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Event

State Level Awareness Program on Sustainable Waste Management – 2017-18

 

Registration Closed

Registration Fee: NIL

Program Agenda and Tentative Schedule: SLAPSWM-2017-18 Program Agenda and Schedule

Govt. Circular issued for Schools: SchoolCircular

Background of the Event:

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) recently notified the new Waste Management Rules (2016). These will replace the existing Rules, which have been in place for the past several years. The new rules are now applicable beyond municipal areas and have included urban agglomerations, census towns, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of Indian Railways, airports, special economic zones, places of pilgrimage, religious and historical importance, and State and Central Government organizations in their ambit.

In view of this, the Puducherry “State Level Awareness Program on Sustainable Waste Management – 2017-18 (SLAPSWM)”, is being organized by the Association for Promoting Sustainability in Campuses and Communities (APSCC) under the auspices of the Department of Science, Technology & Environment (DSTE), Puducherry Pollution Control Committee (PPCC), Government of Puducherry and Pondicherry Central University (PU).

Event Timings: The event is for a half day between 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm. There are in total 30 batches.

Registration: ————-Registration for the event closed——————

 

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Event Projects

Sustainable Management and Promotion of Territory-2015

APSCC team was invited as a Committee Member for the round table in the “Sustainable Management and Promotion of Territory”-SIS-GPST-SMPT Summer School held at the University of Perugia, Italy. The School’s aim is to improve the management methods ability to safeguard – through the constant monitoring – the development of good quality of life, and the protection of environmental resources, especially landscape and biodiversity. This is to direct the processes of growth and innovation, aimed at safeguarding sustainable development which is repeatable and transferable. In this sense, science must facilitate the removal of barriers, which often imprisoned and overshadowed the ancestral values of the ancient societies, not to be approached as if they belonged to a museum, rather with the revival and rediscovery spirit: a kind of science that awards humanity. The growth of university research centers will characterize them, even more, as a window of consciousness together with their spirit of analysis, and the skills brought by all the autonomous self-decision-making people of the world society.

The participation in the SIS-SMPT gave the opportunity for everyone from all over the world to learn and touch directly the high level of theory and practice of the Strategy of Sustainable Development, jointly to the positive atmosphere, history and culture of Umbria.

APSCC team discussed Green Campus Initiative as a catalyst for the sustainable Management and Promotion of Territory

Over the period of time due to rapid urbanization and consumerist lifestyles, the natural resources are over exploited resulting in depletion and disruptions in natural cycles. The challenges are immense and complex. It was unanimously agreed that education is the most effective means to address the challenges the society faces today to create a better world tomorrow.

Universities and Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) are responding to these issues in a number of ways, from research to retro-fitting, to recycling and raising awareness, technically called as Green Campus Initiative (GCI).  Over a period of time these initiatives become well rooted and pave way for a green campsis2015us (GC) or sustainable green campus (SGC). The focus of the GCI is to reduce the University’s and HEI’s water footprint, energy footprint, ecological footprint and environmental impact through resource recycling, etc… Most of the actions are guided by the Green Campus Action Plan involving cooperation between students, professional and academic staff.

“The drive to attain the GREEN CAMPUS status is to serve as a model for global environmental sustainability where all the processes and operational functions of the campus are closely knit, providing educational and practical value to the institution and the surrounding environment”

We believe that the green initiatives will impact on the learning environment positively, and such measures will help the campus community to value nature and take care of it, by conserving it for the future generations.

 

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Projects

Biomass briquettes – an alternative to fossil fuels

Biomass briquettes are a renewable source of energy and avoids adding fossil carbon to the atmosphere thereby making it eligible to earn Carbon Credits for its usage. A large number of companies are switching from furnace oil to biomass briquettes that are made from agricultural waste to save costs on boiler fuels. Plant biomass can be converted into charcoal briquettes by igniting the biomass under low oxygen conditions. These briquettes have higher calorific value and burning capacity than using plant biomass directly. APSCC team attended a workshop on an improved Biomass charcoal briquetting technology developed by MCRC, Chennai. The center carries out studies for the improvement and standardization of the technology and as a part of it different agricultural wastes such as Casuarina leaf litter, Prosaphis twigs, Ipomoea stem, Lantana camara stem, Eucalyptus leaves and coconut leaves were used as biomass source. Carbonization was carried out at different temperatures from 100°C to 600°C for optimizing the char yield and different cost effective binders such as starch, rice powder, clay etc. were also tried. The fuel briquettes produced through briquetting machines (calorific values – max.6500 kcal/kg and min.4500 kcal/kg) were tested at local teashops, laundry and small hotels in Chennai for alternative fuel. The biomass charcoal briquetting technology has been standardized at MCRC and disseminated to various beneficiaries such as farmers, individuals, unemployed people, NGOs and college students.

Categories
Event

National Sustainable Design Expo – Washington, D.C.

APSCC was invited to participate in the 9th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The team were given an unique opportunity to showcase their contributions to advancing sustainability while discovering the sustainable technologies developed by more than 400 university students in engineering, sciences, law, economics, architecture and other fields. The Expo brought together a diverse group of scientists, engineers, and organization and business leaders to discuss innovations designed to advance economic growth while reducing environmental impact and to showcase their approaches to sustainability to the interested public.

Held in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument, the Expo was a truly inspiring exhibition of innovative technology for a sustainable future. The event featured a high-rise farm, a 3-in-1 solar cooker that heats and generates power, or simple water treatment filters for villages in Africa. P3 student projects exhibit alongside EPA programs, other government agencies, non-profit organizations and businesses to showcase their achievements. Thousands of enthusiastic visitors of all ages attended this 2-day “sustainability festival” to explore and share ideas with the students and professionals in the field.