PLANT TREES, SAVE NATURE July 28 is observed as ‘World Nature Conservation Day’. Nature. A word that we all can resonate with. Yet, only a few of us really give a thought to it. Nature. If we feel it, it has the power to heal us.  Nature. It is what a lot of people look to capture those picturesque shots for Instagram. Nature. It is also referred to as mother but we seldom treat it like one. Nature. Human activities have meddled with it and it is unleashing its fury. Nature. If we do our bit towards it, it will reward us. This year’s World Nature Conservation Day happens to be on a Sunday. Weekends are loved by most people because it gives them a break from their work or studies. But for We Mean To Clean (WMTC) volunteers, the excitement is for a slightly different reason. WMTC volunteers are always excited to do their bit for the environment on weekends. These volunteers truly appreciate all that mother nature has endowed upon us. It is human nature to

CLEAN COMMUNITY, HEALTHY CITIZENS! We cannot emphasize upon the significance of cleanliness in our lives for our own well-being. From ancient Indian texts to modern medical science, some of the greatest personalities have always concurred with each other on cleanliness. It encompasses not only our personal hygiene but also communities. A clean place always relaxes our mind, body and soul. In some parlance it allows a ‘free flow of positive energy’. Obviously, your mood turns off when you come across a garbage dump. But then what do we all do about it? Just walk pass? Not the volunteers of We Mean To Clean! Since the inception of this movement we have taken the cognizance of the fact that if we want our city clean then we will have to keep it clean. And with our cleanliness drives, we make this humble attempt to convey to the citizens that we all must act responsibly. With the same thought our volunteers assembled this morning at Sainik Vihar

RAINFALL DEFICIT? PLANT TREES! The monsoons finally arrived in Delhi this week after a long delay… so much so that a joke was doing rounds that clouds had gone to the UK to watch the Cricket World Cup! And for two days the clouds showered us with their generosity. But alas, the subsequent days were dry. A news article quoted government officials stating the dry spell may continue for a while. Contrastingly, there are some parts of India that are drowned in floods. Does any of this tell us something? Well, for starters, there sure is an ecological imbalance. Weather patterns are changing around the world and India is no exception. Even our own meteorological department is considering to define the new ‘normal’ for the onset and withdrawal dates of monsoons.  However, we are not sure if that would really help tackle rainfall deficit. Trees are a vital part of our ecosystem. We depend upon them more than their dependence upon us. And that’s the ve

WE PLANTED NEEM, PILKHAN AND AMALTAS! A relatively pleasant morning greeted us at Vikas Puri’s A Block District Park today. The cloud cover reminded us that we are supposedly in the monsoon season. A delayed one. Again emphasising upon the significance of trees. We were joined by yet another set of extremely zealous volunteers who not only helped with the whole plantation but also helped raise the energy levels even as we all were sweating doing laborious tasks. We dug pits for our saplings ourselves. Requires assiduous people for the same! But our volunteers find it so exciting that nearly everyone wanted to try their hands on it. We simultaneously began planting neem, pilkhan and amaltas saplings. Our new volunteers displayed an enormous amount of eagerness to learn more about the benefits of planting native trees. They learnt about the significance of watering these saplings regularly. The more they learnt, the more fervour they developed towards these s

THIS INDIAN TEAM ALWAYS WINS! Felt dismal or livid over our ouster from the cricket world cup? Understandable. But but but… there is a team that always wins. It is the team We Mean To Clean. This is the team that is now in the third year of their monsoon plantation drive. The team wins on the following counts: 1. Plants only native trees instead of ornamental ones 2. Waters the saplings on a regular basis 3. Consistent effort with a problem-solving mindset Displaying a yet another fantastic knock, this team assembled at Sainik Vihar district park this hot and humid morning with fresh green cool looking amaltas saplings. It was great to see support from some new volunteers as well. And the best part of the whole drive was the kids from a nearby slum area, who were ostensibly more enthusiastic about plantation than perhaps all WMTC volunteers combined! The whole atmosphere was electric! Some promptly began digging pits and others began arranging for wat

LET’S BUDGET TIME FOR PLANTATION! Our beloved monsoon season is here. It brings respite from the scorching heat of harsh summers of Delhi. And it is also the best time to plant some saplings which would grow up to become trees. The two most essential elements for survival of life – water and air (that too oxygen, specifically) –  are in dire need of revival in our country, especially in a large metropolis like Delhi NCR. We have been consistently stressing upon the significance of trees to solve the problem at the root level. Yes, trees are the best answer. But not just ANY tree! We have also been quite vocal about plantation of native tree saplings. To reiterate, all life forms in a given region are somehow dependent upon each other. And that includes various insects such as bees, birds, squirrels etc. Life forms are adapted to trees of their local region. Thus, for their survival it is important we plant only those trees that support the local ecology. For instance