Workshop on Low Carbon School Campuses Organised

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Calling upon students at the Girls HSS Venganoor to plant more trees in their campus, M Vincent, MLA, today said that that would be one big way towards mitigation of carbon emissions. He was speaking after inaugurating a one-day workshop for teachers and students in connection with the project for Creation of Low Carbon School Campus in Thiruvananthapuram District.
The project on Estimation of Carbon Footprint in School Campuses and Creation of Low Carbon School Campus in Thiruvananthapuram district is being implemented by the city-based Centre for Innovation in Social Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) with the support of Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Govt of Kerala.
Human activities including the burning of plastics, deforestation, wastage of food and the like have contributed to a large amount of the carbon content in the environment, Vincent added. He also highlighted the need for making use of public transport frequently.
Dr.Kamalakshan Kokkal, Senior Principal Scientist, KSCSTE, pointed out that climate change due to human activities as one of the most serious problems of the 21st century. Drawing attention to the seriousness of the problem, he said that the continued emission of the greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation, and various industrial and agricultural processes can bring acute and potentially catastrophic changes in the earth’s climatic conditions. He added that some of these changes might be irreversible too.
Most of the developed countries have already kickstarted activities that the educational institutions could take up towards building a sustainable future by becoming carbon neutral. Developing countries like India are standing aloof on that terrain. With this project, CISSA aims to educate and spread awareness about the carbon level in the atmosphere and to lower the level of carbon footprint. B. Sreelatha, Headmistress, HSS for Girls Venganoor; B.V. Suresh Babu, Director, Energy & Clean Technologies, CISSA & Accredited Energy Auditor, BEE; Dr.C.K. Peethambaran, Director, Agriculture division, CISSA;  Deepthi Girish, Manager, HSS for Girls Venganoor; Hareendran Nair. S, PTA President, HSS for Girls Venganoor and  Sunil G.S, HSS for Girls Venganoor also spoke.