IIT Professor’s special appeal to PM Modi and the country, wear clothes without ironing for at least a day

New Delhi: A man known as the ‘Solar Man of India’ is the man behind the viral ‘Wrinkles are good’ campaign. Name is Chetan Singh Solanki. Because of this campaign, more than 6 lakh Indians are reportedly going to work every Monday wearing unironed clothes. Sitting in his solar-powered bus, the IIT professor is also the official solar energy brand ambassador of the MP. He recently spoke to Sharmila Ganesan Ram via Zoom about climate change, his 11-year journey and his positive outlook.This is the reason behind the appeal to wear clothes without ironing
Chetan Solanki told in the conversation that marriage is still far away. Meanwhile, we are all contributing to climate change. That’s why I’ve launched a weekly campaign called Wrinkles Are Good. It takes 5 to 7 minutes to iron a cloth. Every time ironing takes 0.2 units of electricity. Since most of the world’s electricity is generated from coal, this means that every time we iron, we emit about 200 grams of carbon. Since prevention is better than cure, we should feel proud to wear clothes without ironing to give a better future to the children. This campaign is now being adopted by about 6.5 lakh people from 340 organizations. After the elections, I am going to appeal to the PM to wear unironed clothes on Monday and appeal to the public to do the same.

This is the specialty of solar bus, these facilities are inside
The IIT professor said that today is the 1,263rd day of my Urja Swaraj Yatra. I have just reached Dehradun from Delhi. It is cool here, although not as cold as it should be. The whole idea of ​​the trip is that the public should understand where the problem and solutions of global warming lie. 99% of people don’t understand this. So, I have solar tea with strangers on the way and I also host a podcast called ‘Solar Chai Pe Charcha’, on which I invite people into conversation who are working to address the climate challenge. are doing. Many people have given me space to stay in temples and hotels. But I feel most comfortable on the bus. Inside, there is a library, a kitchen with an induction stove, two coolers and a washroom. There is no fridge. Initially, we had to learn how to keep books from falling out, and how to keep kitchen drawers from opening, but we know how to manage that now. We have also figured out how to park the bus at a location in such a way that it gets charged and does not get heated by the sun. Can you see greenery outside?

Is there a climate clock in the bus?
I forgot to tell you, my bus also has a climate clock. This clock tells us how little time is left to completely eliminate carbon emissions. Right now, as we speak, the Earth’s temperature is just five years and 100 days away from rising by 1.5 degrees Celsius. By the end of this century, global warming could reach 3 degrees Celsius. Till now the temperature has increased only by 1.3 degree Celsius, but we all have seen how much devastation it has caused in Dubai, Chennai and Uttarakhand. If we ignore the warning of this hour, we will be the ones to pay.

People do not understand the magnitude of climate change
It is a good thing that the Supreme Court is recognizing climate change. The European Court of Human Rights also recently said that Switzerland is not doing enough in this matter. I assure you that Europe, America, India – no country is doing enough. In Europe alone, more than 60,000 deaths have been reported due to the heat wave. In Bangladesh alone, more than one million people are migrating every year because sea levels are rising. Recently an entire village has disappeared in Odisha. Most people do not understand the magnitude of climate change. Policies alone will not suffice; an emotional connect with the public will have to be created. Even the poorest of the poor consume energy. Therefore, we must reach out to all people immediately. Educated people, politicians, even the press do not understand the energy game.

What is it that we are not able to understand?
The fact is that whatever we do in our life, whether it is brushing teeth, cooking, travelling, turning on lights, buying furniture or doing construction work – everything uses energy. Secondly, 84% of the world’s energy comes from coal, oil and gas. Every time you use these resources, carbon dioxide is emitted, which is a greenhouse gas and causes global warming. But we use and throw away things like paper napkins and plastic bottles without thinking, ignoring their long-term impact. If increasing GDP only increases stress, violence, water quality and air quality problems, then why focus on increasing it?

There is a cost in generating solar energy. Making solar panels also requires silicon, copper wire and other resources. Which means that reducing energy consumption is most important. That’s why I came up with the AMG philosophy. ‘Prevent, Minimize’. Create’. If people don’t follow AMG, they will have to say OMG (Oh God!). I didn’t tell them at once. Told it slowly. When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, I was very surprised that people were not paying more attention to it. I thought to myself what Mahatma Gandhi would have done. He might have taken out a padayatra. So, I decided to start a solar-powered bus tour and vowed not to go back home by 2030, (the deadline of the UN Sustainable Development Goals).