Title of the Practice
Green Environment : Consciousness & Conservation
THE OBJECTIVES
The JJT University since its inception has worked on green environment of the campus with the objective that the future generation of the world will not face environmental problem of shortage of water and due to pollution the world will get numerous deceases as we faced in 2020 new epimedic of COVID-19.
Environmental protection and conservation are essential for ensuring the availability of oxygen since plants are the primary source of oxygen production. Global warming has led to the melting of glaciers and a rise in sea levels. If sea levels continue to rise at the current rate of 1.3 to 1.6 meters (62.99 inches/5.24 feet) over the next 50-60 years, many coastal cities will be at risk of flooding. Therefore, it is crucial to strive towards carbon neutrality and take measures to prevent deforestation
THE CONTEXT
The rise in pollution during past decades is mainly due to man made activities. Our planet earth and the life on it has been terribly disturbed and great imbalance has been created, It is duty and responsibility of each human being to contribute in the reduction of pollution and control further deterioration by applying methods like
- reforestation by planting more trees,
- cutting down use of materials like plastic and switch to degradable material,
- Treat solid waste, to get converted in useful manure which can be used to enhance organic farming.
- To avoid use of chemicals, sprays of pesticides, and produce organic pest controlling solutions from organic vegetable waste.
- Recycle non degradable waste by making compost, vermicompost, super & herbalcompast and used as an organic manures to improve the soil fertility
- Eco-friendly Campus: By Use of renewable energy, Rain water harvesting, Waste treatment such as Solid waste management, treating Recyclable waste and E-waste management.
Energy conservation:
The University has taken many steps to minimize energy consumption. These include:-
- Replacement of energy consuming tube lights & bulbs with energy saving CFL tubes & LED bulbs.
- Energy consumption in the hostel has been monitored by a committee. Good results are emerged by enlightening the inmates (Students) about the indispensability of energy saving.
- Ecofriendly Campus:
- Renewable energy :The university has installed solar panels of 450 KW capacity in the campus which generates 7L units of electricity for consumption.
- Waste management
- Solid waste management
- The degradable solid waste of campus from
- crop residues,
- trees, fruit plants residues
- Vegetable waste
- Kitchen waste
- Waste papers etc
The University has established the degradable waste management units as:
- Vermi- Compost Unit
- NADEP Compost Unit
- Herbal Compost Unit
- Bio-gas Unit
in the campus and at Agriculture Research Center. The proper disposal of solid waste generated is done. The compost formed is used to make soil fertile and the plants grow healthy.
- The non-degradable solid waste regularly is being collected by local agencies for recycling.
- The trees / plants like Peepal, Neem, Tulsi are grown on campus to purify air & enrich campus atmosphere with increased oxygen level. The flowering plants like MadhuMalti, Raatrani are planted to have pleasant aroma in natural way.
- Recyclable waste : Plastic and glass bottles / carry bags/ files/ folders/ other articles is regularly cleared by the agencies in the area.
- E-waste : Computers, laptops, mouse, discs, pen drives if corrupted and chords, chargers, power banks etc is kept in a separate room on campus. These are disposed periodically through business firms for safe disposal/ recycling of these materials.
Rain water harvesting:
- The University so far has constructed total four roof top rain water harvesting ponds three at University campus and one at Agriculture Research Centre. A total of Approx. 1.5 Crore liters of rainwater has been stored in these ponds and use for irrigation purpose as well as drinking water.
- The University therefore decided to promote collection & conservation of rainwater as much as possible to increase the ground water level. Through artificial recharge the University has so far four recharge rain water structures nearby tube wells & one in open area through dug well recharge in three ways.
- Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Setup:
- Water harvesting structure (ponds) In order to achieve effective water management, we have constructed total four roof top rain harvesting ponds - 3 at campus and 1 at Agriculture research centre. A total of approximately 1.5 crore litres of rain water has been stored in these ponds and utilized for irrigation purpose and also as drinking water.
- Ground water recharge through recharge wells : The harvested rain water is directed to ground storage, through artificial recharge.
- The flowering plants like Madhu-Malti, Roses, Raatrani etc grown on campus spread pleasant & soothing aroma and plants like Neem, Peepal, Tulsi etc grown in campus garden to enhance oxygen levels in campus and are also used for medicinal purposes
- E-Rikshas are also made available within campus, and all vehicles run on petrol/diesel are being parked at specified area near gate of campus.
- The University organized environment awareness programmes for local people, students and staff members time to time as under:
1. Earth Day on 22nd April
2. World environment on 5th June
3. World Wildlife day on 3rd March
4. International Bio-diversity day on 22nd May
Collaboration with “My Green Society”
Shri JJT University has entered into MoU with “My Green Society” of Mumbai with intention to raise awareness about environmental issues, promoting sustainable practices & involving community to work on conservation of environment. SJJTU takes up variety of environment friendly initiatives with MGS, as:
Making Bio Enzyme using citrus fruits like lemons, oranges, pineapple, sweet limes etc by “room temperature fermentation for 60+ days” achieved by processing with Jaggery and water. This bioenzyme is useful as “cleaner for almost all types of surfaces”, is economical and utilises organic waste generated in kitchens at homes, restaurants and other food outlets.
Seed to sapling: This is an initiative for reforestation where “sowing to growing” pattern is taken up leading to faster reforestation.
Seed Ball making: A method of seed Ball making helps to be inserted in soil leading to better germination of seeds, reducing wastage of sown seeds and giving best results for growth of plants and multiplying reforestation at faster pace by using seed ball methodology not enhance the germination percentage of seed it also improves the growth of plants.
Evidence of success
- The awareness created among students, staff and other stakeholders has given excellent results. The students and staff are conscious towards saving electricity & water. This is evident from cut in the electricity bills over the years proving the reduction in use of electricity. Even though the University has grown and number of users is increased, as well as the infrastructure is added, the sustainability is noteworthy.
- Harvested Rainwater → Recharge well → storage & use of water.
Crores of litres of water is stored and used which otherwise would be wasted.
Problems encountered & Resources required
- Ignorance of people in village area is major reason to get slow progress on various fronts.
- Climatic conditions of state create obstacles in getting manpower all through year to work to develop and maintain greenery on campus. The temperature in winter goes to minus 30 C whereas in summer goes as high as 520 C.
- There are too many stray animals in area, which also create damage to the green plants grown in garden with great efforts by the gardening staff.
- The location of university being on highway, vehicular traffic also causes pollution, LPG is unavoidably used for cooking purposes and also in few labs like Chemistry,
- The bio gas plant on campus / CNG set up by corporation in area may be the future solution to control use of LPG.