ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION IN SELECTED INDIAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES A Compendium Editors Paul P. Appasamy Nirmala Jeyaraj Published by United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION IN SELECTED INDIAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: A COMPENDIUM © United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior permission in writing from the editors or publishers. The views expressed in the book are those of the contributors and the publisher takes no responsibility for any of the data or statements. Printed by: El-Shadai Printers, Madurai. Contact email id: [email protected] CONTENTS Foreword Message from Vice President Greetings Acknowledgement Introduction Part-1: Campus Initiatives 1. Campus Audit and Floral-Faunal Diversity Samrat Bhattacharjee 2. Green Campus Initiative: Vermicomposting and Water Management Rana Sen 3. Recycling - A Way of Life and Livelihood Phinu Jose 4. Solid Waste Audit in Karunya University Jibu Thomas and Karthikeyan,S. 5. Biodiversity Audit - Flora: Green Treasures of Bishop Heber College V Anand Gideon, A.Alagappa Moses and Vivekraj,P. 6. Electrical Energy Audit and its implications in Bishop Heber Campus D.J.S. Anand Karunakaran, A.Alagappa Moses, V.Anand Gideon and Sheela Mary,M. Part-2: Community Initiatives 7. Community Based Environmental Health Initiatives A Multidisciplinary Service Learning Approach M. Dhanaseeli and Priscilla, A.S. 8. Environment and Health Awareness through Service Learning Leonilla Menezes and Sharmila L. Mascarenhas 9. The Public Health Impact and Carbon Footprint of an Open Air Crematorium A. S. Priscilla, Manorama Dhanaseeli and Joy M.Annal.D. 105 10. Solid Waste Management by Salesian College, Siliguri Campus Samar Thapa and Sandeep Sundas 118 11. Plastic Bag Menace : Assessment, Sensitization and Mitigation Mary Pearl Ravikumar and Betsy Selvakumar 132 Part-3: Novel Initiatives 12. Micro-hydel Project of Salesian College, Darjeeling Samar Thapa 144 13. A Study on Sustainable Resource Management at Lady Doak College Priyatharshini Rajendran, Akshaya Mu and Gunaseeli, R. 153 14. Service-Learning Strategy for Solid Waste Management Jaha Priya, T. 164 15. Local Knowledge - Revisiting the Past for a Sustainable Future Priscilla Jebakumari and Sathya Bama,S. 175 Part-4: Other Initiatives I Best Environmental Practices 187 II. Resource Materials on Environment 197 Summary and Conclusions 204 List of Contributors 212 FOREWORD The United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia is honored to have been able to lend support to projects at Christian colleges in India designed to explore the intersections of environment and health and develop responses and interventions to advance the wellbeing of both. This initiative has involved educators and students at a dozen institutions over a five-year period (2010-2015). The initiative resulted in numerous projects that reflect the diverse needs and resources of each institution.The fruits of these efforts are featured in this volume. As the following pages make clear, prerequisites for successful efforts to improve the environment of college campuses and nearby communities, and thereby advance the health of those living and working there, begin with a clear and comprehensive analysis of problems, needs, and opportunities. Scholar educators and their students can play a unique role in advancing knowledge of problems and engaging the wider college and social community to address challenges that affect the lives of all. The projects profiled in this volume provide innovative models of research, analysis, and partnership, and we hope not only that they will be sustained at the respective campuses, but that they will help to inspire similar efforts on other campuses in the years to come. We commend and congratulate the project leaders for their vision and dedication in conceiving and developing these projects and their tireless efforts to ensure their success. We also applaud the leadership of the colleges in lending their support and encouragement to these important efforts, and thank colleagues at Bishop Heber College for their important role in facilitating and supporting good work. Finally, we express our deep gratitude to the editors, Dr. Paul P Appasamy and Dr. Nirmala Jeyaraj, for their leadership and commitment at every stage of this initiative, as well as for their generosity in volunteering to edit this volume and their skill in completing the task so ably. Nancy E. Chapman, President, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia MESSAGE FROM VICE PRESIDENT Like many other religions and cultures, the Hebrew Bible paints a beautiful picture of creation with heaven and earth, light and dark, air and waters, fishes, animals, vegetation and all living things. The Book of Genesis even places human beings at the centre of all creation and assures them of the highest glory of sharing the image of God. It also charges them with the grave responsibility to “rule” the planet world with all the ambiguous meanings of the word. Indeed, human beings have emerged as a conqueror of the wild, taming floods and riding the waves and air currents to a good extent. And yet before too long, we realized that nature with its living things are “subdued” by us so much that they are destroyed and vanquishing in an astronomical scale. