Green Initiative

 Hey.So I called to work to say I am sick today because I haven't had any rest this past week and I wanted to have some time for myself.Therefore I am chilling at home,cooking,cleaning and posting this new article which is finally school-related.
Last year we were told to write a feature story about green initiative in London.Believe me,it was quiet difficult to get the right person to do the interview with because most of the people were busy or didn't even answer my emails/pick up their phone.Fortunately this nice lady made some time in her busy schedule to answer few questions for me.I was little bit nervous,since it was my first real interview but I think it turned out really good.Deshni Nadar works as a character environmentalist for the borough of Tower Hamlets(East London) and she answered me few questions regarding her work as well as all the enhancements that are coming to the borough this year. However the story is not in an interview format, but it is rewrited into a feature article. Hope you will like it.

 

With rising population in London, there is a need to build more and more buildings, each year for both business and housing purposes. The fumes from cars and factories, as well as those from constructions are influencing air quality on a big scale.

Deshni Nadar is a charter environmentalist and she works for a local authority in the borough of Tower Hamlets. Her work is to ensure environmental improvements with specialization on air quality.

Deshni enjoys working in the environmental sector and she says that people's interest in knowing more about the environment makes her job even more interesting.

“People are writing in about it, they contact their local MP's because they really want to know about what we do for the local environment.”

According to Deshni, most of the pollution comes from the main roads, also called “air roads” and therefore the borough is working very closely with Transport for London to reduce it.

They recently established “20 miles per hour borough” which means that people are allowed to drive only 20 mile per hour within the borough and that assist good air quality.

One of the services that has recently been established to inform people about the air pollution in their area is AirText.

It's a health information service for anyone who lives or works in the borough.

”It's based on pollution forecasting, so people who are subscribed to the service get a text message or voice message saying that the next day the pollution is going to be high, so for example asthmatic people can avoid running on major roads.” says Deshni.

It's done by monitoring air pollution via monitoring services near tube stations and main roads. These are based in Mile End, Bethnal Green and Poplar.

Shah Kamal, a resident of Tower Hamlets is one of the users of AirText. He says that:” I go running every day to stay in shape and because I care about my health, I always check my phone to know what the pollution is going to be.”

The borough of Tower Hamlets had many projects in the past, one of them was for example London Olympics in which they ensured that it was the greenest game delivered.

Currently they are working on improving air quality near Tower Bridge caused by traffic while the bridge is opening and closing.

“We are going to put up signs to say to turn off your engine while people are waiting for the bridge to close and we believe it will reduce a lot of pollution in the area.”

Because most of the pollution comes from roads and cars, the borough is also encouraging people to cycle and walk more. They are also working on crossrail train line that is being built from East to West London.

”The main idea is to try to get people out of their cars and into the trains.”

While many people want to know more about what is done to improve the environment, still a big number of people have no idea how much of an influence they have on it.

“I think the biggest issue, is balancing economic activity with environmental agenda. I suppose that we can prove that being green is good for the economy.”

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets also works in other environmental areas, such as recycling.

They have recycling targets, which they met and succeeded and helped to increase recycling by 20 percent since last year. They have also reduced carbon emissions from buildings and transport and pushed towards using electric cars.

“We comply with the environmental law and what is required, but we try to go also behind the law for our own reputation.”

It's good to know that there is so many projects going on to save the environment in the city we live in and that people want to know more about what is done and how could they help. It is important to spread this message around and help to save our planet.

Domi.