Growing Fast—St. Joseph’s High School, Wadala

Over the last few months, the GreenLine team has visited many schools and seen a variety of environmental projects. While some schools who have been working towards sustainability for years have impressed us with their projects, we have also been inspired by others who have made rapid progress in a very short time. St. Joseph’s Wadala, who began their environmental programme in December 2010, amazed us with their dedication and enthusiasm.
  
The entire atmosphere of the school has been refashioned to constantly remind students, teachers and visitors about their environmental duties. Right from charts on all the walls to little reminders to turn off taps and lights, an ecological consciousness is on display all over the campus. In terms of implementation, the students and teachers have divided themselves into issue-based groups to deal with each component of their school environment.
Each pair of Stds. in the school has assumed responsibility for one area of work. For e.g., while classes V and VI are responsible for composting the wet garbage, classes VII and VIII are ensuring that water is conserved, and classes IX and X have taken charge of enforcing a ban on plastic in the school. Even the little kids of the KG classes are being taught to look after the school garden. The teachers have also divided themselves into groups of four, with each group guiding the students on a specific issue.
We were especially impressed with the students’ innovative use of their rather limited campus space, and the fact that they have managed to involve the entire school in their green campaign. We came away from this visit feeling certain that the right attitude is all it takes to make a difference to our world.

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