T N Khoshoo Ecology and Environment award for schools has been instituted to recognize schools that enable innovative, creative activity that promotes environmental consciousness and thoughtful action. This award is a joint initiative by The Khoshoo Endowment Fund and ATREE, along with the Teacher Foundation, Wipro, IAIM-FRLHT and Pravah. The award was launched in Bengaluru and Delhi earlier in the year 2010.
2010-2011, the first year of the TN Khoshoo Ecology and Environment award for schools has been a success. The criteria for winning were impact, sustainability of the idea, replicability, and creativity. It was also obvious that the participants were very passionate about the work that they had done.
Salwan Public School, Rajinder Nagar, Delhi, and K K High School, Varthur, Bengaluru bagged first place; and Father Agnel School from Gautam Nagar, Delhi, Sri Vani Education Centre (SVEC), Basaveshwarnagar, Bengaluru, won second place for their projects.
Salwan Public School did a project called ‘Parivartan’. The students got a tailor to stitch cloth bags from old clothes and gifted these bags to the residents of their area to use as an alternative to plastic bags. This simple project generated a lot of awareness and positive response from residents of that area. Father Agnel School’s project was on waste management. They created utility products such as folders, floor cleanser from the waste generated in their school to make it a zero waste school. In Bengaluru, both winning entries had done commendable work on waste management. K K High School’s well thought out campaign for dry and wet waste management had a wide impact, as it was carried to school, teacher, locality, and corporate audiences through the efforts of the students. SVEC students visited dump sites and investigated the problems related to waste management. They documented their efforts in segregating waste and composting in a film.
The winning schools will be given a cash award and trophy at a ceremony to be held in October 2011 in Delhi.
Contact Details:
Kavitha Nagaraj
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)
Tel: 9886993259
Email: akavitha@atree.org
Website: http://atree.org
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