Normally, going tothe middle of nowhere meant going away from civilization and basic amenitiews such as running hot water, electricity, heating, internet, cable TV etc. However, today I visited a place which manages to provide all amenities yet in an environmentally friendly and economic way.
SECMOL is an organization in Ladakh which has a campus about 20kms away. You reach it after a 30min bus ride followed by a 3km walk into what looks like nowhere. But once you are there you see a campus which is completely reliant on solar energy. Through ingenius construction they are able to achieve a temperature of about 10-15 degrees celsius in an area that sees temperatures as low as minus 20 to 30!They also have access to all modern tools such as TV and internet. The placeis designed keeping local architecture in mind and recycling waste and other eco-friendly practices. At the same time,its not like you have to “rough it”. It really shows that a viable eci-friendly life can be lived without sacrificing modern amenities (except maybe ironing your clothes as the iron uses a lot of energy).
A thought that also came to my mind while visitingthem was that maybe development cannot be measured in per capita GDP. Someone with the same amount of wealth, if given access to hygenic conditions, education, entertainment and other basic items that they currently don’t have, it leads to a better life, and uses less resources.
The west is consumed by stories of rising energy prices, and India and China are scrambling around the world trying to secure energy supply for a growing economy. While infrastructure may require conventional fuel, maybe we as individuals can try and implement energy-smart practices such as better designed homes, solar etc. ???
