'Green-ly' ever after

It's been more than a year since the launch of Project Environ. And six months since its completion! Time really does fly! And yet, the green has never gone out of my life after Environ.

During the course of my project, my Project Manager invited me to contribute to her company's monthly newsletter. I am the author of a column titled 'Ecofacts' which appears in every issue. I am very grateful to my PM for giving me this wonderful opportunity!

I am going to begin college later this month- I will be majoring in economics. Of course, my deep interest in environmental issues will still continue! My college has an eco-club which I am eager to join. I will continue to spread the green message to as many people as I can!

Go green!

The end?

Environ has been a long and interesting journey- and an integral part of my life for the past few months! I'm already missing planning new initiatives and interacting with my Project Manager on a daily basis. It seems quite unbelievable that Environ has ended.

Yet, I wonder if it really is the end. I'm positive I will continue spreading the message to go green and keep in touch with developments in the field. Hopefully, the initiatives I launched in my school will have a lasting impact and encourage more students to take part in environment-related activities!

Go green! 

My learnings

Environ has taught me so much ever since I launched it. Here are some of the most important takeaways:


Planning

I’ve never realized it until now, but planning and sticking to the plan is actually a very good idea! My workbook has served as a guide for me to keep notes about my project progress and ideas from my project manager. The workbook has given me a complete idea of how to plan a project- it’s also bringing in a little more order into my haphazard study schedules!

Communication
Throughout my project, I’ve had to reach out to a lot of people- my teachers for permission, students for participation and volunteering, my project manager for ideas and planning... It’s a lot of work! I’ve learnt to communicate effectively during the course of my project- be it through phone, email or face-to-face!

Coordination

Each of my initiatives involved getting different groups of people together for a common cause. A lot of convincing and adjusting was needed (the risk management bit came in handy here)! In fact, in my final initiative of being in charge of the ‘Environment’ section of my school project was to do almost entirely with coordination! Sticking to my deadlines was also difficult- everything seemed to come in the way to prevent me from meeting them! Coordination was a valuable skill I picked up.

About going green!

Thanks to all my research before the project, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge about being environmentally friendly. It’s helped me make some ‘green’ changes in my own life as well!

Writing and blogging

 environconsciousness is my first blog- and I’m very proud of it! Managing and updating the blog regularly has given me a thorough understanding of this form of social media.  The Green Newsletter and the blog have sharpened my writing skills. I sifted through and summarized large chunks of material while compiling the newsletter, which taught me how to edit information quickly and precisely.

And most importantly... leadership!

The very objective of taking up a community service project as part of the iLive2Lead programme was to hone my leadership skills. I am happy to say that Environ gave me the opportunity to do all of the above and much more! I was also made the Environment Monitor of my school!

Go green!

Survey results

The results are out- and they look promising! Almost all the students surveyed had participated or heard about at least one of my activities- I found the most successful ones to be the display board with green tips and the newsletter Environ on the school website.


It is heartening to know that my project has had the desired impact on the target population. A small step towards a more eco-friendly planet!


Go green!

Survey

The last item on my Grand Plan is to conduct a survey to find out the change in eco-awareness levels of the students in my school. I have sent out the questionnaires, and I'm very eager to see the results. I hope there's an improvement- keeping fingers crossed!

Go green!

Sustainability: Industries and Renewable Energy

The past three days have been incredible- the project went off very well! Several students from different schools visited our section. Here are some snapshots:

Our theme- "Sustainability: Industry and Renewable Energy"

A front view of the model of a village run by a Bagasse plant. The entire model was made only out of eco-friendly materials!

Go green!

About the project

The project date is approaching! Here's what the Environment section of the Economics department has lined up:

The concept behind all the models and displays is sustainability, which is a key lesson to learn from the past. There is one display that depicts the theme in a Venn diagram.

1. Self-sustained village with bagasse plant: One still model showing a sugarcane-producing village that has a bagasse plant which uses the waste material of the juice extraction factory to meet the energy needs of the entire village (as well as the factory), and one display about the economic and environmental benefits of such a model.

2. Heliodome: One chart describing this very recent concept that involves using the sun's energy to run homes and industries throughout the winter.

3. Wind energy: One working model and one chart about windmills and traditional methods of harnessing wind power.

4. Lessons from the past to preserve the environment and save money: A sequence of six wall displays that give tips to live an eco-friendly life without spending too much money.

A lot of effort has gone into the preparation of the exhibits an the entire team is very excited!

Go green!

