Punjab: Sahnewal school awarded for best green practices

The School of Eminence, Sahnewal, was recently declared the ‘Best Green School’ in the region after it successfully cracked a rigorous on-campus audit.

The audit was spearheaded by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and facilitated by the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) and the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Punjab.

The audit comprised of six key subject areas, including air, energy, food, land and water.

School of Eminence principal Mandeep Kaur said they never knew that the sustainable practices exercised in the school would one day fetch them recognition at the highest level.

“Reducing carbon emissions by use of bicycles or travelling to school by foot by students, banning of packed food, promoting sustainable eating habits, adopting energy-efficient lighting and maintaining green cover — these practices have been adopted by the school. With the recent recognition, we would double our efforts in this direction,” she said with a sense of

attainment.

The school won the award on the basis of the audit conducted by the CSE to measure the efficacy of resource management and green practices, apart from empowering the schools to adopt eco-friendly practices, reduce environmental footprints and optimise resource management.

The principal proudly added that one of the best practices adopted by the school is that in the morning assembly, the students are educated about an environmental issue with the motive to train them to adopt eco-friendly habits in school as well as at home.

“In the school canteen, junk food is not allowed and as far as mid-day meal is concerned, I make it a point to first taste it and then distribute it among the students. There can be no compromise as far as the health of the kids is concerned. Waste management is practiced both inside and out of the class. Senior students serve food to the juniors in a way that there is minimum wastage. Teachers have been appointed to see to it that the students are served as per their requirement. They can ask for more, but wastage is not allowed,” she said.

“Efforts are made to reduce dry waste too. Tearing, wasting or misuse of paper is not allowed in the school. The students are educated about the correlation between paper and trees,” the principal added. “The building is ventilated to the extent that in hot sultry weather, the students can sit comfortably in their classes even if power plays truant,” she shared.

“Out of 600 students in the school, 10 to 15 use bikes to reach school. All others come on bicycles or by foot. The school staff also prefer to either pool vehicle or use public transport. Out of 30 teachers, only five come to the school by cars. The ones residing in Sahnewal walk their way to school. The students are exhorted to fight against all kinds of pollution and maintain cleanliness on the campus. They are warned against receding water table and the scrupulous use of water in daily life. The teachers keep a tab on the number of times the water tank is filled during the day and the quantity of water used during the day. No drop of water goes waste in the school,” Mandeep added.

“The students are taught to completely shun single use plastic from their daily life and are motivated to plant trees. The plantation drive is not reduced to an official formality. It is a move in which we seek the support of each and every student. It is the duty of each and every student and teacher to adopt a sapling and keep a close watch on its growth till it becomes self-sustaining,” avowed the principal.

“The coordinator of the eco club Lovepreet Sharma, along with his colleagues Lovedeep Kaur and Gurpreet Singh, gift each student a sapling on his or her birthday. Last week, the students of senior secondary class had their practical exam in the subject of agriculture and they were asked to bring a sapling each and share it with junior appointing him as a guardian of the plant with a promise that when they revisit, their sapling would greet them as a plant,” she shared.

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