Greening the Concrete Jungle—Our Lady of Dolours High School, Marine Lines


19th September 2011

The students of Our Lady of Dolours High School, Marine Lines, face a unique set of challenges in their Green School Campaign. The school is situated on a busy road right opposite a noisy railway station, space is limited, and greenery is almost non-existent.

But none of these concerns is likely to stand in the way of the school’s bright and eager eco-club! At the very beginning of the session, the students pointed out that garbage is a major problem in their surroundings and that they are determined to do something about it. After we discussed the waste situation in Mumbai and the process of conducting a waste audit, the students divided themselves into groups and took responsibility for the various tasks in the waste audit. They also took charge of getting their teachers and schoolmates involved in the exercise.

What impressed us most was that the several children expressed their desire to take the lead in environmental activities in their neighbourhoods. They were also up to the challenge of finding a way to compost their wet waste in their limited campus space. And as we left the school after the session, we ran into a group of eco-club members lined up outside the Principal’s office, waiting to ask her for help in getting the Green Schools Campaign started in their campus.

It definitely looks as if the students of this school will soon come up with some unexpected Green innovations! We can’t wait to see what they do next!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Ideas to Action—Sacred Heart High School, Vashi

Image
25th January 2011 ‘This is my plant!’ piped a tiny student of Sacred Heart High School, proudly showing off her sapling. We were impressed—these students, and their eco-club in particular, have taken decisive steps to make their school a greener and healthier place.       Our visit began with the eco-club, led by their teacher Mrs. Nirmala, showing us their garbage management system, where wet waste is composted and used as fertilizer for plants. This led us to their next initiative, a small garden of medicinal plants. They then explained how they’ve succeeded in combining environmental consciousness with utility by setting up an organic garden where they grow vegetables with the manure generated from the school’s wet waste. They also went on to show us how they are trying to involve other students in their greening activities by getting them to bring their own plants to the nursery.
Read more

The Bird that goes: Tuk-Tuk-Tuk..

Image
Did you know that Mumbai has its own dedicated ‘city bird’? You might think that this title has been given to the common crow or the blue rock pigeon or maybe even to the house sparrow; because these are birds that Mumbaikars come across all the time. But what if I tell you that none of the above hold the coveted title of being our 'city bird'?  The city bird of Mumbai is the Coppersmith Barbet and it is also known as the Crimson-breasted Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala). This bird is more often heard than seen and it is known to make a monotonous call that goes like, tuk-tuk-tuk. The call resembles a coppersmith repeatedly hitting a copper sheet and this is how it gets its name. The Coppersmith Barbet is also known to make an early morning call to welcome the sunrise. Haven't you heard this call in your locality? Coppersmith Barbets can be found near wooded areas, gardens and possibly even in the greener patches around your residence. They often inhabit
Read more

St. Paul's Convent, Dadar Girls Get Set to Audit School Waste

Image
September 13, 2011 Team GreenLine saw itself at St. Paul's Girls' Convent High School, Dadar on a warm Tuesday morning, and it was there to conduct the school's first session, in this, the Second Edition of the Green Schools Campaign.There were a good number of things we noticed as we entered the school premises itself. For one, even though there is not too much space that the school can consider its campus, there is a whole lot of environment-friendly work being done here. We noticed a number of trees all around, and also the presence of dustbins all over the place. What however, really caught attention was the fact that even though the school was going through a recess, and even though there were students eating all over the place, there was not a single chip packet, chocolate wrapper, or food waste anywhere to be seen. This shows that the girls know the value of keeping the school as tidy as possible and also that unnecessary wastage itself is wrong.  Our session s
Read more