Increasing impact

Agreeing to take up the Environment section in the Economics department of my school's Quadrennial Project has been a very strategic decision. The biggest advantage- more impact! And that is exactly what my project aims at- spreading environmental consciousness among the student community as a whole.

Students from different city schools as well as my school will attend the project and view the various exhibits on display. There will also be other important people inaugurating the event and visiting the different departments.

I hope that this last activity on my list proves to be one that is a fitting finale to Environ!

Go green!

Deadline extension

My project was initially supposed to end in September. However, I have now postponed the end date to mid-November. This is thanks to a fantastic opportunity that has come my way! I am in charge of the 'Environment' section in Quadrennial Project of my school themed 'Back to the future for healthy living'. The topic specific to my section is 'Sustainability: Industries and Renewable Energy'.

I am very excited about this latest activity! The project will be on for three days, and my exhibit will be open for viewing on all the days!

Go green!

Women's Forum for the Economy and Society- France

I'm participating in the 7th edition of The Women's Forum for the Economy and Society to be held in Deauville, France from 12th-15th October 2011. The theme for the programme is 'What if?: Challenge, imagination, commitment'. Top leaders from across the globe will participate in discussions and lectures voicing varied perspectives and ideas.

I will be Skyping in on the 15th as a panelist in the session "Inspiring Social Change: Becoming the Catalyst for Action" to be moderated by Karine Guldemann, Elle Foundation.

I am making a presentation about my iCAN project and talking about my passion for the environment. I'm really excited about this amazing opportunity!


Go green!

Petanque newsletter

My project manager asked me if I would be willing to become a contributor to the section about the environment in the monthly Petanque newsletter! I was so excited I almost forgot to say yes!

I'm sure it will be a huge learning experience for me. It will stimulate me to think more about eco-issues and how to address them, apart from helping me enhance my knowledge in this area.

I thank my PM for giving me these fantastic and exciting opportunities!

Go green!

TenStep Conference

Today, I made a presentation about my project at a conference on Project Management organized by Tenstep in Capetown, South Africa. My Project Manager had invited me to share a project update with this group of twenty five Project Managers. I joined the seminar through Skype earlier this morning.

My Project Manager first introduced iLive2Lead and my project to the audience. She then gave them an insight to the months of planning and preparation that went into this project. I had sent her my complete workbook prior to the session. Then it was my turn to make my presentation. It was a new experience for me, and I was extremely happy that my project was well-received.

I thank my PM for giving me this wonderful opportunity. It was a great learning experience and a method of sharing my project with people from around the world!

Go green!

Green Newsletter!

The newsletter is on the school website at last!
Here is the link:

http://www.psbbschools.ac.in/images/eco-awareness.pdf

I'm very happy that it was put up before the month-end! :)

Go green!

Succession Planning

I've been wondering for a long time as to how I'm going to keep this project alive once I graduate from school. I realized a while ago that I'm not going to be there in school anymore to keep it going- so i have to put some system in place to ensure that my efforts are not short lived. My Project Manager termed this as 'Succession Planning' (doesn't that sound so fancy?) Here's what I intend to do:

1. Draft out a list of responsibilities for the Environment Monitor: During the course of this project, I was chosen to be the Environment Monitor of the school. I was surprised to find that there were no specific environment-related duties assigned to me. So I've decided that I'll put pen to paper and write down what I feel should be done by the person who holds this post in the future, and hand it over to the teacher-in-charge. It will be a good way to sustain many of my green initiatives!

2. Popularize the Green Award: True, this is one of the activities in my Grand Plan, but it also falls under succession planning. That's because the Green Award is a big motivator for students to participate in eco-friendly initiatives. Since it's an annual award that's been instituted in the school, it will be given every year without exception. If students are aware of its existence, it will be more sought-after. That's exactly what I want, because then students will have to compete to win it, and the competitive spirit will encourage them to participate in more and more environment-related activities!

Go green!

Newsletter completed!

I'm all done working on my Green Newsletter. It's an eco-awareness initiative also named Environ (as I mentioned in an earlier post). It will take a few days to get uploaded on the school website- following which I will post the link in my blog! Unfortunately, it's not possible to directly upload the newsletter on the blog- only a link can be pasted here. But I'm very excited about it!

Go green!

What's in a name?

A friend asked me last week why I named my project Environ. It was only then that I got thinking about it. The actual reason I named it Environ was because it was a part of the word 'Environment'. Besides that, when I set up this blog, one of the few available URLs that I liked was www.environconsciousness.blogspot.com, so I thought it would make a good name. And finally, it sounds very classy! I just Googled the word, and I was surprised to find that there are several global and Indian environmental companies named Environ! Maybe someday my project might just get a website of its own  :)

Go green!

