Dharamsala, March 4 – Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement (TEAM) today begins its two-week awareness building campaign on Waste Management in Dharamsala for the duration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teaching. As part of the campaign, TEAM will release two booklets and two posters, conduct daily cleanup drive in the temple areas, and make constant patrolling to ensure that people do not urinate, defecate or throw trash in the temple vicinity. TEAM will place 200 re-usable trash bags in the temple area and manage their proper disposals during the teaching.
TEAM’s Head, Tsering Yangkey, said, “Unfortunately in the last fifty years we Tibetans have journeyed from a zero waste to a wasteful society. These days, there is hardly any Tibetan function without the presence of plastic bags, styrofoam platters and plastic pop bottles. We want our people to know the consequences of burning plastics and dumping toxic trash in open land. Our people have the right to know what dioxins, plasticizers and other toxins could do to their health and mental wellbeing. They also need to know the harmful effects that a dirty and unsanitary environment can have on their health. This is the reason why we think this campaign is so important.”
Throughout the teaching period, TEAM will engage the public in discussions on waste reduction, recycling and zero-waste concepts. TEAM will also distribute information brochures on plastics, styrofoams and other environmental issues to the public.
“An event like this which attracts tens of thousands of people for a short period of time inflicts heavy environmental toll in the local area,” said Mrs. Tsering Yangkey. “TEAM will request the devotees to adapt their lifestyles and behavior so that the local environment and people of Dharamsala would not have to pay the price for our negligence and indifferent attitude.” The teaching period also provides an ideal occasion to rekindle Tibetan people’s spiritual connection towards nature.
Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement is a non-profit and non-governmental organization set up to revive the ecological consciousness of the Tibetan people by reminding them of their ancient values of interdependent nature of all life forms and to introduce them to modern, sustainable and pro-nature ways of living. TEAM is the first effort of its kind by young Tibetans in exile working to promote environmental education and conservation work.
Contacts: Tsering Yangkey and Ugyen Tsephel
Mobiles: 94181-27531, 94185-90663
