Eco-friendly lifestyles talk

Today, a presentation was made in the school about "Leading eco-friendly lifestyles". Eco Alternatives is a movement that mobilizes and encourages communities to take individual and group responsibility for working towards an eco friendly world.

Ms. Sukhada Parthasarathy and Ms. Vaani Anand, the people behind this organization conducted an hour long session for the students of standards nine and ten, as part of their CCE curriculum.


They spoke about the disadvantages of plastic, and the pressing need to reduce human carbon footprints to save the planet. Interspersed with stories, anecdotes and videos, the presentation was an interesting one. By the end of the talk, the students felt inspired to do their bit and contribute towards making the earth a greener place.


After the principal's address, the event concluded with the presentation of mementoes to the speakers. All in all, it was an eye-opening experience for the attendees.


Go green!

Report based on survey results

I conducted an environmental consciousness survey to measure the awareness levels of students in my school. The survey was answered by a random sample of thirty students from various classes.

I tabulated the results of the survey in the form of graphs and pie diagrams. Here is a report highlighting the salient findings from the survey, and my opinion about them:

Energy

Every classroom has 2-3 tubelights (40 watts each) and 2-4 fans (60 watts each).  63% of the students surveyed belong to classes that do not switch off lights and fans before leaving their classrooms at least once a week. This means a minimum of 173 watts of electricity is wasted by each of these classes every week!

18 out of 30 students have noticed plasma screens in their classrooms left on even when not in use. Research shows that at the global level, standby power is roughly responsible for 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions!

Paper

60% of the students surveyed do not reuse school notebooks from the previous year on a regular basis. From my own observations, I have found that unused pages from old notebooks amounts to atleast two notebooks per year. That would mean buying two notebooks less the next year, saving paper in the process.

Only 40% use the blank side of circulars given in school. 43% don’t even take them home, and this adds to the litter in the classroom.

Nearly 4 billion trees or 35% of the total trees cut around the world are used in paper industries on every continent. Saving paper is very important.

Travel

Half the students surveyed commute to school by car. Out of the 15 students who come to school by car, 10 (~66%) are part of a carpool system. The figures are quite heartening.

Although there is scope for improvement, modes of transport to and from school also depends on a number of other factors, such as individual class timings, extra classes for co-curricular activities etc.

Efforts have been taken by the school over the years to encourage car-pooling. This has resulted in some improvement. Personally, I don’t think I can bring about a drastic change in this through my project.

Food and drink

47% of the students surveyed finish their lunch completely everyday.

Although 34% said that they eat organically grown foods everyday, I later found that some of these students did not know the actual meaning of organic food (which is “food grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides”). Many thought that organically grown food was all non-junk food. So awareness has to be created about the meaning of organically grown food and its advantages.

Only 16% of the students waste unfinished water from their school bottles. Quite a large number (84%) drink the water or use it for other purposes.

Water

16 out of 30 students are aware of leaking taps or flushes in the bathrooms. Alarmingly, 36% are okay letting them leak.

I used http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sc4.html and made a calculation: 10 litres of water are wasted in one day by one leaky tap (at 30 drips per minute, i.e., 1 drip every 2 seconds)!

In light of this figure, a change of attitude among the students is very necessary.

Plastic

Only 17% of the students surveyed carry no plastic items to school. Shockingly, 19 out of the 30 students knew about eco-friendly substitutes available in the market. Awareness exists, but implementation is absent.

Studies show that one plastic bag takes 1000 years or more to degrade! Immediate sensitization of students is required.

Waste management

18 out of 30 students follow the colour-coded bins outside the canteen. 29 of the 30 respondents knew what colour coded bins meant and were aware of their existence outside the canteen. So, students need to be encouraged to throw their trash properly.

30% of the students surveyed said they would throw their garbage on the floor if there were no dustbins in sight. Again, a change in attitudes is necessary.

Only 5 students of 30 belonged to classes that had a monitor to check cleanliness. A “Clean Class Award” is in place in the school. However, some classes do not take it seriously and this issue has to be addressed.

Volunteering and projects

9 students of the 30 surveyed had previously been involved in an environmental project. It was heartening to note that 24 of the 30 said that they would be interested in participating in such a project in the future. This has given me the confidence that my project will be well received.

Voice your views

23 students out of the 30 surveyed believe that they can make a difference towards curtailing global warming as individuals. I think showing them how they can do this is what my project should be aimed at.

27 students of the 30 felt that the school could be a more eco-friendly place!

Using these results, I plan to implement a number of green initiatives to change my peers' attitudes towards the environment.

Go green!

Environmental Consciousness Survey

I conducted a survey (on 5th June 2011). Here's a copy of the questionnaire I distributed to students in my school:

Energy

1.     How often does your class leave lights and fans switched on while you leave the classroom?

a)    Everyday

b)   Thrice a week or more

c)    Twice a week or less

d)   Never

2.     Do you switch off the plasma screen in your class when not in use?

Yes/No

Paper

3.     How regularly do you reuse unused pages in old school notebooks?

a)    Every year

b)   Rarely

c)    Never

d)   Whenever I feel like!