Green Award

I planned to get a 'Green Award' instituted in my school to encourage students to participate in eco-friendly initiatives. Unexpectedly, I found that such an award was already in place in my school! After a little investigation, however, I realized that not too many students were aware that such an award existed (I wasn't either, till a few days ago!).

I spoke to my teacher and gleaned more details about the prize. Instituted by the Bala Bhavan Educational Trust, this rolling shield is given every year to a student who has shown keen interest in environmental activities both within and outside school. This matched what I had in mind when I initially made out my plan.

So I modified my Grand Plan a bit- instead of getting a new award in place, I have decided to popularize the existing one through my green newsletter, by making announcements about it in my school assembly and by putting up notices about it on the school notice boards.

I was extremely surprised to learn about the award (and a bit sad also, because I was quite excited about getting a new one instituted!), but I think it would work out well for the school as well as my project if I spread awareness about the existing prize.

Go green!

Impact Assessment

Impact assessment was another concept that I learnt at the iL2L Summit this June, and I plan to use it in every step of my project. (It's always been at the back of my mind while I was working on my project, but now I have a proper name for it!)

Here's the Wikipedia definition:

Impact assessment (IA) is "a process aimed at structuring and supporting the development of policies. It identifies and assesses the problem at stake and the objectives pursued. It identifies the main options for achieving the objective and analyses their likely impacts in the economic, environmental and social fields. It outlines advantages and disadvantages of each option and examines possible synergies and trade-offs".

It talks about the methods employed to reach the main goal such that there is maximum impact in economic, environmental and social fields. In my project, I plan to spread environmental consciousness not only among the student community in my school (the target population), but also to students in other schools and the public in general. This is the larger aim of my project.

As suggested by my Project Manager, I plan to do this by requesting a local newspaper to highlight the green initiatives launched in the school. Hopefully, this would inspire students in other city schools to replicate such programmes!

Go green!

Measuring my success

I learnt several project planning techniques at the iLive2LeadIndia Summit. In the International Summit, I was exposed to more advanced planning ideas which I am going to keep in mind while carrying out the rest of my Environmental Consciousness initiative.

Measuring my success is one such skill that I thought would be very useful for me while I conclude my project.

At the end of my project, it's important for me to be able to show concrete results to prove that my efforts have created a difference (or not- so that I can improvise!). Thus, I need to quantitatively measure my progress at regular intervals.

Here's how I plan to do this:
a) My survey (refer my blog post dated 16th June 2011, Thursday)- I have conducted a survey among a random sample of thirty students to measure their initial awareness levels. Once I finish carrying out all my green activities, I will hand out the same survey to the same set of students to check if there is an increase in awareness levels, and if so, by how much. These percentages will give me a rough but clear idea about the effect that my project has had on the target population in consideration.

b) My blog- I'm keeping track of how regularly I've been updating my blog. With 13 posts so far (including this one!), I've covered all aspects of my project that I think will help in spreading consciousness or that I want others to know about. I also check how many hits I've received every time I login. The numbers seem good with 102 hits since I began this blog!

c) Feedback- Some of my initiatives are well-received by my peers while others are not. Direct feedback in the form of comments or reports (for example, refer my blog post dated 31st July 2011, a student's view about the talk on eco-friendly lifestyles held in the school) are preferable because I know exactly what was well-done and what needed improvement. Indirect feedback is easier to obtain, like observing the number of students willing to volunteer for an eco-friendly event or the teachers' willingness to conduct a green class activity. However, I find it more difficult to document this kind of feedback!

Using these three forms of measurement, I hope I will be able to measure the impact of my project on my community!

Go green!

Next up- green newsletter

A green newsletter is next on my to-do list of green activities! The tabloid I plan to bring out is both to promote eco-awareness and to recognize students' participation in environmentally friendly initiatives in and outside school.

I have a rough outline of what's going to be in there- as well as a fantastic painting that will form the cover page! This in-house newsletter will be interactive and student-friendly. I plan to host it on the school blog, and if possible, even the school website! Both these sites are accessible to students of our two sister schools as well, apart from the students in my school. That's quite exciting, because a larger number of people can be influenced to become eco-friendly (which is the extended aim of this project; my PM aptly called it 'the ripple effect'!)

Of course, I'll also put it up on this blog Environ, for all of my followers and readers to see!

Go green!