An Eco-Friendly School

Introduction: 21st century C.E., the century we live in, is one of those eras marked by
a worldwide awakening. The society as we know it has never experienced such growth
and advance in all the spheres of life. But any and every gain is always followed or it
corresponds with devastation or loss of some sort. And this is exactly what the human
race or Homo Sapiens is facing in the 21st Century C.E. The most common problem
we as a race and dwellers of the Earth face is limited resources and also our lack of
responsibility for the lesser species. Evolution as a force has been kind upon us. It has
endowed us with great powers and as the saying goes With power comes
responsibility. We have advanced past many barriers and come to a stage of where no
specie can beat us in the power of the mind. This mind along with other mediocre
abilities allow us to adapt and also to condition and change our surroundings. We can
create machines, think and can reason and this has enabled us to beget power on this
world. But in the past few centuries we have misused this prowess to our selfish needs,
exploiting not only nature but also man. The damage we have caused is untold for and it
consequences are prevalent not only in our society but also in nature. A huge rage is
rising up and unless we dont take drastic steps we may just have many problems at our
hand. We are a part of the nature and its various geochemical cycles and thus we need
to maintain a balance so that nothing disastrous occurs.
Environment has been one of the major concerns of the
past few centuries (especially the 21century C.E.) and its increasing deterioration has
led to environmental problems. The problems that arises here is that the people hold
world, state and local governments responsible to enact various policies to bring about
eco-efficiency and also better the ecological balance. But the action and solutions needs
to come from within or rather start from the grass roots. Thats why it is believed that any
individual can make a bring difference in the society. Thus we see today it is
emphasized that worldwide, national problems need to be solved in form of small
communities. A small community or organization can bring about drastic changes in
themselves easily and thus be living examples for other communities to follow.
Vision: Today it is accepted as a fact, that any environment problem is not local in
nature as it affects the whole globe. Thus started the concept of a Global Village where
actions of one entity affect others around the globe. Thus awareness creation is the
requirement of the times. Also a lot of individual awareness needs to take place and a
huge drastic step at individual level need to take place. The government needs to start
legislating as well as enacting strictly punishable environment laws. Countries need to
start taking action on a global level condemning entities that do not adhere to the
situation. We need to sacrifice a bit of our luxuries and comforts to help the nature. Also
the concept of Sustainable development needs to develop. Even though all this requires
a lot of action and support and is regarded by some as impractical, the concept can be
widely practiced and implemented if small groups, communities and organizations start
to take active action on their part. Thus I believe that Doon School as a community of
students and teachers and also as an organization of students, teachers and old boys
can make a big initiative towards environmental remedies.
Why we need to go Green:
The word Green recently has gained a new, radical
meaning, referring to something environment related or friendly. Today the human
society as a whole faces major environmental problems like deforestation, ecological
imbalance, uncontrolled pollution and waste. All these problems are mainly human-
origin and thus we see that we are a major contributor to environment imbalance. If we
look at the core reasons of these problems, they mainly originate from our selfish needs
and also from our increasing requirements. But these problems are further related to
Population Explosion either directly or indirectly. It was some centuries back when a
person named Thomas R. Malthus who went about the whole of Europe describing how
their booming population would become a threat to them due to the limited food supply.
With time Population theories were modified but what all of them failed to realize was
that not only would food supply be limited but also the other natural resources. Strain on
natural resources would put strain on soil, different organisms, atmosphere and also in
the water bodies. Thus there would be one day when everything on this world would be
out of the scope of replenishment, unless the human society as a whole came to their
senses. Thus we need to awaken and realize the realities of the world. Too many
environmental problems are going unnoticed. Thus it is only through better innovation
and technology that we can enter the Green stage. But new practices neednt be the
need of the day as there are prevailing old traditions and other practices that are of
higher potential in the green scope. Thus discarding environmental harming methods
we should adopt environmental friendly methods or rather green methods. The
consequences could be blasphemously great if green methods are not adopted.
o Global Warming: As the name suggests, it is a phenomenon when the globe or
the world as whole starts warming or in other world global temperatures start to
rise gradually. Now their many reasons which cause global warming but in the
recent past it is increasingly an action of the humans. Global Warming is a
natural phenomenon which helps heat the Earth during the night which is quite
beneficial for all living organisms. For this reason it is know as the Greenhouse
Effect because it acts as a greenhouse and helps to store heat for the growth
and nurturing of the plants. Pollution of the atmosphere is one of the major
reasons why the phenomenon of global warming has increased. Major pollutants
today like carbon-di-oxide, sulfur-di-oxide, etc. also known as greenhouse gases
