The students of environment club of Amity School of Economics visited a village called KASNA on 27th of October 2018. The purpose of the visit was to educate the kids of the village about the importance of Sanitation, also to spread awareness amongst the women and girls about menstrual hygiene, dos’ and don’ts.
Kasna is a village in Greater Noida where migrants from states like Assam, Tripura, live. The most common language there is hindi and urdu. People living there earn their livelihood by working as labourers. Students conducted the campaign vis-a-vis attractive charts. Students interacted with kids very well, as they kept them engaged through fun learning way , alongside being informative.
The club students began the workshop by letting the kids introduce themselves, talent hunt, ricitaton of peoms, singing songs and a few more interesting things which made the kids listen carefully to them. The kids were talented also keen to learn new things.
Our day with these kids at Kasna was very successful as well as educational. It was an enlightening experience and we look forward to conduct more workshops like these in Kasna and villages nearby.
The students of Green Mortals, the Environment Club of Amity School of Economics visited the premises of Beejom on 11 August ‘18. The purpose of the visit was to conduct an environment awareness campaign as well as to educate the students of Beejom about the importance of sanitation.
Beejom is an animal sanctuary and sustainable agricultural farm located in Noida that uses natural farming techniques to grow food. They have fostered a community of farmers who now live on the land and whose children attend the Beejom School. The Green Mortals conducted the awareness campaign vis-a-vis PowerPoint presentations and animated video clips that were engaging as well as informative.
The club began with familiarising themselves with the students with ice breakers and activities such as talent hunt for which the students were rewarded with toffees. We then proceeded to convey our message with the aforementioned visual aids and peppered the presentation with quizzes to ensure the kids were learning.
Finally we concluded our day at Beejom with a tour of the premises that our hostess Ms Tarunima conducted for us. During the tour we learnt about the different uses of cow dung that are being advocated by Beejom’s ‘Dung Ho’ Project. We were shown the process of converting cow dung and urine to make fertilisers and pesticides which serve as cheaper and biodegradable alternatives to commercial chemical ones. We were shown the various horses, bulls and other animals that were rescued and are now being maintained by the farmers.
The tour was concluded with a visit to the fields where we were shown the various legumes and food crops that are being grown by the farmers at Beejom.
Our day at Beejom was successful as well as educational. It was an enlightening experience and we look forward to conducting more workshops at Beejom.
Environment Club (Green Mortals) had its last Activity of the year 2018 i.e. Club Gathering. In which all the members of the club had a gala time.
They begin with energetic and inspiring speech by Mrs Shivani Mehta: heart and soul of the club. Motivating them to do activities not only for the club but in day to day routine activities of their lives, followed by the short thanksgiving speeches by the Presidents of the club: Mitesha and Akansha.
Members shared their experience about the events and activities which inspired them a lot in the past year, followed by a lunch , selfie’s and a group photo.
And concluded the gathering with the pledge “ As a member of environment club I pledge to recycle, prevent pollution and slow climate change! I will encourage my family and friends to follow 3R’s- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle; walk, bike, carpool or take public transport; and conserve energy and water to help protect the environment for a better planet earth!
The students of Green Mortals, The Environment Club of Amity School of Economics visited the premises of WWF-India office on October 27 2018 to be briefed about the volunteer program for WWF-India's Toony Tails Wildlife Comic Exhibition.
The Toony Tails Wildlife Comic Exhibition aims to reach out to the students of Akshya Pratisthtan School and inform them about the wonders of nature and the current state of the environment.The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-government organisation founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment and wildlife.
Each student was briefed about their duties and roles as volunteers for the exhibition. The students were to be informed via visual aids, engaging quizzes and fun filled activities. Volunteers were skilled briefly about how to engage with the kids and build good communication. The students were also given literature on wildlife preservation and climate change that they’re expected to relay to the students. Overall, it was an engaging and informative visit.
“The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water” - Ismail Serageldin
Millions of voices have been calling for attention to the issues of water throughout past decades. It is true that every life in this world depends on water but it is also true that availability of water depends on these lives. Even a drop of water harvested is a crop harvested. Every year we celebrate World Water Day on the 22nd March, but the rest 364 days we forget that all the water that will ever be, is - right now…
All these cries have been given wide attention in Amity University, with immense efforts towards conservation and harvesting of water. On the 1st of February 2018, the Environment Club of Amity School of Economics organized a rainwater harvesting tour around the Amity University Campus, to sensitize the students about the techniques and need of rainwater harvesting and conservation.
