On the banks of the Iruvazhinji lies an eco-friendly lifestyle park which is now a favourite place of rural innovators. This is where you find unique equipment that make farming easier, innovative methods of waste management, rainwater harvesting, and an array of eco-friendly lifestyle products under a single roof.
Green Carpet, located on a 1.5-acre plot at Koolimad near Mavoor in Kozhikode district, is a platform for all green thoughts. A part of the park is ‘The school of green life’ where people get information on various farming techniques and an eco-friendly lifestyle through regular classes. There is an assembly hall that hosts regular meetings on green protocol, a kids park that provide fun and knowledge filled with entertainment for children, a hanging bridge, a floating platform often used for small meetings, fishing point, a herbal garden and butterfly garden.
On the other side is a showcase of innovations by local people. A machine to pluck arecanut without climbing the tree, another to fetch water from the well without using a pulley and bucket, a waste management system suitable for apartments, all the water purifying methods squeezed into a single cylinder, and unique methods for well recharging, to name a few. Green Carpet also showcases a unique farming method without using soil, where fish farming and organic vegetable farming go hand in hand and complements each other. A bicycle that serves the dual purpose of an exercise machine and a water pump is another major attraction at this innovation hub. Green Carpet promotes green energy, farming techniques like wick irrigation and vertical garden.
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Green Carpet is a venture of Koolimad based Green Care mission, known for its many efforts to promote green lifestyle, the latest being the ‘Pen drive to Biennale’ organised in association with the District Suchitwa Mission, in which around 1 lakh discarded plastic pens were taken to the Kochi Muziris Biennale for an installation to drive home the message against use-and-throw culture. Though set up a couple of years ago, Green Carpet was in the teething stage so far. It was officially inaugurated by District collector U.V. Jose on Sunday. The first ever ‘Haritha Puraskaram’ was given away on the occasion to six individuals and two organisations for their contribution to environment conservation.