Green lessons for society

Updated on: Tuesday, March 02, 2010

The Bishop Moore College, Mavelikara, is moving towards a serene, eco-friendly and responsible way of learning and is all set to become one of the State's Green Colleges'.

The 46-year-old college, which set up an Eco-Study Centre for Sustainable Development in 2007, has so far shown that imparting lessons and regular extra-curricular activities are not all that a college can do. From finding a solution to a 44-year-old water shortage on its campus and running a model greenhouse for the last 30 years, the college is now concentrating on taking the lessons to society.

It all began with a three-day session led by Shree Padre, otherwise known as the Rain-man of the Canara Coast, with students, teachers and local panchayat members learning the techniques of rainwater harvesting.

The two water wells were dug in the college that supplied water even during the summer—a phenomenon that was a first in the college's history. The initiative had a positive effect on the water bodies in the surrounding areas.

The college, which decided to spread the good word, trained 100 students on RWH techniques, who in turn disseminated the lessons they learnt to 1,100 students and then to all students in the college.

Armed with 10,000 brochures, these students then took the lessons to 10,000 houses in 22 surrounding panchayats. The effort earned the college the Best Eco-friendly College award worth Rs.1 lakh from a prominent media organisation.

The second edition began this year with a second round of 10,000 brochures being taken to another 10,000 houses stressing on the importance of the RWH concept.

The endeavour, which also resulted in the college's management, the CSI Church Management, receiving an United Nations award for the first church in eco-management, was not the only measure taken for instilling the love of nature on campus.

Plastic-free campus

The plastic-free campus also has vermi-compost projects and effective waste management endeavours apart from a garden of medicinal plants, many of them rare species, according to Principal Mathew Koshy Punnackadu.

The college, as part of its efforts to become a Green College, is now drawing up plans to organise training for panchayat members and school teachers in RWH techniques.

As part of the International Year of Biodiversity, the college will organise special programmes to protect bio-diversity and initiate research projects that will be beneficial for the public. The college will also establish international linkages with different environmental projects by May this year.

Green lessons for society

More Education news