DESIGN FOR CHANGE CONTEST-2011

1)Story title : JAI GANESHA! CLAY GANESHA!!

2)School name : DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL,HYDERABAD

3)School Address : Survey No.74,Khajaguda Village

Golconda Post,Hyderabad-500 008

4)Contact details : Ph :040-3250 6005/3250 6006

Email:info@dpshyderabad.com

SUBMISSION FORM-PAGE 2

PHOTO AND TEXT DOCUMENT

THE WEEK IN WHICH IT WAS IMPLEMENTED : 26-08-2011 to 1-09-2011

1. FEEL: WHAT IS THE PROBLEM YOU WERE ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE?

The Blue Planet no longer has the green cover. It is filled with pollution, toxic wastes and has turned into a plastic dump. Development at the cost of the environment is common today. In an effort to save whatever is left of our environment, we have attempted to urge people to stop using Plaster of Paris (POP) Ganeshas during Ganesh Chaturthi and start using clay ones. As the latter are eco-friendly and bio-degradable, they don’t cause any harm to the environment when immersed in water unlike the POP ones.

2 IMAGINE TELL US SOMEOF THE IDEAS GENERATED.

Students of classes 7 and 8 participated actively in door to door signature campaigns in their neighborhood, making people promise that they would use only clay Ganesha idols.

Awareness programmes were held by the students in the school and neighborhood to promote the use of clay Ganesha idols.

Everyone was encouraged to buy idols made by Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, which were sold at a subsidized rate of Rupees 5 each.

3 DOWHAT WAS YOUR FINAL SOLUTION AND HOW DID IT CHANGE THE SITUATION AND YOURSELF?

The signature campaigns made more than 200 people promise that they would only clay idols.

Many Dipsites-students of DPS ( of classes 5 and 6) showed photographs of the clay idols they used for the festival.

In all, an increased number of students right from Prep to class 8 were made aware of today’s environmental problems and they all promised to use only clay Ganeshas.

So definitely, the number of people who used POP idols decreased significantly this year.

In the long run, this also encouraged everyone to use only eco-friendly products.

DESIGN FOR CHANGE SCHOOL CHALLENGE-2011

DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, KHAJAGUDA, HYDERABAD

Initiative: “JAI GANESHA!CLAY GANESHA!!

(A campaign started by the young Dipsites to urge people to buy clay Ganesha idols instead of Plaster of Paris idols in an earnest effort to save our environment.)

FEEL

“We have not inherited the Earth from our ancestors, we have borrowed it from our children.”

Lester R Brown

The Earth is no longer filled with “lovely, dark, deep woods”, as the great poet Robert Frost once said so long ago. Today, it is covered with ubiquitous plastic waste and toxic pollutants. People carrying all items big and small in polythene bags is a sore sight. Pollution, especially vehicular pollution in urban areas is ballooning out of proportion. In a nutshell, toxic materials used by man are choking the planet.

In an effort to reinforce the idea of sustainable development-“development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of the future generations”- and make people revert back to their old ways of co-existing with nature, the students of DPS, Gachibowli, Hyderabad pulled up their socks and took it upon themselves to encourage people use eco-friendly materials.

The campaign christened “JAI GANESHA! CLAY GANESHA!!” urged people to buy only clay Ganeshas for Ganesh Chaturthi.

The usual Ganesha idols made of Plaster of Paris (POP) though colorful, cause great harm to the environment when submerged. Here in Hyderabad, huge PoP idols are all submerged in the Hussainsagar Lake, rendering the once beautiful water body to resemble a liquid dump, complete with water of a sickly green colour emanating an unbearable stink. Birds no longer visit the lake and dead aquatic life is a common sight. Toxic paints and the POP make sure that no aquatic life breeds here.

Contrary to this, using clay idols is completely harmless. Idols made of eco-friendly products like hay ,bamboo and clay are bio-degradable .Moreover, by doing this, we are respecting our old traditions which say that God is part of Mother Nature, as the clay with which the idol is made returns to the Earth.

IMAGINE

Numerous surveys and campaigns carried out showed that many people use PoP idols simply because they are colourful and look attractive. As long as there is public demand and there are buyers, these harmful Pop Ganesha idols will keep flooding the market.

Awareness programs, door-to-door campaigns and signature campaigns started by the students of DPS, Hyderabad made people realize the hazardous consequences of using PoP idols-they pollute the soil and water once they are immersed, are toxic to aquatic flora and fauna and the insoluble paints used cause major diseases to animals and people who consume them through the water.

It was explained to friends, neighbours, relatives and family members that the colour and the size of the idol was not important; devotion to God is. Using clay idols doesn’t diminish the value of the idol at all, and they are the best choice as they are eco-friendly.

The idea was implemented from 26-08-2011 to 1-09-2011 when the students brought out the importance of clay Ganeshas being bought by each and everyone. After all ,many drops make a mighty ocean.

DO

During the campaign week, students conducted signature campaigns in their localities, making as many people as they could promise that they would buy only clay idols for the festival. We were all also extremely glad to know that the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board was giving away clay idols at the subsidized rate of Rs.5 only. The students made full use of this opportunity and encouraged others to do the same.

The Awareness and Signature campaigns taken out by the students.

The “Jai Ganesha! Clay Ganesha!!” campaign catapulted to fame, with a page on Facebook dedicated to it too .In the end ,the students took the ‘clean and green’ way and submerged the idols

at home in a bucket of water. This water was then used for plants, concluding the festival in a bright and positive manner.

Students , along with their families and neighbours , celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in a clean and green way using clay Ganesha idols.

Students immersing the clay Ganesha idols at home in a bucket of water .Green warriors!

Students use the water in which they immersed the clay idols to water their plants.JAI GANESHA! CLAY GANESHA!!

In a nutshell, the campaign sought to bring about a consciousness in the present generation to care for their environment and protect and preserve the already half-damaged surroundings. “We belong to the Earth, the Earth doesn’t belong to us” was the concept that was stressed upon. And the efforts paid off, with the students vowing to be ‘green warriors’ henceforth.