Sherwoodians celebrated October 2nd taking pride in commemorating the birth anniversary of the two great Indian leaders, gifted to us by our Mother India- Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
It was a day of veneration where the entire Sherwood family took privilege to pay tribute to these two great leaders. The programme commenced with the prayer followed by presentations by the teachers. The presentations clearly elucidated the life history of the great leaders, their sacrifices and their selfless dedication towards the service of our country. It has indeed strengthened our sense of patriotism and our duties to work for the growth and development of our country.
Subsequently the programme was highlighted with the felicitation of our domestic staff who have been putting a dedicated and sustained effort in keeping the school campus clean and green.They were given a special appreciation for their devoted services in maintaining a hygienic environment in the school.
A special programme on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was organized to uphold our support to this biggest social initiative taken up by the Government of India to enhance hygiene standards. The entire staff members have come forward to take up the mission of cleaning the campus emphasizing the famous quote “Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness”. With an immense sense of satisfaction, we have concluded the programme taking the pledge to do our part with the best of our capabilities towards the service of our nation.
- Ms. Reshma Jayan
“Dharti mata kare pukar, aas paas ka karo sudhaar.”
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the government of India in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management. It is a restructured version of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan launched in 2009. Phase 1 of the SBA lasted till October 2019. Phase 2 will be implemented in 202o-21 and will probably last till 2024-25.
Now you may wonder… How can I as a student make India cleaner and greener? Before we get to that- I'm sure you may have heard people saying “Don't litter... Don't waste paper... Plant more trees... Take care of the environment.” And you may or may not do these things but have you ever stopped to wonder… Why do I have to do these things? Why shouldn't I litter? Why should I save paper? Why should I plant trees? Well, that's what I’m here to tell you.
Let me talk to you about a few issues that are caused due to different aspects of littering or non - management of garbage & waste products.
These issues have effects in different ways on our environment and the living entities on our planet.
You probably have heard of plastic piling up in the ocean and hurting the environment but have you ever heard of The Great Pacific Garbage patch? (GPGP)
Just a fun fact: the GPGP is 1.6 million square meters long (that's 3 times the size of france!) Anyway, back to the topic. Okay so when plastic is dumped in the ocean, it usually gets tangled or stuck in corals which kills them. Yes! Because of the increase in plastic waste corals die and corals are home and food to many sea creatures. I love mentioning this next fact everytime I talk about the environment - Did you know that the corals are often referred to as ‘the lungs of the Earth?’ That's because trees only give us 20% of the oxygen we breathe and corals give 80%!
The problem with the human race is that we ignore what we can’t see and put a blind eye to what we can and blame it on industrialization.
The corals and plant life aren't the only things affected by the plastic… Animals are harmed too! The CORAL BLEACHING effect is a big phenomenon that is killing the Great Coral Reef. If corals don't survive the ocean life will perish and depletion of oxygen is certain.
But why talk about the ocean when we are on the topic of swachh bharat abhiyan?? Because we are surrounded by water on 3 sides of our country. All waste that enters the water that we are unaware of is depleting our world. So Is Swachh Bharat only about our society or school or roads around us? Don't you think it has a bigger purpose?
Plastic bags, straws, nets/fishing nets often get caught and tangled around the animals fin, neck, all around them etc. This is very painful for them and they will most probably be strangled or starve to death. When garbage is thrown on the road we also see many cows and other street animals eat the plastic. It's so sad that they die a slow painful death because we don't dispose of garbage in the correct way.
SOLUTION: What you should do:
1. Sort your garbage and waste
2. Use cloth bags and stop using garage 3,6,7 plastic
3. When you go to an outdoor fun evening or a small restaurant or even just at your house, don't use straws (paper or plastic!!!)
4. Don’t Take plastic (your garbage, at the beach, a park etc.) and make things for public and animal use and then you can place it outside….
Check these videos …. Some good places to start!
I'm sure people have told you not to waste paper before. But why? Because, one notebook equals one tree and when you hear that you might not think it's a lot, but it is because you probably have... let's say 20 notebooks and 10 textbooks which equals about 35 trees and each year 1 notebook and 1 textbook is added… Now that's a lot!!!
And don't think cutting down trees and destroying forests is the only problem… When I say HOMES, Does that word ring a bell?? Think about it. Birds live in trees, leopards live in trees, and a variety of monkeys live in trees. So, when a tree is cut an animal's home is destroyed.
SOLUTION: What you should do
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is not just about inside our nation but also everywhere around it as the earth is where we live and we must strive to help it survive.
- Aura, VI
A tribute to The Father of our Nation by Prince Shukla (VIII)
