We live in a wonderful universe in which everyone and everything gives. The trees give, the rivers give, the earth gives, the sun, the moon, the stars give. Why then must we be anxious only to take, to amass, to gather, to hoard?
Swami Chinmayananda
THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!
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TOGETHER, we must ACT to protect our Mother Earth and the generations to come.
Success Stories
Turning Chinmaya Mission Portland Facility Green
Kishore Pathial, President, Chinmaya Mission Portland
As stewards of our planet, all of us are responsible for nourishing, enriching and protecting our mother Earth. Even as having our own facility is a blessing from our Gurus and the Lord, we feel strongly that we should safeguard our resources not only for us but for successive generations
While we have to consume power for our facility, we sought to find solutions that would mitigate our impact. Towards this, we initiated discussion with our local utilities providers. They, along with the Energy Trust of Oregon, were able to help us retrofit the entire building with maximally efficient lighting. Further, to optimize our heating and cooling energy consumption, we retrofitted the entire building with smart thermostats so that our energy usage was minimal. We have also done energy surveys of our building and kept our HVAC units functioning at peak efficiency to minimize consumption. As part of our recycling efforts we have been recycling and reusing all consumables maximally.
We are continuing to try and live up to the Chinmaya Mission Pledge given to us by Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda by “producing more than what we consume and giving more than what we take” . These are our efforts towards helping the entire Chinmaya Family live in Harmony with their surroundings while helping the next generation of Bala Vihar students understand their roles in our world and the positive impact that they can bring by their thoughts and actions.
Bala vihar classroom into an Indoor Garden
Usha Chazhiyat, 4th Grade Bala Vihar teacher, Chinmaya Mission Portland
The reason why each of us exists is due to the mercy of our mother nature. Starting from the air we breathe to the food we eat and the peaceful sleep that we have each day is influenced by the powerful force of nature. The thought behind this initiative was for children to look through the eye of a plant at how every single element around it support & nurture its very existence. Like how Dattatreya considered different elements & beings in nature as his teacher, we wanted to encourage 4th graders to learn through application how elements around us are acting as our teachers to support & nurture our own existence.
This is an easy-to-implement project where children come together as a community to learn through each other and also to understand the deep connection that we have with nature. First 5 minutes of the class were dedicated to watering & observing the plants to ensure they are healthy. Children gathered around the garden space and discussed about the plants. Students researched on each plant variety and provided that information to their friends in class. As we saw, children were eager to take care of their own garden and expand it to be a proper indoor garden space that can be utilised by all children and not just 4th graders.
Unique awareness challenge led by 4th grader
4th Grader from CM Portland and one of our student Prthvi Ambassadors Anvi Gudigantala came up with an engaging awareness activity for kids and families. She named it the Triple-3 challenge and has 3 steps
- Student does 3hrs of research with their parent on an environmental issue they care about
- Create 3 question trivia and share with 3 other families
- 3 things to be done at home to help the planet
Anvi says the goal of Triple-3 is to raise awareness about what is happening to the planet, learn from each other, and to work as a family’. So far dozens of students have taken part in this program at Chinmaya Mission Portland. The program is so effective in making small lifestyle changes at home that parents are reporting their kids reminding them often about promises made towards Prthvi Seva!
Youth United with Mother Earth, JCHYKs in Albany
Twelve high school students in Albany Bala Vihar have been learning with the Life Lessons curriculum. In 2021-2022, as a team they lived their dharma – responsibility and integration of sustainable living with values. In summer, they planted beets and cut scallions at a volunteer run farm and donates one third of their produce to food pantries.In fall, we kayaked and learned about importance of being in nature from Shri Sumanji. We also watched and discussed Ender’s Game with Sumanji to express leadership for Mother Earth in a sci-fi way!
In spring, they planted peace lilies with other high school students from the community.with free compoted soil from the town, that was not wrapped in plastic bags. They learned the process of introspection, detection, negation, sublimation and committed to a concrete peaceful thought that they will keep with them as they take care of the peace lily at their homes.
With their parents guidance, they also cooked a meal for about 150 people with sustainability in mind – used metal plates and cups and shared an Earth bingo and a quiz on effects of single use plastic on the oceans life with the lunch attendees. With the meal they raised about thousand dollars. JCHYKs actions are some retribution of the acts of himsa committed by our society on Prthvi Devi,as intended in samudra vasane devi…
In summer, they learned about composting and Community Share Agriculture from experts. They also planted four pear trees and 50 pine saplings with a partner organization and presented at Bala Vihar assembly the effects of fast fashion. These Earth centric activities are a catalyst for self-development for them to build friendships, introspect, advocate for a cause, prioritize and commit and follow-through. They are step by step learning to be an adhikari student.
Book Nook Exchange, Chinmaya Albany,
Pushpa Nadikam and Anukriti Dhawan
As coordinators of the Prthvi Sevasanga team at Albany, Pusha and Anukriti facilitate a 500 books exchange with Bala Vihar and the community. With other participating families, they collected, sorted, organzied and displayed the books at various events and occasions. Particularly, at the graduation, chidlren were delighted to take many books to begin their summer reading.
Reusing and borrowing are best ways to support the Mother Earth and the book exchange instilled the value of maximum happiness for maximum time for maximum people. The exchange not only introduced a variety fo books to the families, it also helped them reduce the clutter at their homes. Vedanta seekers were able to exchange cherished books and spread the knowledge with the books. The Prthi Sevasanga team at Albany also encouraged the families to donation funds when they took books and these donations were given to the Chinmaya Education Fund.
How can I share this initiative with other centers?
If you wish for other centers to have access, please share the link to this initiative, instead of sharing the guide directly. This will help us track the progress of this initiative and support them directly as needed
How can I help support environment causes?
Please visit our Gratitude through Giving page to support our current fundraising efforts.
Who can I contact if I have questions, concerns or feedback?
Please email the team at prthvi@chinmayaniagara.com