Environmental Education

Environmental education is a learning process that increases people's knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action. Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it is sometimes used more broadly to include all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc. Related disciplines include outdoor education and experimental education.

At CMS, we are dedicated to educate and aware 45,000 students and 3,000 teachers and support staff about the conservation of our environment. All the CMS campuses are conducting special prayer assemblies and special education to educate the young minds, who have the huge responsibility to save our environment.

CMS, as an educational institution with a difference, will strive to make a significant contribution to the protection of the environment and conservation of natural resources, through its students, teachers, other employees, alumni and parents. It will seek to involve neighbouring communities around its twenty campuses to help make the city of Lucknow green, clean and eco-friendly. It will work through affordable, reliable and professional methods to achieve more responsible use of natural resources. By changing its 45,000 students' mindsets in favour of sustainable living, it hopes to make a meaningful environmental impact at the state, national and international levels.

SAVE WATER & ENERGY

SUPW-Period Activity Ideas (Classes VI to VIII)

· Start an “Energy Club” or “Energy Patrol” at your school. At the meetings, you can discuss ways that your school can conserve energy. You could also check on the progress of the whole school in terms of saving energy.

· Write a letter to your community’s newspaper to tell them about what your school is doing.

· Have each class name an energy helper. This person will check on their classmates and see if they are turning off computers, lights, overheads, projection units, and other electronic machines when they are not using them.

· Do an “energy audit” in your school. Walk around the building and look for ways that energy can be conserved.

· Write tips for saving electricity and put them in your school newspaper or newsletter. You could also read these tips during your school’s announcements.

· Give a presentation about energy at your school's PTA meeting, model class presentation.

· Teach younger students what you are learning about the environment, energy, and conserving electricity.

· Share energy information with your school through the use of the arts (music, art, dance, and drama).

· Bring home information to your family about energy conservation and energy efficiency.

· Make an educational display about energy, electricity, and conservation for your school.

· Write a survey about energy awareness and give it out to staff and students in your school. Ask them if they turn off lights, computers, etc. when they leave the rooms and if they do other things to save electricity at school.

· Keep lights off in rooms, hallways, and bathrooms as much as possible before and after school.

· Make energy savings posters to put up throughout your school. These posters will show the word “OFF” with an arrow pointing down. Put these posters by light switches, computers, and TV’s.

· If you know of a light that everyone forgets to turn off, make a sticker or a sign to hang next to the switch that says "Lights Out!" or "Don't Forget!"

· Do an interview with energy professionals in your community and write about your interview in your school paper.

· Have all of the students in your school sign a “Declaration of Energy Independence.” This is a pledge or promise you can make about conserving energy and helping the environment.

· Ask your principal if landscaping could be done if necessary. Landscaping should be done in appropriate locations so that your school could be more energy efficient. An example would be to plant trees that could shade the rooms on the sunniest side of the building.

· Make projects for an “Energy Conservation Science Fair”, & hold it in your school – invite other schools.

· Be a role-model School.

· Conserve water because it is the right thing to do. Don't waste water just because someone else is footing the bill such as when you are staying at a hotel.

· Drop your tissue in the trash instead of flushing it and save water every time.

· Try to do one thing each day that will result in a savings of water. Don't worry if it is minimal. Every drop counts.

· And every person can make a difference.

· Be fully compliant with Environmental and Pollution Requirements as per Law.

· Lead by example.

 

 

 

SIMPLE TIPS WHICH MAY BE FOLLOWED AT HOME IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

· Use efficient lighting

Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). These use 4 times less energy. And last 8 times longer. So you not only cut your electricity bills dramatically, you also save a lot of money buying bulbs. Encourage Institutions, Govt. Departments to switch over to LED Lights (Light Emitting Diodes), though expensive, but drastically bring down Electricity Bills.

· Use energy efficient electric appliances
In India, appliances like refrigerators and ACs have efficiency rating labels ranging from 1 to 5 stars, the higher number being more efficient.
Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it
Use electronic chokes in place of conventional copper chokes
Replace conventional regulators with electronic regulators for ceiling fans

· Use an energy efficient computer

Buy a laptop instead of a desktop. It consumes five times less electricity. If you buy a desktop, get an LCD screen.

The screensaver does not save energy. Switching off a computer extends its lifetime

Minimize printing. Print on both sides of the paper, using e-mail instead of mailing/faxing documents – concept of a paper-less office.

Use recycled paper-saves trees & water for production of paper.

Laser printers use more electricity than inkjet printers.

· Drive less

Walk, bike, carpool or take public transport. You'll save 1.5 kg of carbon dioxide for every 5km you don't drive. Use cars that run on cleaner fuels such as CNG and LPG. Switch off your car if you want to stop for more than two minutes.

· Check your tyres

Keeping your tyres inflated properly can improve the fuel efficiency of your car. Every litre of petrol saved keeps 2.5 kg of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Using radial tyres will help you save 3 to 7 % of fuel.

· Use water carefully

Don't waste water. Use a mug of water when brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your hands and face. Instead of a shower or tub bath, use a bucket. Try to harvest rain water in your locality. It takes a lot of energy to heat water- use less hot water and use efficient heating appliances.