form a layer in the upper atmosphere which helps (but now aggravates) the heat
situation of the Earth during the night. Such a phenomenon has major
implications like melting of polar ice, glaciers, increasing situations like forest
fires hamper with the organisms who are not adaptable such situations, etc. Thus
it is one of the long-term processes that may harm the Earth. But the
phenomenon Green may be one of the most viable solutions to regulate global
warming.
o Threat to ecosystems around the globe:
Many species around the globe are inadaptable to warmer conditions and thus
they die off and become extinct or greatly endangered. Food-Chain and the
Food-Cycle are complex processes that are intermixed and thus a strain on one
specie puts huge strain divided equally throughout the cycle. Thus ecosystems
are threatened. Also due to mass deforestation the food cycle is affected which
puts much greater stress on the other species included. Because the trees and
plants are at the bottom of the food chain and starting of the food cycle thus all
creatures (carnivores or herbivores) indirectly survive on plants and the nutrition
it provides. Thus our policies and actions like deforestation and pollution are
affecting the specie(s) and endangering them. Going green will reduce such
factors and going green is directly related to lessen threats to the ecosystem.
o Extinction of Species due to man-related reasons:
Global Warming has been one of the major contributors to extinction. Extinction
of any specie is a situation in which the specie is totally annihilated or otherwise
dies off gradually due to threat to their natural habitats and also to their food
supply. Warming of the globe has caused problems which affects creature due to
requirement of a certain temperature range for survival. Also our ever increasing
expansionist policies of converting and using their natural habitats (mainly
forests, otherwise water bodies, etc.) for human purposes threaten them.
Pollution has also destroyed their natural habitats. Going green will be one of
the major factors that will reduce tensions on the various species.
o Any action by any entity will affect the world as a whole:
Today the action of one entity with regard to environments health will affect the
whole world. Any environment problem unlike most other problems affects many
entities other than the entity that created it. Thus we need to condemn that one
entity because anyone else can be affected by the problem. Thus we can
conclude that nations should stop or rather regulate their policies on environment
because their actions affect the other nations as well. Thus awareness of
environment needs to take place at a global level. Going green by any one of
the both sides can be helpful as one can lead the example or one can also
reduce the pollution through his green methods.
o Sustainable Development:
Today natural resources are depleting at a faster rate than ever. It is in todays
age that it has come to the limelight that natural resources are limited around the
globe. What we are not estimating after all this destruction is that what resources
or stuff will be left for the future generations we consume and lay waste to
everything. Also the rising extinction would mean that species once existent
would no longer be available for preservation of any sort and thus lost forever
unless drastic action is taken. Thus the future generations will lose out a lot on
everything we had. Going green could be beneficial here as that would mean
regulated exploitation or mining of resources would take place so that not only
would future generations live better lives but also the other species would survive
for their understanding.
Which aspects contain scope of Green:
As a community the Doon School has a great scope of going green. We are also
capable of spreading mass awareness through various facilities on the environment.
Social Service in the form of education to less privileged and also we have SUPWs like
Child education were we do concentrate on the environment. Also micro-finance is an
emerging concept in the school and its facilities could be used to provide jobless people
to do some job or business which provides and maintains the environments health. Also
our electricity source are majorly derived from the Govt. electricity but we do have a
scope of going green due our large campus that has a high potential of going green.
Also the school has involved itself in vermiculture were worms are required to break
down all the organic waste. The material gained (decomposed) is beneficial for the soil.
Also a small-scale sewage treatment plant has been planned out where their may be
scope of recycling waste water which could then be used for purposes like gardening.
Go Green in electricity standards:
The Doon School is situated on a valley and is thus quite elevated from normal
above sea level (asl). Thus its atmosphere is quite open compared to those of
the nearby plains. Thus there is a high scope of electricity being generated from
various sources like the sun, wind. Also the valley receives heavy rainfall which
can be used for electricity purposes and also for water harvesting.
Solar Energy: Solar energy was introduced in the school recently in two of the
houses but was discontinued due to many problems faced. They were primarily
used to heat the bathing water for winters. Something peculiar of the valley is its
high calcium and phosphorus content of the water source. Thus something
normal or rather common to be found out here is high percentage of people with
kidney stones. The pipes that were required to carry the heated water were
clogged with calcium remains within 6 months. This proved to be hectic. Also
Solar energy is not available in Dehra Dun to a very great extent due the cloudy
and sometimes rainy weather. But still so Dehra Dun and The Doon School
community has a great scope of being powered majorly by solar energy. Also
solar energy is not preferred throughout the world is because even though it is for
environment reasons it only 40% of the solar energy that is utilized and the rest is
released as heat energy which leads to global warming.