Mr. Himanshu Avasthi initiated the tour by informing students about the presence of 237 water harvesting bores with a capacity of approximately 3,000 litres each. There are 2 different shapes of bores found in the campus – circular well and square shaped. 60 feet length with 6 inches diameter, cylindrical pipes containing pores in the surface and wrapped with net is inserted inside the bores that are connected with the desired buildings in the campus. He further explains about the 3 RO plants that provide around 2 lakh litres of water daily; and the 4 Sewage Treatment Plants and 9 Effluent Treatment Plants that is believed to recycle around 8 lakh liters of water daily for various purposes like flushing, gardening and passing into AC ducts. The bores are cleaned annually by the air compressor machines. He concludes that, Amity University has a major contribution over water conservation in India, having 237 bores in a 60 acre campus.
The practical exposure of the tour has helped students understand the need and techniques of rainwater harvesting incorporated by the university. Nevertheless, the 7.6 billion people in the world need to realize that water has only two aspects; when mixed with anything, it is NEED and when not, it is LIFE… So, every drop counts…
“Solid wastes are the discarded leftovers of our advanced consumer society .This growing mountain of garbage and trash represents not only an attitude of indifference towards valuable natural resources, but also a serious economic and public health problem”- Jimmy Carter
To discuss on this issue, the environment club welcomed Cpt. Manju Minhans, representative of Chintan- Environmnetal Research and Action Group, for a knowledgeable talk session on solid waste management on the 7th of September 2017. In an hour of solemn discussion, we were made aware of the problem of solid waste and its hazardous affects on the environment. In an initiative to combat this perilous issue, their organization Chintan works for environmental justice in partnership with people and groups from diverse sections of society. Their focus is on ensuring equitable and sustainable production and consumption of material and improve disposal of waste. It has three ongoing initiatives: Voice for waste; No child in trash; Scavengers to managers.
Regarding the same, Cpt. Manju explained to us about the necessity of right waste disposal and recycling. Due to inefficient ways of waste disposal, the landfills, which were initially made to last only till the year 2012, are now highly segregated leading to not only land pollution but also the spread of diseases. At homes, we must take utmost care in separating the wet waste from the dry one. The recyclable items must be disposed in a separate dustbin and the biodegradable items in a separate one. The process ofcourse does not stop here, further disposal of waste is also a critical task, for which Chintan helps the waste pickers in educating and upgrading them to new techniques so that they can sustain their livelihood and also take a step towards environmental conservation.
Chintan believes that our planet needs an urgent paradigm shift, one where everyone must share limites resources while addressing the issue of acute poverty and unequal growth. The session was very inspiring,we were also enlightened about the duties of waste generators and the importance of the 3 R’s i.e, REDUCE REUSE and RECYCLE.
Maulsiri and Rishika
On 18thAugust 2017, Amity school of Economics hosted a delegation from WWF. The delegation was here to spread awareness about their new pilot project 'WWF Campus Ambassador'. All the students from the environment club and many more attended this talk. Steffi Xavier, their programme officer started the session by making everyone comfortable and telling a little about World Wildlife Fund.
In today's time the most common dream of a person is to travel the world. We want to visit different continents, try numerous cuisines and understand different cultures. But with the eclipse that has tainted the human civilization this looks like a far fetched dream. Steffi made the students aware that just like to fulfill every other dream, we have to work towards fulfilling this dream too. If we keep on going at this pace, our goal of travelling might never become a reality.
Her anecdotes made this session inspiring and kept it from getting boring at the same time. Everyone was in awe to see that she has achieved so much at such a young age. Everyone from the delegation was very enthusiastic and kept the students engaged.
Further they told us about the programme. They need motivated souls who can take charge and lead. It is not about what 'we' do but what 'I' do. Campus ambassadors will lead their programmes in the institute and become a link between the students and WWF. Anything is possible together.
The natural world shows us in so many ways a simple truth: there is strength in numbers. WWF envisions a world in which people and nature thrive – but we’ll only get there if we all play a role. We’ll only get there if we work together. Together, WWF wants to create a world where people live in harmony with nature,because together, anything is possible. The session ended with a call of action, to everyone.You don't have to be an environmentalist. You just have to agree that we must be more careful with our one and only home.
On 29th July 2017, to spread awareness about the Tiger protection, Global Tiger Day event was held at Vigyan Bhawan. It was organized by WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature). The Environment Club was working under the WWF Team.
