PRAKRITI

The pandemic did not dampen the efforts to engage, enlighten and educate the students on the need for environmental protection. Prakriti society started with weekly environmental news and bi-montly environmental quizzes on its social media handle in 2021 to make the members more aware of events around them and the urgency to swing to action to protect planet Earth. In 2021, Prakriti organised a ‘Climate Change Series’  that saw students coming to the forefront to contribute their bit to the environment. The students at Prakriti Society in October- November 2021, took up the novel task of unsubscribing and deleting emails to massively reduce their carbon footprint.  Moreover, students projecting themselves as Green Warriors , also took to following the 4Rs in relation to the theme of Sustainable Fashion. For example, students undertook repurposing old sarees to make mats, using old t-shirts to cover cardboard boxes and turning them into organisers, revamping old canva shoes and turning leftovers from stitching to scrunchies. Prakriti took up the theme of ‘Taking a Step for Our Planet’ by encouraging members to use brown papers received through Amazon, Flipkart packaging for rough work, sitting in the garden during daytime for attending online classes and using solar lanterns.

Prakriti started 2022 with the aim of furthering its engagement. The society representatives sent a New Year package to all the members of the society and staff advisors to take a New Year pledge to engage  in environmental conservation. The package also included some measures for environmental conservation along with information regarding the dire state of our planet. The society also started bi-montly series ‘Darpan’ in January 2022 with the purpose of engaging the members on green issues, monthly series ‘Bites’ in January 2022 that covers the important environmental dates of the particular month, important environmental happenings of that month, suggestions as to what individuals can do for environmental protection, contributions made by Prakriti members for that particular month and ‘Healthy Tuesdays’ in February 2022. The society also started a bi-montly series ‘Prakriti Recommends’ that is a compilation of the movies, documentaries on the environment. Moreover to encourage members Prakriti also had ‘Best member of the month.’  Prakriti members as part of Task Groups undertook initiatives as:Planting saplings, Watering plants, Composting kitchen waste, Feeding birds, Segregating waste, Using cloth bags, Making DIY aloe vera soap, DIY tint for face and DIY Moisturizer, Growing fruits and vegetables at home, Using brown papers, reusing pamphlets, Using leftover products from art class or workshops along with other waste such as broken bricks to create decor pieces Using solar lanterns and Making bird’s nests. Several sessions were conducted and are described below.

• Aravalli Biodiversity Park Virtual Tour- Prakriti in collaboration with The Aravalli Biodiversity Park conducted a Virtual Nature Walk through the Aravali’s undulating natural heritage on September 25, 2021.Spread over 699 acres, the Aravalli Biodiversity Park is a concerted effort to rejuvenate Delhi’s lost biodiversity owing to mining and invasive species.
• Virtual Jungle Tour- Prakriti organized a “Virtual Jungle Safari” in collaboration with Dudhwa Tiger Reserve on Zoom. The speakers of this insightful session were Mr. Vikrant Nath and Ms. Deepti.
• Session with Healing Himalayas- Prakriti organised a virtual event “Healing Himalayas” dated November 18,2021.The session began with Mr. Pradeep sharing how he started a project in Kenar and moving down to Lahaul where he faced many challenges in terms of carbon emission and waste management.The event also covered severe issues of solid waste management faced by both rural and urban areas.
• Scope of green entrepreneurship in India-Climate change and its impending risk have brought forward new inventions and solutions. The session on green entrepreneurship was conducted on October 21, 202. The session was an enriching and insightful one with the innovative topic of blockchain-based carbon trading. It raised awareness and idea about the scope of the environmental industry.
• Canva Workshop-On January 13th, 2022, Prakriti organised a Canva Workshop, “Canva 101: Getting Started,” led by Barsha Das, the Head of Design of the Prakriti Society, to help participants learn how to make attractive invitations, engaging Instagram posts, and mesmerising posters. The interactive workshop saw the participation of over 60 students.
• Climate Change and Indian Cities- Prakriti, held a talk with Dr. Priyadarshini Karve, an alumni of the University of Pune, on the 5th of February, 2022 through Google Meet. The event was attended by more than 60 students. The event began with Dr. Karve speaking on climate change in general and then moving on to carbon footprints.
• Climate Justice Library Visit- On 21^st April, 2022 Prakriti Society members under the guidance of their President visited the first climate justice library in Delhi.
• On 12^th of April 2022, at Umang’22 Prakriti society out up stalls for environmental quiz, dumb charades and Plantation drive. We got 6,671 emails deleted from the visitors to our stalls and got 53 people to plant.

The Flower Show- Awards Won On the occasion of 64th Flower Show held on 4th March, 2022:

• The Deshbandhu College Cup-For the best lawn among the Institutes, Colleges and Horticulture Department of the NCR under Category A, Class VI
• The Delhi College Cup- For the best rock Garden of an Institute, College and Horticulture Department of the NCR under Category A, Class VII
• The Green Cup- For the best greenery and cleanliness of environment of a College/Educational Institution in Delhi and Horticulture Department of the NCR. under Category A, Class XI
• Virtual Photography Competition -1st Prize: Shristy Modi, LSR, Certificate of Appreciation: Abeer Suhail, LSR
• Virtual Videography Competition – 2nd Prize: LSR