I don't iron my clothes: Wangchuk's novel idea to save the planet

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Published : Sep 21, 2019, 9:25 AM IST

Speaking at Seventh 'Water Talk' in the national capital on Friday, Innovator and educationist Sonam Wangchuk said he does not iron his clothes, as the electricity consumed for the exercise could rather be used to power a rural household for four days.

New Delhi: Innovator and educationist Sonam Wangchuk, on whom the character 'Phunsuk Wangdu' from the movie '3 idiots' was based, has a novel approach towards sustainable development.

Wangchuk said he one could conserve electricity by doing thisr than

Speaking at Seventh 'Water Talk' organised here by National Water Mission on Friday, Wangchuk said he does not iron his clothes, as he was more concerned about the planet than his shabby appearance. "The electricity used for removing a few silly creases on your shirt can be used to power a rural house for as many as four days," he explained.

Wangchuk then went on to explain about his innovation, which can provide a great option to combat water scarcity.

  • ARTIFICIAL GLACIERS OF LADAKH
    With global emissions n local air pollution glaciers are melting fast but this Ice Stupa in Shara valley still stands 10 stories tall on #worldenvironmentday .
    At this rate it should cross the summer to become world's 1st perennial man-made glacier. pic.twitter.com/rqvK5XvBFm

    — Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) June 5, 2019 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data=" ">

He said he built ice stupas or artificial glaciers, after carefully observing, Chewang Norphel, a fellow Ladakhi. He explained that it is a form of glacier grafting technique that creates artificial glaciers, which can be used for storing winter water in the form of conical ice heaps. During summers, when water is scarce, the ice stupa melts, providing water supply for crops.

Wangchuk said he will be starting a unique crowd-funding initiative for his university, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives. He explained that people will not be asked to donate money, but will have to help the drive through behavioural change.

"If one pledges to not use elevators and use the stairs instead, the amount of electricity saved by him in a year can be contributed towards the fund," he said

"Instead of travelling on a plane, I decided to come here via a train, as a flight from Jodhpur to Delhi would have released 300 kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But a train releases just about 25 kg of carbon dioxide for the same distance," he added.

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Intro:New Delhi: Innovator and educationist Sonam Wangchuk does not iron his clothes because it thinks that the electricity used for ironing clothes can we use to power the rural houses for as many as four days.

Speaking at Seventh 'Water Talk' organised here by National Water Mission today, Wangchuk, who inspired the character of Phunsuk Wangdu in the movie '3 idiots', explained how he built Ice Stupa or artificial glaciers.

Explaining the science behind ice stupas or artificial glaciers which he had built after observing, Chewang Norphel, a fellow Ladakhi, he said it is a a form of glacier grafting technique that creates artificial glaciers, used for storing winter water in the form of conical shaped ice heaps. During summers, when water is scarce, the ice Stupa melts to increase water supply for crops.


Body:Wangchuk said that he is going to start a unique kind of crowd funding for his university, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh, but people do not have to donate money but have to help the drive through a behavioural change.

Giving example of this unique crowd-funding, he said, "If one pledges to not use elevators and uses steps, then the amount of electricity saved by him in an year can be contributed for crowd- funding."


Conclusion:He went on to add, "Instead of coming from a plane, I decided to come here via train as flight from Jodhpur to Delhi would have released 300 kilograms (kgs) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere but a train releases just about 25 kgs of carbon dioxide for the same distance."
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