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity; oil reserve of the world will be finished by 2062, natural gas by 2075, Coal 2204. If these dates sound far away, American Association for the Advancement of Science estimates about 550 million people are being killed every year by polluted air, most of them live in newly developed economies such as China and India. When God said, “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over ...every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen 1: 28), Godmust not mean ruthless exploitation of the creation and all natural resources. It cannot be. For it would then mean imminent death of the human beings God so graciously created. Rather, creation of human beings is deeply rooted in the soil and the air, which all living things equally share. The only explanation for “dominion” musttherefore the exercise of stewardship. Stewardship of the environment refers to protecting the environment through our desire for change from excessive living. Recycling, conservation, regeneration, and restoration only make sense if we, human beings, placed at the centre of all creation by God, determine to change. Stewardship of the environment means taking responsibility for our choices, whether big or small, long or short term every day. This would include also demand the request for justice, meaning resistance to inequitable economic patterns that are maintained at great environmental cost and unsustainable economic growth that based on unlimited supply of “cheap” or “free” natural resources. ii I am very happy to learn about the environmental projects shared and reflected on by the network schools of the United Board in this volume. I am grateful for all the efforts made by the universities and colleges in the past decade in India, facilitated by the United Board, to infuse the aspiration and hope for changefor all the creation which human beings are only a small part of. My sincere wish to all partakers of the stewardship of the environment—for your continuous courage and passion to be agents of change so that our society may become sustainable for all living things. Wai Ching Angela WONG Vice President for Programs, United Board September 2016, Hong Kong GREETINGS It gives me immense pleasure to convey my greetings for this Compendium. At the outset let me congratulate the editors, Dr. Paul Appasamy and Dr.Nirmala Jeyaraj, and all other authors of articles for the great work done to accomplish this task. The role of education is not only preparing people for livelihood but also for life. The objective of education is to prepare responsible citizens for the common good. The vision of the United Board is Whole Person Education and its mission is to facilitate intellectual, moral and spiritual development of the young people through the institutions of higher education in Asia. The United Board began its work in India in 1970s and has supported several projects one of its concerns being Environment. Bishop Heber College, Trichy known for its Environmental Studies program, has been recognised as a nodal institution by the United Board, to promote environmental concerns through networking with other member institutions during 2010- 2015. I sincerely thank Dr. Paul Dayabaran, the Principal of Bishop Heber College and Dr. Alagappa Moses, the coordinator of the UB Project for their work and support in consolidating this work. I would also like to place on record our sincere gratitude to Dr. Paul Appasamy and Dr. Nirmala Jeyaraj for their hard work and commitment to bring out this Compendium at the appropriate time. It is appropriate that this book is released at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of AIACHE. When the United Board began its work in India it had given a substantial amount to AIACHE as endowment fund in 1969.1 also thank Dr. Danial Ezhilarasu, the General Secretary of AIACHE for agreeing to release the book on this auspicious day. I am sure that this Compendium will enable young people to develop a sense of responsibility towards our environment. Let us understand that we have not received the environment and the natural resources from our forefathers to use indiscriminately, but have the responsibility to preserve and pass it on to our children and the future generations. I wish all the authors and the editors the very best for their vocation of sharpening the young minds and shaping their character for