THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “As climate change intensifies, we need to pursue the reduction of carbon emission. Investments need to be made into zero waste concept by promoting viable alternatives,” said District Collector K Vasuki. With the launch of project ‘Sthithi’ under the ‘C-power 5’ programme, the District Collector reached out to college students spreading the message of sustainable development and lifestyle.
“The project is a revolutionary social movement which will be volunteer driven. The main aim is to create a greener city. Only young blood can achieve this,” said Vasuki.
According to the head of the ‘Sthithi’ project, the project aims to create a band of green volunteers from various institutions who would carry forward the ideas of sustainable lifestyle among youth.
“Those who are willing to participate in spreading the green message can enrol themselves in ‘tvmvolunteers.org’ site. In the initial phase, we are implementing the green protocol in 12 educational institutions using an expert team. Our top priority is the prevention or avoidance of waste generation using ‘green protocol’,” said Bharat Govind, head of the ‘Sthithi’ project.
The action plan includes the identification of prospective educational institutions and conducting preliminary meetings, campaigns, training sessions, data collection and survey analysis. Once the project is implemented, data will be collected by experts after two months, about how they adopted green protocol in their lifestyle and in the campus.When a campus follows green protocol, energy conservation, water conservation and sustainable transportation, it will be awarded starred certificate and declared as ‘Green Campus’.
The green protocol encourages students and staff to eat lunch in steel plates and avoid buying parcels wrapped in plastic. Papers used in the campus will be collected and given for recycling. Installation of proper solid waste management system within the institution is the ultimate aim. Other steps include conserving energy by using natural ventilation and by avoiding air conditioner, avoiding lights at daytime and use of natural sunlight, installation of energy-efficient equipment like solar panels on the rooftop.
Water conservation is one other major initiative under the project ‘Sthithi’ which includes installation of push taps and rainwater harvesting tanks. Sustainable transportation includes promoting public transportation or carpooling among students and staff. It also encourages students who live nearby to use bicycles and thereby follow a healthy lifestyle too.