7TH FEBRUARY , 2009

OPEN UP TOMORROW, TODAY!

• Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Nobel-prize
winner, Chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change and Director-General of TERI
(The Energy and Resources Institute),
and Dr. Prannoy Roy, Chairman,
NDTV Inaugurated a campaign
called THE GREENATHON
THE GREENATHON
• NDTV supported by Toyota, telecasted a first of
its kind 24-hour nonstop programming -THE
GREENATHON- urging Indian citizens to take a
pledge towards a greener tomorrow.
• The programming showcased a series of on-the-
ground activities such as round-the-clock clean
up drives in Mumbai city and Yamuna Ghats in
Delhi; a 24-hour marathon run by Milind
Soman; a musical extravaganza by renowned
Bollywood stars and simultaneous green
activities taking place across the country.
• The 24-hour programming was hosted by
NDTV's Vikram Chandra and Preity Zinta, who
is also the campaign ambassador. VJ Cyrus
Broacha will keep viewers entertained for 24 hrs
with his witty humour.
• The campaign aims to raise funds for TERI's
'Light a Billion Lives' project and will provide
light through solar power to villages across
India, that would otherwise have been without
electricity for a decade or more.
SAVE THE YAMUNA- CLEANATHON

• Yamuna is one of India's key rivers, but it is

dying a fast death as it enters the Capital.
• The river accounts for more than 70 % of Delhi's
water supplies.
• Yet, it is the most polluted in the 22 km stretch
in Delhi, between the Wazirabad Barrage and
Okhla where 18 major drains enter the river.
• The reality today is that Yamuna in Delhi
represents a grave environmental crisis,
adversely impacting the ecosystem and risking
the health and well-being of humans and
animals alike.
• Many excited school children and university
students thronged the venue in large numbers
to participate in the relay clean-up of the river
bank.
• The clean-up drive at Kudesia Ghat, Yamuna in
Delhi organized by NGO- Swecha involved
several activities like music concerts,
painting ,monument building using waste
paper and a graffiti canvas to express one’s
thoughts.
SAVE THE YAMUNA- CLEANATHON
• Through this drive, they succeeded in bringing
the cause of the Yamuna back to the mind map
of the citizens and the government of the nation
and thereby develop a Green Workforce.
• Pollution is eating its way into our lives, every
hour, everyday. Green is fast becoming a non-
existent entity. We need to give it a chance, if we
are to live on.
• Mumbai's 124 Km long coastline is one of the
most polluted in our country. On Sunday, the 8th
of February from 7am to 7pm, volunteers and
nature-lovers came together to clean up three of
Mumbai's beaches Worli Seafront, Dadar Beach .
Marathon Man
• Actor, model and ‘Marathon
Man’ Milind Soman ran
for 24 hours at a stretch,
covering 60kms, to raise
funds for the campaign.
• He started from Yashraj
Studios, covering prominent
places like Juhu Beach,
Bandra Reclamation, Haji
Ali and Trident Hotel and
returned the same way.
Lighting a Billion Lives
• Over 1.6 billion people in the world lack access to
electricity; roughly 25 per cent are in India
alone. For these people, life comes to a standstill
after dusk.
• ‘Lighting a Billion Lives’ project aims at solar
powering villages across the country.
Lighting a Billion Lives
• Some of the generous
donors for the campaign
were Shilpa Shetty;
Shahrukh Khan; Lalit
Modi; Yuvraj Singh;
Sanjay Dutt and family;
Preity Zinta, Nokia;
Coca-Cola and, Aarav,
son of actor Akshay
Kumar.
Lighting a Billion Lives
• Over Rs 2.4 crores
were raised in 24 hrs
for TERI’s ‘Lighting a
Billion Lives’
• Money raised lighted
up 55 villages and
4000 households
GREEN FACTS
Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres
per minute!
A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly,
can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh
water.
Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the
ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every
year.
  Energy-saving lightbulbs last around ten times longer
than ordinary lightbulbs- over 10,000 hours.
An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a
can 500 years from now!
  A dripping tap can waste over 20,000 litres of water
every year.
GREEN FACTS
A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide
over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also
reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15 %.
Tissue paper is a major source of waste. It takes
60,00,000 trees to make 1 year's worth of tissues for
the world.
A ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in
paper production.
Crawling traffic contributes eight times as much air
pollution as traffic moving at regular highway speed.
Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and
soaping your hands. This can save around 16 litres a
day. That's 11,000 litre of water per person per year.
GO GREEN
Staying within the speed limit and smoothly
accelerating can save upto 25 per cent of a
vehicle's typical gasoline use.
Switching off one bulb for one hour saves upto
22,000 watts per year.
Plug your computer, monitor and other home
appliances into a power strip and turn them off
when not in use- don't leave them in sleep mode.
Recharge your batteries.
Plastic bags are not biodegradable. Even if they
say they are, they do not decompose fully.
GO GREEN
Recycling just the Sunday papers would save
more than half a million trees every week.
Brush without running your tap dry. You'll
conserve up to five gallons per day if you stop.
When taking a short trip, choose to walk or
cycle. This reduces carbon emissions
considerably.
Try to reduce your carbon footprint.
6TH MARCH,2010
GREENATHON 2
• The 24-hour programming was hosted by
NDTV's Vikram Chandra, VJ Cyrus Broacha and
Priyanka Chopra, campaign ambassador for this
year.
• The channel had last year launched the first
Greenathon drive and returned this year too to
save the environment by planting trees and
providing solar power to villages.
• The endeavor has been appreciated by people
from all walks of life starting from scientist to
film stars and common villagers.
PLANT A SAPLING
• In Karnataka, more than 6000 people
enthusiastically came forward to plant saplings
to make a forest of a waste land. Around 30,000
saplings were planted on Sunday.
• Thousands of children participated
enthusiastically on this green drive for creating
tomorrow’s forest. 51 other kinds of plants were
chosen for plantation.
GREENATHON 2
• The “MARATHON MAN”, Milind Soman ran for
100 kms in 24 hours this year and raised Rs
50,00,000 improving his last year’s
performance.
• In Chennai’s Elliots beach, the Greenathon
mission showcased a whole lot of activity. A
stretch of the beach was cleaned by collecting the
litters and the visitors to the beach were handed
jute bags in return of plastic bags.
CHIEF MINISTERS PLEDGE
• Chief Ministers across the country joined hands
and pledged for a greener India.
• Delhi CM Sheila urged the citizens to adopt a
tree each; while Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj
Singh Chauhan pledged to plant 5 crore saplings
in the state.
• The Green Mela in Delhi was inaugurated by
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit along with
Harpal Singh of Nanhi Chhaan and Dr. Prannoy
Roy, Chairman NDTV.
MUMBAI ECO FEST

