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Learning Lunch with environmentalist Vineet Vohra

Continuing on from DK Delhi’s tree plantation drive at Uday Upvan, Noida, last year DK Delhi invited renowned environmentalist, Vineet Vohra from Give Me Trees Trust for our learning lunch in office. The aim was to increase awareness about greening initiatives in and around us and feel inspired to participate in such initiatives and plantation drives.

Give Me Trees Trust is one of the largest community-based voluntary tree planting and conservation movements in India, having facilitated the plantation and preservation of more than 23 million trees all over the country in the last 45 years, with more than 17,000 volunteers working all across India. Vineet shared with us his experiences on connecting communities to nature and grassroot level planting initiatives being undertaken by the Trust, namely Har ghar ek nursery (Every house is a nursery), Har school ek nursery (Every school is a nursery), and so on.

At what was a hybrid mode learning lunch attended by a large number of DK Delhi employees, Vineet stressed upon the importance of making environment conservation an absolute priority and spreading awareness among children as well.

During the course of his very interactive session, he shared interesting facts, such as tulsi, or Holy basil, releasing oxygen for 22 hours in a day and the health benefits of indoor plants in general. He encouraged growing Snake plant (Sansevieria), Money Plant (Epipremnum aureum), and Aloe Vera (Aloe barbadensis miller) indoors as they help purify the air by removing toxins and also bring in a sense of calm to the home environment.

We received invaluable tips on easy and sustainable care for house plants, including do’s and don’ts of watering them for optimal growth. Easy ways to create organic compost at home using food waste from our kitchens was also shared.

There was a lot of interest and several queries from the audience and Vineet answered them with great enthusiasm. We learned about the uses of some plants as natural alternatives to medicines and simple home remedies to ailments. Who knew that a spray made from boiling dried lemongrass or citronella leaves makes for an excellent mosquito repellant! Or that Aloe vera gel can help keep bugs from plants at bay. Apparently, its juice can be diluted in water and sprayed on plants to get rid of insects.

The very interactive session wrapped up with everyone showing interest in future sessions, including a practical hands-on one to make bio-enzymes and sustainable organic fertilizers using kitchen waste and easily available items. 



Janashree Singha
DK Knowledge