Rain harvesting and possibilities of generating electricity from it at a small
scale:
Recently Frances Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Grenoble came with a very
surprising technology that has a potential to convert the rainwaters energy into electricity
by striking it with plastic of a special type. Even though a new concept it, if efficient
enough, will solve major electricity problems of the valley. Uttarakhand is a state that is
divided into a dry terrain and a wet terrain. The wet terrain is characterised with heavy
rainfall. Thus the technology, if cheaply available may be able to solve the crisis of
electricity. As it is natural way of forming energy and is in no way proven to be harmful to
the environment, it is considered a great achievement. It is predicted to have a potential
of 12 mW if heavy downpour occurs.


Wind Energy: One of those energies that can only be tapped at particular
regions of the world. It has a potential in the Himalayas especially near the valley
due to the blowing winds. But the only disadvantage that stands is that of the
opportunity of doing it at a small scale due to uncertainty in returns of the vast
expenditure involved. It is also not a widely accepted electricity source because it
involves skilled labor managing at regular intervals who seek higher salaries and
also are difficult to find around.

Hydro-Electricity: It is one of the most reliable sources of energy in the world.
The valley and Uttaranchal has great scope of exploiting this energy source
because of the many major rivers that originate here. The mistake the govt. has
done throughout the valley is in building large dams. But we can gain much
better efficiency and results from the use of small dams. It is one of those
projects which require large investment. Even though the returns are great, it is
not preferred because of the rehabilitation processes it causes. The only role we
as a community can play here for this source is to spread awareness among the
people and also initiate and try the govt. to get included into building small dams.
If this project does become successful, not only will it provide electricity but also
can be used for irrigation purposes and the surplus energy produced can be
provided to other states.

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Recover, Re-buy, and Rethink: We as a community
need to start taking individual actions that affect our daily life as well. We need to
reuse all the products that potential of being used again. People have a tendency
to buy new products even though they may posses a similar good or commodity.
We need to reduce our consumption to a level where we buy and consume only
what we need or require. Also we need to take action on reducing wastes we
produce by methods that are economical and environmental. We need to recycle
our wastes as they have a great potential to be recycled. Most of the wastes we
produce have the potential of being recycled by many man-recognized methods
which should be adopted. We need to Recover items like plastic bottles littered
around and do what may be fit of them. We need to re-buy items that are not
required by others rather than let them go to waste. Also some unrecyclable
items need to be re-bought meaning that they should be allocated as
appropriate. We also need to rethink the various views that we have on nature
and its functioning. Also we need to discard various traditional aspects of the
society which affect the environment and look for better substitute methods.
Rethinking is the most complex process as it involves changing views of the
mind. These Rs neednt only be done by an individual but also by communities,
society, etc. Such a situation would only persist through mass-awareness.
Sewage Treatment Plant: If enough funds are available then there are
possibilities of any community indulging in a sewage treatment plant as it
replenishes the water supply which can then be used for recreational purposes.
Thus recreational purposes would not suck on the various water resources and
thus there would be less strain on the water sources. Large sewage treatment
plants are preferred to small scale as they are more economical and serve more
number of people.
Others: The valley has already initiated a ban plastic movement. Thus a
substitute like cloth or paper bags can be introduced produced in bulk by laborers
at a low cost and then sold for profits. Thus we would go towards being green
and also many unemployed people would garness an income.

A lot of bio-degradable waste is to be found in various
localities of the valley and these can be used in process like vermiculture and
thus prove beneficial for the soil. Also vermiculture requires labor which will
provide income to the unemployed.
Products with toxic wastes should be condemned by the
society as a whole. Awareness activity will play a major role here and also action
on the community scale to boycott such products and use other substitute goods
should be installed.
Taking action as a community, using instruments like
micro-finance, social service to educate people on the environment and also to
give them a head start on some eco-friendly business that helps the society and
also the environment. Thus awareness and also encouragement of eco-friendly
businesses should be considered.
Actions: The first and foremost action would be to bring about more experimentation
and practicals in the subject of EVE. The school needs to start initiating the movement
and also requesting and campaigning in the various boards to implement the concept of
interaction with environment more solid. Few of my friends and me have already started
surveying various localities of the valley and we plan to loan people with environment
friendly motives and provide them such money with minimal interest. Recently in the ban
of polythene in the valley the school managed to gain mass support from people by
providing them money of which they had to make and sell cloth bags. It was quite a
success with one particular locality which managed to make around 2000 cloth bags
over a week. Thus we can observe that methods and instruments like microfinance can
make a major impact on the living of people. Also the school has initiated making and
working of various schools that provide education. These centers have been very helpful
in providing education on the environment. Also the school has been involved in various
activities revolving plantation of trees along the nearby hills of the valley. The idea of
solar energy to heat water pulled off and so we need to employ them for various other
electric purposes. But the hurdle in between is that of the unpredictable cloud cover.
Solar energy will therefore prove costly comparatively to somewhere else, over a long
run. The main activities that the school can initiate is that of water harvesting, de-silting
of various ponds and lakes in and around the valley, forming artificial lakes in fallow
region, and also initiate reclamation of land. The big leap we could take is that of
employing the local labor along with the members of the school community and thus not
only does justice to the environment but also to them. We could thus employ the
unemployed and provide them with an income.
Conclusion: Thus it is not surprising that many nations have started a revolution in
going towards the green methods. A community can play a very important part in the
society and thus it is our responsibility of our community to make a difference. The Doon
School has been known to introduce ideas that have shaped modern Boarding schools
in India and I think this can still follow suit. We need to employ various methods and
techniques and capture the moment and rather than discussing environmental problems
in classrooms and mugging (rutting or rot learning) up our EVE textbooks we need to
start taking action. The govt. needs to realize that environment should be more of an
experimental subject than a written one. There should be more practicals to mark than
written exams to give. Also I now believe that all of you would have followed me on the
journey to understand that green is the new in thing and also it is the requirement of the
day. Go with it or perish is what I would like to describe it as.