a serious concern.
The level of pollution in Pakistan’s major cities of Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar is higher than the permissible limits. Lahore, for instance, has topped the list of most polluted cities, with highest air pollution level of 121.85 micrograms per cubic meter that is three times higher than the safe standards, according to the Pakistan Environment Agency (Pak-EPA) statistics.
We are daily breathing polluted air. "

Here's the link:
http://www.nation.com.pk/lahore/05-Jun-2013/pull-a-solution-to-pollution

Volunteers!

Old battered vehicles should be banned as they emit harmful gases

The national newspaper published an article about the pollution crises in my hometown ~ Abbottabad, asking for a community service campaign to eradicate such issues. It's worth sharing!

Source: Google Alerts
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-11-193660-Polluted-Abbottabad

Pollution in Pakistan and its solutions.

A great post about the Pollution problems and their solutions. Here's a small extract from the post, "According to UNICEF 20 to 40 percent of the total beds occupied in hospitals of Pakistan are from those suffering from water related diseases, costing nearly 1.81 per cent of the total GDP of the country."
I was skimming through my RSS feed and am glad that I came across this article! The author has mentioned some hard-to-believe facts about the pollution situation in Pakistan. For instance,"Pakistan 1 per cent of total GDP in the form of respiratory health problems and premature deaths." The pollution rate has reached up to an alarming rate. Now is the time to take some serious action! Go, give it a look:

http://technologytimes.pk/english-news.php?title=Pollution%20in%20Pakistan%20and%20its%20solutions

Tree-cutting issues!

Hello everyone! hope everyone is having a good time. I was going through my RSS feed and found this great blog post which is of great importance to my campaign. It discusses the tree-cutting issue of the famous natural park of my region.
 "Ayubia National Park is representative of Himalayan moist temperate forest.Problems related to conservation at Ayubia National Park are similar to those found elsewhere in the Himalayan.
The trees had fallen down under heavy snow several years back a made over head bridges on the trail. The trees were not removed by the wild life department because they did not pose any threat to visitors and did not hamper their movement. It was exactly in accordance with the provisions of the K.P.K wild life low which says that no plants whether dead or alive should be removed from a National Park. The fallen trees are a component of park ecology as they provide food to the cavity nesting birds and also add to the soil organic matter as decomposition.
In addition termites and other insects which breed in these fallen trees become a feed for the birds and thus the cycle of biodiversity.
Removal of fallen trees is also a temptation for the timber hungry mafias to destroy the forest in the pretext of wind falls. Ayubia National Park is being managed by the wild life department since 1984 it has been saved for axe and saw of the timber mafia supported by the forest department from almost three decades and now gives a look of a green island surrounded by desolate rock mountain.
The wild life department resisted the order of the secretary environment to cut and remove the trees to the utmost with the consequence that the forest department was order to carry out its traditional and well known function of chopping and removal of wind falls.The trees in the national park are likely to fall in winds and snow in future too. And if the policy of their removal by the forest department continues, the national park will meet the same fate as many other forests have met in the guise of wind falls. Ayubia National Park is internationally known for its naturalness and pristinely and is the most protected piece of moist temperate conifer forest. Declaration as National Park is the only legal tool to save our valuable forest.However today tyrannical and illegal move by the so called custodians is has rendered even this tool ineffective.The civil society and the comity of nature conservationist condemn this illegal action in the national park."

Give it a look!
 http://environmentspk.blogspot.com/search/label/AYOUBIA%20PARK

Instagram feed.