Spokesman News service

Chandigarh: These days waste management is a burning issue all over the country, and a local NGO-Yuvsatta in collaboration with Department of Environment & Forest, Chandigarh Administration organized an orientation workshop today for Eco Club teachers and students at Government Girls Model Sr. Sec. School, Sector 18C, to promote a ‘Green School-Zero Waste Programme’ to minimize the amount of material that is disposed of as trash. TC Nautial, Conservator of Forests, Chandigarh Administration was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

In the first phase three Government and three Private Schools of the city are selected and these are Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, St. Joseph’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44D, St. Stephen’s School, Sector 45B, Chandigarh, Government Girls Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18C, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33D, Government Model Sr. Sec. School, Sector 46D, Chandigarh.

‘It is founded to amplify children’s voices around the issues that affect their education, their health, and their environmental footprint. It aims to design and implement simple solutions that save money for School, shrink our environmental footprint, and enrich children’s lives and futures’, shared Santosh Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests and Director, Department of Environment, Chandigarh Administration.

Giving information about the initiative Pramod Sharma, Coordinator, Yuvsatta shared that this programme will help schools become good environmental managers by deploying pragmatic solutions to reduce wastage of precious resources. This project includes six main components of increased recycling of commingled containers, paper and cardboard, composting of food waste and non-recyclable paper from all areas of school (kitchens, cafeterias, classrooms, bathrooms and offices), special waste-reduction projects, extensive staff training and environmental education for students, strict ban use of Polythene bags and motivating parents to discard the use of aluminum foil for food wrappings. Overall all green waste will go for composting and rest for recycling thus leaving zero waste to handle in the end.

Appreciating the initiative TC Nautial added such ‘Zero Waste programmes’ are important to minimize trash going to landfills thus protecting our environment more than ever before. He motivated young students to become ‘CHANGE AGENTS’ in their respective Schools and communities.

A ‘Garbage Trail’ was also organized for participating students and teachers, in which they were taken to see the Daddumajra dumping ground and meet waste scrap dealers and recyclers at Dhanas to understand more the important of segregation and management of waste at source with focus of 4R’s of environmental conservation i.e. Refuge, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.