Our job was to manage the event and to make it a success. Many big politicians, reporters and Bollywood figures like Dr Harsh Vardhan (Union Minister for Environment), Randeep Hooda, etc were to be the part of the event. So, this made our job very crucial. Making mistake was not an option. History is the proof that the Environment Club has always done its job perfectly. We were determined to not to stain the history. Our teamwork was going to be ‘Brahmastra’ our trump card. We had a lot of important tasks to handle at the same time. So, we divided into small teams. With this division, we showed great co-ordination, effectiveness and efficiency. We were divided into 5 sub-teams to handle the Plenary hall, registration desk, Nukkad Natak, Abhishek Ray’s performance and photography. Some volunteers from other colleges were working with us as well. We showed great coordination with them as well. And our line of communication was also very smooth.
When the chaotic situation was about to occur in the Plenary Hall due to the flood of unstable school children, all the teams rushed to the Plenary Hall after doing their duty successfully. That moment was our biggest test. But we did not stumble. We proved that when we work together we can turn any boulder. There, we learned how great teamwork is. We also enjoyed making friends with the other volunteers. And don’t forget those selfies and grouphies in which we captured those wonderful moments. This event was one big success for us. And we got to learn a lot from it.
On, 3rd of August, 2016, fifteen students from Amity School of Economics took part in a campaign held by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). This campaign was named “Adopt a Tree: Plantation Drive Delhi”. The main aim of this campaign was to encourage people to conserve native plant species of India and to spread awareness against deforestation.
The plantation site that the organizers had chosen for us was Chitragupt District Park located in Rohini, Delhi. The site was surrounded by tall trees and shrubs. Despite the extremely hot and humid weather, the atmosphere within the park was beaming with energy.
Medium sized pits had been dug up at vacant places in the park. One plant was allocated to each pit. We took these plants, removed the plastic from the base allowing roots to be exposed to the soil and placed it on the pit. After this, we covered the body with soil and mud and watered the plants. Once we began the activity, the exhaustion was replaced with enthusiasm. People were enjoying themselves, laughing with each other, clicking selfies of their mud -covered hands. However, the highlight of the event was the special opportunity to name the plants we planted by ourselves and pin their location on Google Maps. Hence the name of this project “ADOPT a tree” completely justified itself. Naming the plant made the event so much more special than it already was. Each volunteer has a chance to nurture and care for the plant like it would be if one adopted a baby.
I feel that the initiation of this campaign was an extremely creative idea. With a world with increasing pollution and deforestation level, it is important for awareness to be spread in order to conserve native species of plants and trees for the betterment of the environment and nature. I would recommend everybody to participate in this campaign atleast once to gain an unforgettable experience.
A seminar was organized by Chintan, an NGO working for environmental justice on Monday, 22 Aug ’16 at Amity School of Economics. Chintan focuses on ensuring equitable and sustainable production and consumption of materials, and improved disposal of waste. The seminar was part of an awareness program and collection drive launched by Chintan to bring to light the sufferings of the recyclers of the informal sector. Students of the department actively participated in the collection drive and brought not just e-waste but dry waste such as old books and files too.
The seminar began with a short movie on the lives of the recyclers of the informal sector in Delhi and its neighbouring regions. These recyclers lack formal recognition, equal rights, secure and safe livelihoods and dignity. The speakers from Chintan then went on to explain the magnitude of the sufferings of these recyclers and their families and how they are constantly exposed to hazardous chemicals and polluted work environments.
The students were then given a short presentation to highlight the amount of e waste that is produced in the country and the steps that the orgainsation and other such organizations have been taking to not only collect the e-waste, but to ensure that it is treated well, and in proper work environments. Later, the students were informed about the employment opportunities made available to the recyclers and the learning and development programs being offered to the children working in this industry. The floor was then opened to questions where doubts about the legal formalities involved in opening recycling plants, what constitutes e-waste, the corporate take on such organizations and other queries were answered.
This seminar gave the students of Amity School of Economics an in depth knowledge about the current trends of consumption of technology and also made them aware of the indignities being suffered by the recyclers of the informal sector.
World Ozone Day has been celebrated since 1994 and was established by the United Nations General Assembly. The day is mainly intended to spread awareness about the depletion of the Ozone Layer and search for solutions to preserve it. The United Nations General Assembly has designated this day to reflect the adoption of the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
In 1987 representatives from 24 countries met in Montreal and announced to the world that it was time to stop destroying the ozone layer. In doing so, these countries committed themselves, via the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to rid the world of substances that threaten the ozone layer. On December 19, 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed September 16 to be the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.
