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Going Green in College

According to Affordable Colleges Online, Going green in college usually isn’t a solitary pursuit; there are plenty of other students who have the same goals, and most colleges have begun focusing on helping the environment. When choosing the right school to help meet those admirable goals, focus on the following possibilities:

BENEFITS OF GOING GREEN

BETTER HEALTH
When you look to sustainable agriculture for your food, you are going to become healthier, simply thanks to the lack of hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and other chemicals that make it into your meals. When a good local diet is combined with the exercise that comes from eco-friendly commuting, such as walking or riding a bike, your health gets even better.

SAVING MONEY
When you switch to eco-friendly options, your costs go down. Installing LED lights and using a power strip to cut down on “vampire power” leads to lower costs for utilities. Riding a bike instead of using a vehicle cuts down on gas and maintenance costs. Even refilling your own water bottle can save a great deal of money over the course of a year.

BETTER COMMUNITIES
Any steps to reduce energy consumption can help reduce global warming. Many of those effects are clear in the community right from the start. For instance, compost means healthier gardens, carpooling means getting to know new people, and spending time at workshops means learning more that helps students grow as members of the greater college society.

CHEAPER TRANSPORTATION
Going green in college can mean walking around campus or riding a bike to class. It can also mean forgoing a vehicle altogether and instead relying on carpooling or shuttle buses to get where you need to be. By leaving the keys behind, your transportation costs are much cheaper, and you do something good for the environment at the same time.

REDUCING WATER USAGE
One of the first things those who want to go green will learn is that water isn’t really as free as it seems – turning on a tap is a luxury that many in the world don’t have. By reducing water usage, you are keeping a little more of that precious water in our lakes and streams. Over time, a little here and a little there really adds up.

SETTING AN EXAMPLE
There are those who look to you for the right answers. Perhaps it’s your sister or brother, or even your parents. Maybe it’s your friends. Your children, certainly, will benefit from seeing the way you act about the environment, as they will act accordingly. Your example can be a powerful catalyst for change for generations to come.

A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
When you make a point of going green, you start to do things that are better for the world around you, and for the fellow beings that inhabit it. When you bike to class, you cut down on your carbon footprint. When you eat organic, you help ensure that livestock are raised well and slaughtered humanely. When you stay local, you pour money back into the local economy. It’s a wonderful cycle.

SATISFACTION
At the end of the day, going green saves money, makes you healthier, is kinder to the environment and leaves you with a clear conscience about your choices. There are few things in life more valuable than peace of mind.

Note : This original source of this article is Affordable Colleges Online

 

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Activity

A visit to the IFP Herbarium

APSCC organized a students study visit to the Herbarium of French Institute of Pondicherry. The Herbarium, popularly known as HIFP was established in 1956 by Pierre Legris, an engineer from the Forestry commission of France. Since then, the collections have grown as a result of work by successive Researchers and students, as well as through the acquisition of other collections. Major contributors of the Herbarium include Meher-Homji, (between 1960 and 1981), G. Thanikaimani, Palynologist (1960-1986), Blasco (1962-1978), Shankaranarayan (1957-1959), Balasubramanian (1971-1979), Seetharam (1977-1981), Suresh (1980-1981), Jean-Pierre Pascal (1974-1994). B.R. Ramesh (1982 onwards), N. Ayyappan (2005 onwards). Computer cataloguing of HIFP began in 1998. Plant specimens have been added periodically to the collection by the staff and the herbarium is maintained with the assistance S. Aravajy and N. Barathan, and cataloguing was handled by S. Ramalingam; initially it was entered in Excel then transferred to Access database. In 2010, the herbarium database was transferred in to the open source Pl@ntNote software and published on the Institute’s World Wide Web site with the support of Pl@ntNet project. Subsequently web site was upgraded with improved searching of specimen records and simple mapping capabilities. Recently, the specimens were moved out of the old wooden cases and into modern steel ones.

HIFP houses large number of collections from the Western Ghats, especially for tree species, the other parts of India and also from different parts of the globe, which were received from different herbaria as a gift or on exchange basis. The herbarium presently contains over 24,000 specimens belonging to 268 families and 4659 species. Please visit the http://ifp.plantnet-project.org/ for more details.

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2016 Schools Sustainability Challenge

The Trust for Sustainable Living organized the 2016 Schools Sustainability Challenge Trophy in Dubai on 18-21 April 2016. Javahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, a residential school partnered with APSCC and participated in the challenge. The school was among the top 8 finalist in the event for short video contest on sustainability and also received an honorable mention for the essay competition. APSCC team was also awarded as Teacher Champions for their contribution.

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Green Campus Initiative as a cooperative Movement

Although the term ‘Sustainable Development’ goes back to many decades, it was substantially enhanced since the Brundtland Report (1987), which is also known as Our Common Future. Following this event, India became part of 187 countries agreeing on carrying out an important commitment towards SD by signing the Rio Declaration during 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. The Government of India’s sensitivity and commitment to sustainable and inclusive growth is reflected in its major policies and also specific initiatives and programs adopted through its Five Year Plans to realize the MDG’s/SDG’s. This goal became finer when India became part of UN General Assembly resolution for establishing the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN-DESD, 2005-2014) in the year 2005, emphasizing Agenda 21, that education is an essential tool and an indispensable element for achieving sustainable development.

The Association for Promoting Sustainability in Campuses and Communities (APSCC) is founded to serve as an impetus, not-for-profit, and voluntary organization for sustainable development among the educational institutions and local communities in India. We do this by providing resources, organizing events, conducting training sessions, initiating and promoting sustainable solutions at grassroots level in collaboration with a network of eminent sustainability professionals. More importantly, we believe that sustainable development is not only limited to ecological/ environmental considerations but also the economic, social and cultural dimensions as well. In view of this, the APSCC team has planned a time bound mass co-operative movement named “Green Campus Initiative Co-operative Movement (GCICM)” for promoting Campus Environmental Sustainability and UN SDG’s in all Educational Institutions of India.

The GCICM acts as a convener, catalyst, and communicator consisting of individuals, organizations and institutions dedicated to the advancement of education for sustainable development in India. It is also an historical initiative in India, characterized by a new dynamic paradigm with a wide belief that not only governments, but also each individual, institutions and businesses has to play a major role and need to commit themselves to SD. It is therefore expected to provide an additional momentum to the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, with a greater focus on what higher educational institutions can achieve in this regard for the region/ country and also for their campus environment sustainability. The Green Campus Initiative is a golden opportunity to develop and implement tailor made programs with an integrated approach encompassing rainwater harvesting and reuse; reclamation and recycling of grey water; sustainable management of solid and hazardous wastes; energy efficiency and bio-energy generation; vermi-compost and organic kitchen garden, soil and biodiversity conservation, pedestrian and sustainable transportation, etc.. Students involvement and staffs orientation is the heart of Green Campus Initiative program.

APSCC-GCICM-ConceptNote

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Activity Research

Green Campus Initiative at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya – Puducherry

Full Pdf:

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