The western suburbs got its first eco-friendly school with the launch of Valmiki Eco-School at Goregaon on Wednesday. The school will replace plastic school bags with cloth and jute bags in an effort to promote the use of environment-friendly resources.
The school is also using all its resources such as water, electricity etc through eco-friendly processes. Electricity will be generated through solar power, and rainwater harvesting will be the source for supplying water to the school.

The school also aims to be a zero-garbage school, in which the dry garbage will be recycled for further use, whereas the wet garbage will go to the composite pit to make natural manure for organic plantation. The organic plantation will be part of the school activity for students.
"Valmiki School is an attempt to bring the young lot closer to nature. Its eco-friendly nature offers ways to save energy, improve air quality and educate students about the environment," said Paresh Pimpale, founder.

Furthermore, to reduce the wastage of paper, the textbooks of students of higher class will be passed on to the lower class for a period of three years before being donated to some other school.

Meanwhile, Valmiki School will also discourage students commuting in private vehicles, but would promote public transport.

"The school will also encourage parents to participate in the drive of conserving nature by planting a tree in the vicinity of the school. This will help the parents observe the dual growth process of their children and the plants," Pimpale said.

Source : DNA Paper Mumbai -08-04-2010