a better world. V.M Spurgeon Regional Program Consultant United Board. iv Acknowledgements The United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia has funded projects in Environment and Health in several of its partner institutions in India. This Compendium attempts to capture the experiences and lessons learnt by the Faculty and students while implementing the projects particularly during 2010-2015. The President Dr. Nancy E. Chapman has supported these initiatives as well as the publication of the Compendium. We are grateful to her for writing a Foreword. The former Vice President for Programs, Dr. Glenn Shive mooted the idea of a Compendium as a concluding activity. Dr. V.M. Spurgeon, the Regional Program Consultant for South Asia monitored the process of bringing out the Compendium, and ensured the funding of the Authors Workshop and the final publication. We are grateful to them and the United Board for their support. The Compendium would not have been possible without the full cooperation of the Faculty in the partner institutions in writing the articles and attending the Authors Workshop. We would like to thank each of them as well as the respective Vice Chancellors/Principals of the institutions who implemented the projects and contributed the articles despite other commitments. A list of contributors is given at the end on Page. Our sincere thanks to Bishop Heber College, Trichy and particularly to Prof. Alagappa Moses, Coordinator of Environmental Studies and his team, who took care of all the financial arrangements for the Workshop. We wish to thank the Principal and Bursar of Bishop Heber College who facilitated the process. Thanks are due to Karunya University for hosting the Authors Workshop in May 2016. Dr. S. Karthikeyan, Head, Extension did an outstanding job of the workshop arrangements assisted by Mr. Seelan. We are grateful to them and to the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and Finance Officer of Karunya University for their unstinted support. We owe our deep gratitude to the two subject experts, Dr. E.J.James former Vice Chancellor, Karunya Unviversity and Dr. Mathew Sebastian, Extension Officer, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) for carefully reviewing the papers and giving their comments and suggestions to the authors at the May workshop. Finally, we would like to thank the administrative support given by Ms. R. Saraswathi in Chennai, and the DTP work by Mr. Samuel David and printing by El-Shaddai Printers, Madurai, which enabled us to bring out the Compendium in a timely manner. Paul P. Appasamy Nirmala Jeyaraj (Editors) INTRODUCTION The United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (“United Board”) has been providing small grants to partner institutions in India and other Asian Countries for many years. The United Board decided to fund three thematic areas: Environmental and Health; Local Knowledge; and Inter Religious Dialogue/Peace studies for a five year period from 2010-2015. Around 60 per cent of the small grants given to Indian partner institutions was in the area of Environment and Health, since many institutions had already started initiatives in this area. The grants were either given directly to the Colleges or in some cases through the Bishop Heber College in Trichy which served as a nodal agency. Bishop Heber College was chosen because it had already developed a reputation for teaching and research in Environmental Sciences. Over five years, the United Board provided grants totalling about US$250,000 to about a dozen partner institutions in India either directly or through the Heber partnership. A list of the institutions that received grants for Environment and Health is given in Annexure -1. The Environment and Health programs undertaken by the partner institutions covered several different areas: 1. Campus Initiatives - Solid Waste Management, Water Management, Biodiversity Assessments of the campus to improve the quality of the campus environment as well as to enable students to understand environmental issues in a practical way. Some efforts were also made towards campus audits in areas such as water and waste water Management, energy management, conserving biodiversity etc. 2. Community Initiatives - a. Students were encouraged to work with the local communities near their campus in areas like solid waste management, reduction of plastics use, and conversion of plastic waste as well as paper waste to more valuable products. b. There were also studies of environmental health problems in the local communities and steps needed to mitigate these problems. A closely related area is “Environmental Service-Learning” whereby students could leam about environmental problems while studying the environment of local communities. c. Interaction and working with neighbouring schools and community members provided an opportunity for students to leam as well as 1