In order to celebrate the same and spread awareness amongst students, Green Mortals, the Environment Society of ASE has launched a student drive, "Go Green or Bleed Blue." Under this drive all the students had been asked to dress up in either blue or green to signify World Ozone Day on 16th September, 2015. The students were actively involved in making posters and banners to spread awareness amongst the entire department of Amity School of Economics. This helped to create cognizance amongst students and ensured their active participation.
Lessons by the Woods- A Forest Trail
‘Lessons by the Woods’ was an event which was held in association with WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and BNHS (Bombay National History Society) at Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, Tughlaqabad. It was a really a majestic experience where anybody could easily enrich their knowledge regarding the ecosystem in a simple and lucid manner by taking a four hour continuous trek around the sanctuary.
The Environment Club of Amity School of Economics visited the premises of Beejom, an animal sanctuary and sustainable agricultural farm located in Noida, on 12 January ‘19. The purpose of this visit was to conduct a waste management and personal hygiene awareness campaign.
In Beejom, many rescued animals enjoy playing with each other happily every day. The farm grows organic food and generates off-the-grid electricity. It has a vibrant community of farmers who live in the farm, and sell their products at a small market organised inside the premises itself. Their children attend the Beejom School. These children were the target audience of this visit.
The club started off by familiarising themselves with the students with icebreakers and little activities which got the children involved and interested. The group then proceeded to conduct the presentation on sanitation, personal hygiene, and waste management using charts and interactive quizzes, to make ensure that the children were paying attention and learning. The children were given toffees as a reward for correct answers. They participated in the activities and answered questions in earnest.
After this, we took a tour of the farm. During the tour, we learnt about Beejom’s aim to be a self-sustaining farm and animal shelter. At Beejom, there is barely any waste; almost everything is reusable. We learnt about the various ways in which cow dung is used to create fertilizers and pesticides which serve as natural and cheaper alternatives to chemical ones, as well as how it can even be used to make pots. We even learnt about how it is possible to use dried manure as an alternative for wood, too.
We got to see the many cows, pigs, horses, bulls, and other animals that have been rescued and are taken care of by the farmers. We visited Beejom’s fields where we saw the various crops that are grown at the farm. Beejom produces a variety of processed products ranging from Honey to Turmeric, under the motto of “Khet se pet tak”. We learnt that there is minimal use of plastic at Beejom, and no use of GMOs and hybrid crops.
In conclusion, the club’s visit to Beejom farm was a very informative and educational trip. It was a great opportunity for us to interact closely with and learn from farmers as well as impart some of our own knowledge about hygiene and sanitation.
This trip allowed us to learn about various things that we would only read about in books or see on the television, in person. It was an extremely enlightening experience and we look forward to visiting Beejom again.
The students of Amity School of Economics with collaboration of Robin Hood Army visited a slum area in Kasna Village on 12th October, 2019. The energetic kids welcomed the students with full enthusiasm & Zeal.
Kasna is a village in Greater Noida where migrants from states like Assam, Tripura, live. The most common language is Hindi and Urdu. People living their livelihood by working as laborer’s .
The workshop started with the introduction of kids, followed by talent hunt, where kids showcase their talents of Singing, Dancing, Recited Poems. The 1st Session was on Personal Hygiene, where they were preached about how they themselves can keep clean by taking bath properly, brush twice a day, followed by a session on pollution & waste management, by the use of charts, models made by the students.
The workshop ended with the distribution of soaps, sachets of shampoos which can be used in day to lives for personal hygiene. Overall it was a very enriching experience.
On 21st September 2019, with an aim to make the city clean and green, a massive plogging activity was held in the Noida stadium, sector 21 A, on account of World Cleanup Day, organized by Project Clean Noida, an initiative of the HCL Foundation, Noida Authority and Decathlon. The Environment Club was also part of the 2000 individuals who contributed in making the movement a grand success.
The event was stacked with various other fun activities like Zumba and power-packed performances featuring the need to reduce plastic use. The participants were relegated into groups to clean the periphery of the arena and as usual, the radiant energy of the environment club, made the event even more enjoyable.
Ritu Maheshwari, CEO of Noida Industrial Development Authority, who was the chief guest of the event, also awarded the people who contributed the most to the event. There were discussions on single use plastics to be banned by October 2. The event ended with all of us taking a pledge to make Noida the No. 1 city in terms of cleanliness.
The city is our home. If we all come together with this notion, it might even take lesser than a year to have this pledge fulfilled. The beauty lies in the cooperation and collaboration.