Excitement prevailed as young green warriors set forth to document the carbon footprint in their neighbourhood as part of the Green Week programme organised by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany partnering with no2co2.
Sri Aurobindo International School, Saraswat Academy Trust, Errum Manzil Government High School, Roundtable Government High School and Vishwa Bharati School were the first schools to conduct the Green Week workshops.
Our responsibility
“We have learnt that, Carbon footprint is a measure of the total quantity of gaseous emissions of green house gases, emitted by an individual in one year,” says Raman of Std. VIII, Sri Aurobindo International School.
“India emits a lot less when compared to other developed countries, however, since we Indians do add to the carbon content in the atmosphere, we also have a duty towards reducing these emissions,” he continues.
“I never knew that our school, our home and we ourselves are emitting so much carbon. After seeing the various shows and going through the activities, I have learnt how carbon affects us. We have to take stringent measures to reduce this and only then will be able to leave something behind for the generations that will follow us on Earth,” Adds another young Green Week participant, SR Tejaswi,
The five day workshop in the schools included various written and physical activities, documentary and film shows, lectures and feedback sessions.
“The children learn how to calculate their individual carbon footprint, the carbon footprint of their home and that of their school. They analyse the information that they document and then have to work out ways to reduce their carbon footprints,” says Susanne Schultz, the Local Project Coordinator from PIK.
“The idea is to engage school students in activities that will help their surroundings sustainable by calculating and subsequently reducing carbon footprints or green house gases. We aim to build awareness in schools, inform students on what contributes to climate change, where do green house gases come, for instance,” adds Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf from PIK.
After participating in the Green week the children are required to document the efforts that have been made by them as individuals, by their family and by their school to reduce the amount of carbon emitted by them. This will be evaluated on a monthly basis and in September the Green School Awards - 2012 for the best school and best student will be given.
“It looks like every activity that we do causes the emission of carbon. One basic activity is use of electricity. It was very hard for me to convince my parents and sister to switch off unwanted lights and fans in the house. Hopefully, over a period of time this step will be achieved,” says Shravya Nambiar, who participated in the Green Week at her school.
