People
Sikh-American Brothers, 16 & 14
Inspire Water Conservation Bill In California
IKHLAQ AUJLA
Worried over the prolonged spell of water-drought in California, USA, two Sikh-American teenaged brothers have come up with a radical idea to conserve water. A bill to make this happen is being debated by lawmakers in the provincial assembly in Sacramento to give it a concrete shape.
Brothers Rajvarun Singh Grewal, 16, and Arijeet Singh, 14, from Hanford in the Central Valley of California, have proposed a bill that involves providing subsidy to state residents for replacing natural grass in their lawns with synthetic turf so that water is saved and benefits farmers struggling to cope with the extreme drought that has posed a serious threat to agriculture, especially high-value crops, in the country’s key farming state.
The bill was introduced in the legislature by the Bakersfield assembly member Rudy Salas in February. The bill -- AB 603 -- if passed, would help in getting financial assistance to those who replace their grass lawns with artificial grass. The bill has crossed the first stage.
Rajvarun explains: "Last summer we were changing the grass in our lawn and told our father to opt for synthetic grass. But he said that synthetic grass would be too expensive, unless there was state subsidy on it. That set me and my brother thinking about asking the government to give incentives to people to use synthetic grass in their lawns."
Encouraged by their father, they did some research before proposing the idea to the lawmakers. Rajvarun, a grade 11 student of Sierra Pacific High School at Hanford, said, "After getting a clear idea, we wrote a letter to Salas who liked it. He decided to take it to the assembly."
To generate wider public support, both brothers have created a Facebook page for their project called 'Saving California Farms One Drop at a Time'.
Arijeet, a grade 9 student of Pioneer Middle School, said, "We were motivated by our father to go ahead with our idea. Later on, we got the support of our friends in school, people of the area and local leaders."
Their father Varinder Singh said, "It's really great to see the bill being introduced in the assembly. That's the beauty of our democracy. Where else would you find an idea proposed by two schoolchildren making its way to the legislature for discussion?"
Varinder, who moved to USA from Mandi Ahmedgarh in Sangrur district of Punjab in 1991, said he was hopeful of the bill getting the nod of lawmakers in Californian assembly.
[Courtesy: Times of India. Edited for sikhchic.com]
August 8, 2015
Conversation about this article
1: Gurpal Singh (United Kingdom), August 08, 2015, 5:45 PM.
Neither a great idea nor a green idea. Has been thought of before. Synthetic grass actually takes thousands of litres of water and a substantial amount of crude oil to manufacture. Perhaps residents should pebble or slab their lawns and have a few selected pot plants for greenery that require little water.
2: Bant Singh (New York City, USA), August 11, 2015, 11:28 AM.
@ Gurpal Singh ji - You may be right. But for me the take away from this article was what the father said: 'Where else would you find an idea proposed by two schoolchildren making its way to the legislature for discussion?' This process has introduced to the two teens the need for civic engagement and given them a hands-on lesson in political science. They researched the issue and reached out to their elected official. How many teens in their father's country would know how a bill becomes a law or even how a bill gets debated in their parliament? I commend the youngsters.
3: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), August 11, 2015, 6:12 PM.
What these Sikhs need to do is start to experiment with ways to capture and store water and replace the flushing toilet with one which needs little or no water to get rid of the waste or turn the waste into something that can be treated and utilised for some other project like fertiliser production or feed for creatures that can be beneficial for the environment.
4: Julio Suarez (Boston, Massachusetts, USA), August 12, 2015, 5:38 PM.
It is amazing to see children propose ideas that can have radical changes on the state. Also, as to the comment made by Gurpal Singh, I hear you. I have also seen evidence that this is not feasible. However, the bill will lead to further examination, public hearings, etc., where a new form of "turf grass" may be found. There are, after all, other forms of synthetic turf grass that are not plastic reliant. Either way, even if the result does not equate success, the legislative process is still rewarding to society.