· Say no to plastic

Take a cloth bag with you when shopping. Use recycled paper. Avoid products with a lot of packaging.

· Move your Air-conditioning thermostat up 2 degrees

You could save about 900kg of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment. Set the thermostat of the room air conditioner at 25C to get the most comfort at the least cost.

· Plant more trees

A single tree will absorb one tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

· Turn off electronic devices

Simply turning off your television, stereo, computer, fans, lights when you are not using them will save you thousands of kilograms of carbon dioxide a year.

· Turn your refrigerator down. Refrigerators account for about 20% of Household electricity use. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible.

· Turn off the lights when not in use.
· Take advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your windows to allow daylight to penetrate the room. Also, decorate with lighter colors that reflect daylight.

· Microwaves ovens Consumes 50 % less energy than conventional electric / gas stoves

· Do not switch on the power when TV and Audio Systems are not in use i.e. idle operation leads to an energy loss of 10 watts/device

· Turn off your home office equipment when not in use. A computer that runs 24 hours a day, for instance, uses - more power than an energy-efficient refrigerator. If your computer must be left on, turn off the monitor; this device alone uses more than half the system's energy.

· Setting computers, monitors, and copiers to use sleep-mode when not in use helps cut energy costs by approximately 40%.

· Battery chargers, such as those for laptops, cell phones and digital cameras, draw power whenever they are plugged in and are very inefficient. Pull the plug and save. Screen savers save computer screens, not energy. In fact, shutting computers down when you are finished using them actually reduces system wear - and saves energy.

· Regularly defrost manual-defrost refrigerators and freezers; frost buildup increases the amount of energy needed to keep the motor running.

· Leave enough space between your refrigerator and the walls so that air can easily circulate around the refrigerator

· Operate the ceiling fan in conjunction with your window air conditioner to spread the cooled air more effectively throughout the room and operate the air conditioner at higher temperature

· A roof garden can reduce the load on Air Conditioner

· Use windows with sun films/curtains.

· Plant trees or shrubs to shade air-conditioning units but not to block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operatingin the sun.

· Think about your curtains. Keeping the curtains closed on cold, cloudy days helps block the cold outside air from getting inside. Also, keeping the curtains closed on very hot days keeps the hot air out!

· About 75 percent of the water we use in our homes is used in the bathroom. Unless you have a low flush toilet, for example, you use about five gallons to seven gallons of water with every flush! A leaky toilet can waste more than 10,000 gallons of water a year.

· Drippy faucets are bad, too. A faucet that leaks enough water to fill a soda bottle every 30 minutes will waste 2,192 gallons of water a year.

ACTIVITY 1

Step 1: For practical involvement of the students, during SUPW classes children can be taken out to all the water closets, taps, toilets, garden area to check for any leakage or open taps. The children can make a small diary to note down their observation.
Step 2: The children can be told to bring empty soda / cold drink bottle (250 ml). They can then be instructed to fill the water from leakages or open taps and note down the time.
Note: A faucet that leaks enough water to fill soda bottle every 30 minutes will waste 2,192 gallons of water in a year.
Step 3: The teacher may then guide them or give them tips on how to conserve water and explain them why we need to conserve water.

ACTIVITY 2
Step 1:
Reusing water from drinking taps: The students can be taught to construct troughs beneath the drinking water taps or keep buckets under the taps. The spillage from the taps is collected in the troughs which are connected to the plant beds nearby or collected in buckets for later use. In this way the school can reuse nearly 55% of water.

ACTIVITY 3
Step 1:
Teach the students to take meter reading from electricity meter.
Step 2:
Once the students know how to read the units in the meter they should be instructed to put extra lights, fans, computers, ACs off and then take the reading again. The students will be able to compare the number of units read in two different situations.
This activity will create awareness in them and it will be easier to teach them the conservation policy.

ACTIVITY 4
Step 1:
The students should take a round of all the classes and other rooms in the school campus to check whether CFLs are installed in the rooms or wherever required.
Step 2:
They should make a list of classes where there are no CFLs and inform the maintenance staff to replace the incandescent bulbs/tubelights with CFLs.

ACTIVITY 5
After creating awareness in the children about conservation of energy and water, enthusiasm in the students can be created by making the SUPW class creative. The students can be divided into groups and each group can be assigned to make posters instruction signs for (switch boards, taps), book marks, slogans etc. All these can be displayed in the classrooms, corridors and other important places. In the morning assembly all the students should be reminded to follow these instructions.

ACTIVITY 6
A merit and de-merit chart for conservation of energy can be put up in the classroom. This chart should be made house-wise. The energy rmonitor of each class should keep a tap on all the students and accordingly give then points and at the end of the audit the winning house should be acknowledged.

ACTIVITY 7
Once the water and energy audit is complete, the students involved in it should speak in the morning assembly about the report collected by them. Everyday, at least 2 students should read out the report and their experience while doing the audit to create awareness and encourage the rest of the students.