Have you ever imagined a world without oceans? Hard to picture, right? Our beautiful blue oceans cover over 70% of the Earth and are home to the most amazing creatures and ecosystems. That’s why World Oceans Day, celebrated every year on 8 June, is so important. In 2024, the theme is Catalyzing Action for Our Ocean & Climate. It’s all about encouraging everyone, especially young people like you, to take action that helps our oceans thrive while tackling climate change.

Why Should We Care about the Oceans?

Our oceans do a lot more than just make our planet look pretty from space. They produce half of the oxygen we breathe, help feed millions of people, and regulate our climate by absorbing carbon dioxide. Plus, they’re the playground for dolphins, whales, and millions of other fascinating species! But our oceans are in trouble — from pollution, overfishing, and the effects of climate change like rising temperatures and acidifying waters. That’s why taking care of them isn’t just important — it’s essential.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post World Oceans Day 2024: Dive into Action! appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Greetings, eco-champions! I’m Agastya Karan Seth, a 16-year-old Grade XI student at The Shri Ram School, Moulsari, Gurugram, on a mission to combat the deceptive menace of greenwashing through my initiative GreenWatchers: Gaming for Transparent Sustainability. Let’s dive into the world of greenwashing, understand its impact, and explore how we can collectively drive positive change.

Greenwashing: The Wolf in Eco-Friendly Clothing

Picture this: Companies dressing up in eco-friendly attire while hiding harmful practices underneath. This is the art of greenwashing — a tactic that misleads well-intentioned consumers into supporting businesses that don’t truly contribute to sustainability. They do this by not disclosing the impact of their operations on the environment, a practice sometimes called “green-hushing”, or by making false, vague, exaggerated claims or by using deceptive images and symbols that make us believe we are supporting sustainable industries. The consequences are severe, as our choices shift support away from genuine eco-efforts and unintentionally contribute to the problem. This is where awareness becomes paramount.

Journey Towards Sustainability One Conscious Decision at a Time

GreenWatchers.in is a web-based tool for revolutionizing our understanding of, and hence our approach towards, sustainability. It features a game where players navigate a sustainable world, confronting challenges, collecting points, and, most importantly, exposing false sustainability claims. The eco-conscious journey equips you with an electric vehicle to navigate through your path to sustainability.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post GreenWatchers: Gaming for Transparent Sustainability appeared first on The Teenager Today.

In the heart of Maharashtra’s coastal breeze, 17-year-old dreamer, Haaziq Kazi, sets sail on a mission to cleanse our oceans and chart a course towards a sustainable future. Fuelled by a passion for environmental conservation, Haaziq has embarked on a remarkable journey to create a ship capable of extracting plastic waste from the world’s oceans.

Haaziq was just 9 when in 2013 he saw a photograph of a dead whale washed ashore that had died due to an intestinal blockage. He later learned that there are 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean, and it is enough to go to the moon and back twice, and that’s what inspired him to start his dream project.

At just 12, Haaziq has demonstrated a level of commitment and vision that is both impressive and inspiring. His brainchild, his prototype ship named ERVIS, is designed to tackle the pressing issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. The name ERVIS likely carries a significant meaning, perhaps a combination of environmental and vision, symbolizing Haaziq’s dedication to a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post Ocean Saviour: Haaziq Kazi’s Odyssey appeared first on The Teenager Today.

I feel good that the absolute backwardness of the farmers notwithstanding, India is one among the few nations that have dedicated a day to farmers!

Farmer’s Day (Kisan Diwas) is observed on the birthday of the former Prime Minister of India, Chowdhary Charan Singh (1902-87). Referred to as the Champion of India’s Peasants, he is one of the few politicians who stood unambiguously for the cause of the farmers. In pre- and post-independence time, he proposed several measures in favour of the farmers; notably, radical land reforms intended for the benefit of the farming community, during his tenure as the revenue minister and chief minister of U.P. He has the distinction of having founded a political party with farmers as the focus — Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Party, later renamed as Lok Dal.

However, the most striking slogan India ever put forward in favour of the farmers was Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, a call by the second Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, stressing that equal importance be given to food security as to border security. Slogans apart, the truth today is that while the efforts in line of budget, benefits and perks for border security are well in place, that of the food producer (annadata) is languishing in papers and files. While India has become food secure as per the statistics, the status of the kisan has become very vulnerable and insecure, to which thousands of farmer suicides in the past three decades of development bear witness.

Agriculture as the Basis of Annual Calendar

It is interesting to note that agricultural cycles are one of the crucial factors that lead to the formulation of a calendar (others being vegetational changes — leafing of trees, migration of birds, and the changes in the sky — sun, moon or stars). The early Roman calendar is said to be indicative of the predominant role agriculture had in determining human activities. It had just ten months, and the rest of the time, a little more or less than two months were considered off — the winter months which did not permit any productive (agricultural) activities.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post A Day for the Annadata appeared first on The Teenager Today.

World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated every year on the 10 November. It is an important day to highlight and reflect on the important role that science plays in every aspect of our world today.

This day was declared as an international day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and was celebrated for the first time on 10 November 2002. Science covers almost every facet of our lives and the thought behind this day was to have a day for citizens in our ever-changing world to hear of new and interesting discoveries, improvements and developments in science today. The key thought was to link or bring science closer to society while never losing focus on the sustainability angle which has a direct impact on every one of us.

The theme for World Science Day this year is ‘Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development’. Each annual theme works towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). These SDGs were formulated and adopted by all U.N. member nations in 2015. The aim was to put clear goals in place and achieve a cleaner, healthier planet by the year 2030.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post World Science Day for Peace and Development appeared first on The Teenager Today.