Adar Poonawalla Clean City Initiative

The’ Global Recycling Day ’ is celebrated every year on 18 March. This year the theme is ‘ Recycling Heroes ’ which means celebrating people and their initiatives which are promoting recycling.    Our mother earth is shedding out natural resources faster than ever before and the day may not be far away when we might run out of these resources. Water, minerals, oil, coal, gas, metals and others are primary resources under threat, Rapid economic progress and urbanization leading to increased consumption is adding to this challenge which has grown to humongous proportions. Whatever is consumed if thrown away is adding to the mountains of waste.  The current state of dumping and accumulating waste is not helping anybody. It is affecting natural habitats, animals and human activities and livelihood. The temperatures are increasing, icecaps are melting faster than we ever thought, forest fires are becoming a new reality and weathers are getting more extreme. Our ...

The term 'Net Zero' has gained prominence, particularly in the sphere of policymaking aimed at mitigating climate change. As nations convene to deliberate on targets for net zero carbon emissions, what does it signify for individuals and the general populace? In truth, every global citizen holds a pivotal role. Simply put, the critical concept of Net Zero entails attaining equilibrium between the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and their removal or offsetting. Its objective is to restrict global warming to levels substantially below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times. Net zero doesn't entail eradicating emissions entirely; rather, it involves reducing emissions to a point where any residual emissions are counterbalanced by the removal of an equivalent volume of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. While the notion of achieving net zero might appear daunting, it's imperative to acknowledge the potency of incremental changes...

Pune is blessed with surrounding hills, beautiful hill stations, forts and lakes . Nature has been truly kind to us with great climate and beautiful spaces in and around Pune. While there is a lot of awareness on keeping these places clean, we often forget the beautiful roads leading to these places. These are the roads which lead us to these beautiful places and give us memories of life. In past few years, rapid industrial growth has resulted in the city growing in population as well as size. The townships and residences are not restricted to the city itself, but there is a lot of development happening in the fringe areas, outskirts and even around Pune. No doubt, development brings prosperity but it also brings with it a lot of challenges. And one of the major challenges is waste management. These very roads leading to outskirts  which were once like a beautiful necklace decorating the city, are now witnessing dumping of litter on a large scale . A lot of people tr...

After a successful pilot project in the year 22-23 across various campuses, the Green Campus program has entered into the next phase bringing more enthusiasm amongst management, faculty and students for sustainability and green practices in their institutions. A Green Campus summit was organized at Symbiosis College, Viman Nagar recently to present the work done at various campuses so far and the way ahead. Aditya Pundir -  Director India and South Asia for The Climate Reality Project India, Dr Erach Bharucha -  Director  Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environmental Education and Research ( BVIEER), Shivam Singh -  Founder ExploreiT and National Coordinator for Youth, Climate Reality Project-India and Sathya Natarajan -  Lead Volunteer Adar Poonawalla Clean City .  (APCCI)  were present on the occasion. Representatives from various stakeholders and campuses including Symbiosis Viman Nagar, Ajeenkya DY Patil University (ADYPU),  SCMS, SIMS, SIT, ...

  Climate Reality Project ( India )  along with Adar Poonawalla Clean City Initiative (APCCI)  is working with campuses in Pune   to convert them into green campuses. This result oriented impact driven program enables schools and colleges to conserve natural resources like water and biodiversity, optimize energy efficiency, manage waste and provide clean air etc . These are the five parameters on which the program is based with a definite methodology.   This is a student driven program, where the youth take responsibility for their campuses under the guidance of their educators and management. With their support, the students are able to come out with solutions which can easily be  implemented. The program starts with a basic orientation and continues with training programs aimed to create awareness on climate change, sustainable development and build capacity inside the campus by training facul...