A Sustainability Map of Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community

– By Abhijit S., Grade 8 

Through my art piece, I wish to send a message that we need to be sustainable and save for future generations. We need to build a more sustainable world. I'm glad that in our community we are on the path to building such a world.

This map shows the steps Jhamtse Gatsal is taking to be a sustainable community. The areas in which we are trying to make some changes have been highlighted here. For instance, we use solar panels instead of only relying on the grid for our electricity needs. We have a grey and black water recycling plant using DEWATS. Using this technique, we recycle our grey and black water, which we use to irrigate our gardens. 

We also have a rainwater harvesting system, through which we collect our plentiful rainwater. This is very helpful for us in times of water shortage. 

We have a vermicomposting pit as well. From this, we get organic manure which we use in the gardens. The plants and soil both become healthy when we use vermicompost. In our community farms, we only use organic fertilizers. We try to not buy our vegetables from the market as they are not healthy sometimes. On our farms, we produce our own food for our community’s needs. 

We also have three cob houses, which are made of mud, straw, sand, cow dung, horse dung, and water. These ingredients are all mixed together to make a cob house. Building these cob houses does not harm the environment and uses local waste materials.