Pulwama, Nov 11: Boys Higher Secondary School (BHSS) Pulwama has secured the first rank in the Kashmir division in ‘Green Life Contest held by the Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing in collaboration with the Directorate of School Education.
The contest began in June last year and continued for 15 days which during students had to carry out different activities for preserving the environment and decreasing pollution.
Riyaz Ahmad, who was supervising this assignment from Government Boys Higher Secondary Pulwama, said students had to adopt many pro-environment activities including the plantation of a tree in the house, use of cloth bags instead of polythene bags, segregation of wet and dry waste at home, making a compost pit at home, use of steel /glass bottles instead of plastic containers, installation of bird feeders, turning off the tap while brushing teeth, waking /cycling to school, use of AC at 26 degree and growing indoor plants at home.
He said the contest required teachers to motivate students to adopt these healthy habits at home and videograph these activities.
“Students had to upload these videos on the website of J&K Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing,” Riyaz said, adding that more than 500 students from their school participated in the contest. He added that each activity was having certain points.
“BHSS achieved the maximum number of points and emerged as the top performer from the Kashmir division,” he said.
Mudasir Ahmad, an official of the Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing said that around 300 schools from Kashmir and 150 schools participated in Green Life Contest 1.
He said the contest was organized in the context of climate change. “Climate change is creating environmental aberrations that disrupt normal life and threaten human life on Earth.
Nevertheless, through concerted actions, it is possible to slow down the rate of climate change, and also reverse it by adopting small changes in lifestyle. These small changes in aggregate will have a significant impact in mitigation of climate change,” the training module for the contest reads. It states that these are the activities that have always been part of Indian culture but have been forgotten in the frenzy to adopt the western lifestyle.
“The contest thus aims to nudge the students to undertake activities that promote a greener Earth as we have “Only One Earth” and, in the course of this activity educate and inculcate Green Good Deeds (GGDs) among the young impressionable mind,” the module further reads.
