‘Let’s do our bit for the Planet’ says St Agnes College

Mangaluru: The Department of Secretarial Practice, St Agnes College (Autonomous), inaugurated the environment-friendly project ‘Be Earth-Wise’ with the tagline ‘Let’s do our bit for the Planet’ on 7 June 2022 at 9.15 a.m. in A4, Avila Block. Jayaprakash, an Environmentalist from Mangalore, was the resource person.

Addressing the students, the Principal Sr Dr Venissa A.C., appreciated the department for taking up the eco-friendly activity on the campus. She highlighted the importance of protecting the environment for the benefit of all. Further, she said that this is one such project where she would want the participants to be the leaders in bringing awareness and changes on the campus as well as in various schools and colleges of Mangalore City.

Jayaprakash, the resource person, in his address informed the participants about how he fulfils his responsibilities towards saving the planet earth by avoiding plastic usage in his daily life. He said that for the past 25 years he has used only cloth bags for shopping, a small container inside the cloth bag to buy non-vegetarian items. He wears eco-friendly materials in his clothing with shirt buttons made up of coconut shells. He said that he uses the throw away plastic bottles to fill the plastic waste and utilizes the same as bricks etc. He shared with the students thirty easy ways in which a person can do his best to nurture nature.

In the workshop, he taught the students the technique of preparing a seed pen with paper, glue, and a ball-point refill and adding seeds to make it more eco-friendly when it is discarded. Every student prepared a seed pen which was collected at the end and was categorized as the best, marginal and poor by Jayaprakash. The students who prepared the best were chosen for continuing the project.

The program began with a prayer led by Sharlin and the group, Shanthi Nazareth, Dean of Humanities welcomed, Jessica D’souza proposed the vote of thanks, and Pooja Shetty, Faculty of the Department concluded the session by giving feedback and with a note of gratitude, Afrah Aysha compeered the program. Sixty students of the department from first, second and third years benefitted from this programme. The department intends to continue this project with the help of students as its small contribution to bringing awareness and change.