GIM students look at making campus more sustainable

PANAJI: Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Sakhali, recently held a competition for its students, a ‘sustainability hackathon’, seeking insightful, cost-effective and creative water conservation and waste management solutions, which can be implemented on campus.
The ideas generated by the students will be implemented within the 50-acre GIM campus.
The winning team proposed an idea to install recharge wells on campus which would effectively utilize water resources and replenish the aquifers at the campus.This would benefit not only the campus, but the surrounding areas as well. Radhika Kulkarni, Vedanshi Tulshyan, Rashi Sharma, Nirmalkumar Rathi and Vishalkumar Bankar took the first prize.
The second placed team proposed to reduced usage of paper for academic purposes through recycling or installing an online portal for academic work. The team also suggested an awareness campaign for proper disposal of sanitary napkins along with ensuring adequate disposal facilities in hostels.
The third placed team came up with a project centered around the idea of installing a biogas plant at the back of the cafeteria inside the college premises to make productive use of the wet waste.The initiative would result in reduced consumption of LPG by 30%.
GIM director Ajit Parulekar said the focus is to make the campus a more sustainable one. “The most suitable ideas emerging from the hackathon are expected to be implemented by GIM in the coming year.”
Perses Billimoria, an independent environmental services professional and founder and CEO of Earthsoul India, Mumbai, said that earlier generations had failed to protect and conserve the natural resources and that the present day youth would target reversal of the harmful effects which society has had on the environment.