4.     What do you do with circulars you receive from school?

a)    Leave them in class

b)   Throw them away at home

c)    Use the blank side

Travel

5.     How do you commute to and from school?

a)    Car

b)   Motorcycle/Scooter

c)    Auto

d)   Bus

e)    Walk/Cycle

6.     Are you part of a carpool system? Yes/No

Food and drink

7.     How often do you finish your lunch completely?

a)    Everyday

b)   Sometimes

c)    Never

d)   It depends on what my lunch is!

8.     How often do you eat organically grown foods?

a)    Everyday

b)   Sometimes

c)    Never

d)   I don’t know if my food is organically grown

9.     What do you do with the unfinished water in your waterbottle after school?

a)    Drink it at home

b)   Throw it away

c)    Use it for other purposes (watering plants etc.)

d)   Don’t know

Water

10. Are you aware of taps/flushes leaking in the school bathroom?

11. What would you do if you saw a leaking tap/flush?

a)    Inform the attendant/ayah

b)   Let it leak

Plastic

12. How many plastic items do you carry to school? (includes items like  pencil boxes, polythene bags, snack boxes etc.)

a)    None

b)   1-2

c)    3-4

d)   5 or more

13. Do you know about the existence of eco-friendly substitutes for these materials in the market? (eg. jute bags, cloth pouches and so on)

Yes/No

 Waste management

14. Do you follow the colour coding of the bins placed outside the canteen and throw the trash accordingly? Yes/No

15. If there is no dustbin within sight, what do you do with your trash?

a)    Pocket it and throw it into a bin later

b)   Throw it on the floor

c)    Search for a bin and throw it

16. Does your class have a student monitor to check class cleanliness? Yes/No

Volunteering and projects

17. Have you ever been involved (through school) in a project about saving the environment? Yes/No

18. Would you be interested in participating in or volunteering for such an initiative? Yes/No

Voice your views

19. Do you believe you can make a difference towards curtailing climate change and global warming as an individual? Yes/No

20. Do you feel students of your school can be more eco-friendly than they already are? Yes/No

A red-letter day!

Yesterday was World Environment Day!! A quick look at why there's a day dedicated to the environment and what's special about it.....

Every year, June 5th is celebrated as World Environment Day (WED). It aims at creating awareness about the environment and spurring political action. It began in 1972 after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

WED is a day when people unite for the common cause of making the world a cleaner and greener place to live in. From small initiatives by individuals to nation-wide policies by governments, June 5th is a call for citizens of the Earth to realize their responsibility towards their life-sustaining planet. This year (2011), India is the host country of WED.

WED was also significant for me- I began the implementation of my Environmental Consciousness drive!   After the months of planning that have gone into this, I hope my project takes off and creates a lasting impact among the members of the target group.

Go green!

About the project

The need:

The human race exploits natural resources, wipes out entire habitats and pollutes the planet. Youngsters of the present generation are unable to grasp the magnitude of the consequences of these actions.

Accepted, everyone at school has heard of terms like global warming and climate change, and watched An Inconvenient Truth; but I feel that’s not enough. I believe that there is a lack of awareness among teenagers in my community when it comes to saving our environment. This is the need I seek to address through my iCAN project.

My idea to solve this problem:

I find that my own classmates and peers have the potential to contribute towards making their surroundings cleaner and greener, but are not mindful of the same. So, I think starting small and creating a difference in my school is a good idea.

My plan is about:

1.     Changing attitudes

My first goal is to help my schoolmates understand the issue that exists in the status quo, catch their interest and show them that they can contribute towards solving the problem.

2.     Green activities

Getting my schoolmates involved in the participation process is equally important, because this will produce tangible results. 

I'm not alone!

True, I came up with the idea, but I'm not in this alone. I have a mentor (who shares my passion!) to guide me through my project and help me in its implementation. I also have a Project Manager, who gives me inputs about planning right and monitors my progress. I really couldn't have come as far as I have without them.....

Go green!

The beginning

I participated in a Summit conducted by iLive2LeadInternational, an organization that aims to promote leadership among young women from around the world. It was held at Global Adjustments, Chennai from March 4th-7th, 2011. Over these four enjoyable days, twenty two young women from across the country were transformed into budding leaders.

We learnt valuable skills and lessons through activities, lectures, meetings and more. As part of the programme, we were asked to come up with an iCAN (i Commit to Act Now) project to bring about a change for the better in our communities. I am passionate about saving the environment, and so, my iCAN proposal was about beginning an Environmental Consciousness drive in my school.

And that's how my iCAN project came about! I've created this blog to post updates about my progress and share my experience.

Go green!