RESOLUTIONS LIST - BEFORE YEAR IS NO LONGER NEW

How long have we been away? Forever it seems, but such is the effect of emerging from the bittersweet fug of christmas planning, christmas giving/taking, over-indulgence, family-togetherness, the stress of that togetherness AND the end of another year (...for DeviDoll not just any old year but the year of birth). Last November seems a lifetime away.

A new year demands resolutions. Ours are simple (so that they can be kept).

1) Turn off lights, computers, dvd, TV and like devices WHENEVER we are not using them. For devices this often means overnight and off means O-F-F...stand-by still uses >75% power). Browse other simple but effective ways to be energy efficient -- 'eco-pimp your home' -- here and here.

2) Recycle and reuse: we're waaay past paper - at DeviDoll now its about getting creative:a) cosmetics bottles/containers (thank you MAC for your '6 packaging containers returned = 1 free lipstick of our choice' program)
b) clothes reincarnated in seasons they weren't created for -- admittedly not too tough in uni/bi-seasonal London, less wasteful shopping and in line with wacky weather
c) kitchen ware: we say who needs tupperware when we have bio-live containers? Others have far more interesting ideas...
d) banishing all laziness in trooping to our neighbourhood recycling bins to deposit what needs depositing.

3) This year we are going figure out how we can make a difference to a particularly dear cause of ours: education in developing countries, particularly of children. Are we going to support specific projects? Are we going to support a charity that is effective in this area? Is the support going to be directly monetary? Awareness-raising? Both? And how can we integrate this very important issue with the practical living of a DeviDoll life?

Trust us, we'll keep you posted.

YOUR TRASH IS MY CASH

Talk about really getting the recycling thing *REALLY* right: Conserve, an Indian NGO, founded by Anita Ahuja and her husband, Shalabh, takes discarded polythene bags and through unique processing creates some pretty funky bags and other accessories. Conserve showed at Paris for the first time this past September.


Not only is this intelligent waste management, its also compassionate social management: the Ahujas provide decent wages to the garbage pickers (a notoriously badly treated subset of the contractors the run 'waste management' in India's cities) and employment to otherwise destitute slum-dwellers who are taught skills in polythene processing or design.
Jewel in the crown: informal schooling for the children of the 300-strong slum dwelling work-force has now been put in place. About 200 youngsters between 5 and 13 now gain basic learning from about 8 teachers.
Read more about Conserve's work here and expect to see some of their designs at DeviDoll in Spring 2008.

GIVE LOVE AND JOY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

I'm going to keep this simple because it is SO easy to let the cheese and sentimentality roll out of control on a topic such as this.

Here are some fantastic and genuine ways to give love and joy this holiday season:

1) Gift a winning lottery ticket to a girl so she can be removed from poverty/sexual abuse/exploitation/poor health: the Sharanam Centre for girls in Mumbai's infamous slum Dharavi (Asia's largest) can house, rehabilitate and educate upto 30 girls. In a country where 1 in 4 girls never gets to be a teenager, this is no small gift.
2) Present a way for a child to get off the street/railway platform in New Delhi and put them in a home-like environment where they can live safely, get vocational training, have access to adequate mental and physical health care and get a new start in life. Support Karm Marg.
3) Give the opportunity to have a better life, particularly through a holistic education, to the most hopeless and impoverished of children. Let them believe that if they learn, they can be anything they wish. Involve yourself with Akanksha Foundation. Make donations in the UK here or contact London based Kids in Need of Education.