The month long Environmental Awareness Campaign curated by Dr.Anamica Bhattacharya for Srinkhala ended on 30th June, 2021 in a virtual closing event.
The campaign was inaugurated on the 5th of June which continued with a series of webinars, talks, workshops till 28th June, 2021 that would build an understanding about the environmental degradation, and actions towrads its sustainance and protection.
Professor and Environmental protection enthusiast, Dr. Hirok Chowdhuryof National Institute of Technology, Durgapur was the keynote speaker, who addressed the topic of water resources, its pollution and prevention. The Chief Guest of the grand finale of the campaign was Ms. Monika Srivastava, the wife of the Ambassador of India to Bahrain. Ms. Monika addressed the audience and stressed the importance of nurturing the environment and learning from our ancient traditions to respect and revere nature.
An enthusiastic community representing children and adults attended the session.The event concluded with the announcement of the Eco Champion Contest Winners.
The Ecochampion contest was held to promote awareness and encourage people in the Kingdom of Bahrain to takes actions towards sustainable living. Choosing the winners was the most difficult part as every single entry was a winner for us in that as already meant someone had already taken some action towards protecting the environment. It was a beautiful feeling that so many people are already thinking alike. I am not alone, and it gave me renewed strength to carry on with my ideas and plans.
The winners of the Eco Champion Contest and their initiatives are as follows:
GROUP A -( Children)
Deekshit Krishna
He converted 100+ pieces of waste bottle of glass and plastic into decorative pieces over a period of 5 years.
Chaarvi Jain
She started recycling plastic wastes bottles into decorative planting pots.
GROUP B - (Adults)
- Most Innovative steps followed by original ideas
Joby Vincent
His initiatives - Growing vegetables in upcycled tyres. Involving the kids to learn it's importance, spend time with nature. Saving plastic waste by using cloth bags and paper waste into sustainable, unique and useful things.
- · Most effective, community based initiatives
Primos Ben Yesudas
Started collecting all the plastic waste in his locality to deposit BAPFD, Adliya from shops/ cold storage, who submit to the crown industry for recycling plastics and donates wheel chairs to needy. He have planted more than 1000 trees in last 5 years in various plantation programs and always inspire others to do it whenever possible. Also volunteering to create a Journal of medicinal plants of Bahrain.
Jonathan D’Souza
He is segregating and recycling waste, Shopping plastic free. Using restaurants which allow them to pack the food in their own vessels instead of plastic containers. Composting household waste and coffee pods. Making homemade bags and participating in community initiatives.
- Most number of creative submissions
Srishti Jain
She is basket weaving with newspaper, upcycling old jeans, Self watering planting system.... utilized empty juice bottle, chips can etc. Crayons are made of paraffin wax, which contains petroleum, a toxic chemical polluting the soil and water. Used the Broken pieces of these crayons, Empty shuttle barrels/tubes can be utilized to keep lamp, small plant etc.
We convey a big thank you to all who supported this campaign, with a hope to inbuilt and carry forward this habit to support eco-conscios living.
Sustainable living is not a single incident or action in one's life. It is a life long habit to take it forward and inspire our young generations to follow. With this campaign we wanted to create an awareness towards the protect of the enviorment and we feel we succeeded as the initiatives and efforts people have shared with us prooved, we can spread our message and thoughts. We were able to bring together dignatories, environmentalists & professionsals from Bahrain & India to share their knowledge and thoughts regarding environmental crisis with probable solutions and suggestions to be incorporated in our daily live to build back better and a sustainable future ahead.