• One of the major initiatives of Greenathon 2 began with

celebrities like Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny and Diana
Hayden cycle the Electric Pedal during the event to spread
the message of energy conservation.
• The Electric Pedal is a unique initiative that has the
volunteers cycling to harness energy to power the
projectors and audio systems of the Rock Bands who
performed at the event .
• The Mumbai Eco Fest focused on cutting down carbon
footprint by collecting waste materials that can be
recycled and turned into innovative products.  
Lighting a Billion Lives
• Greenthon 2 saw many environmentally
conscious people not only from India but across
the world come forward to take the green pledge
and adopt villages for TERI’s Lighting a Billion
Lives initiative.
• The GREENATHON 2 raised Rs 3.92 crores in
24 hours which would help light up as many as
157 villages which is almost thrice in
comparison to the previous year.
BOLLYWOOD STARS
• Bollywood celebrities extended their full support
to the green cause by taking a pledge to do their
bit for a cleaner planet.
• Actor Shahrukh Khan who adopted 5 villages last
year reaffirmed his commitment to the
environment by adopting 8 more villages this year
and becoming one of the highest donors; followed
by Hrithik Roshan who adopted 5 villages; and
Ranbir Kapoor who adopted two villages.
CONCLUSION
• The event marks a coming together of the
Citizenry of the entire nation, including
Students and Youth, Environmental Groups and
NGOs, as well as business Houses and
celebrities.
• The event will have a wider impact given its
LIVE Telecast by Media Partners NDTV- taking
the call from India to the rest of the world to
Green the Planet and our lifestyles.

• Lets do our bit!

Thank you.
Mahesh kumar.