2023

1. • The Eco Club hosted a Bottle-Painting event, engaging students in transforming the bottles collected during the Hollant Beach Clean-Up drive into beautiful works of art. Participants were encouraged to experiment with different designs, colors, and themes, showcasing their creativity while highlighting the potential of upcycling. The activity provided a way for students to reflect on the importance of environmental sustainability through the lens of art.

   • The event nurtured the participants' artistic talents and promoted the idea that small, thoughtful actions can contribute to a more sustainable future. EcoClub hopes to continue fostering such creative initiatives to raise environmental awareness and inspire sustainable practices within the community.

1. • QSTP is a non-profit summer project initiative that offers a platform for students to enhance their technical skills and explore new domains. With 29 captivating projects, expert mentorship, and hands-on learning, this is an opportunity you don't want to miss!

   • 📋 To register for QSTP 2023, please fill out the form using this link: https://forms.gle/xeiqMaiEbu5NivD5A

   • 🏆 Not only will you have the chance to learn and grow, but we also have exciting prizes in store! Participants who successfully complete the projects will receive Certificates of Completion. Additionally, top performers will be rewarded with special prizes for their outstanding achievements.

   • 📚 You can find the project handouts and detailed information in the Project Handouts document available in our shared drive folder. Access it here 

To learn more about our projects: https://qstp2023.netlify.app/

1. • If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to us. We're here to help!

1. • The Beat Plastic Pollution campaign aimed to raise awareness about plastic pollution among students and educate them about the importance of adopting sustainable practices in their daily lives such as reducing the effect of microplastics in daily usage and also to spread awareness on the principles of Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, and Refuse and their importance.

   • As part of the efforts to understand current awareness of plastic usage and its detrimental effects on campus, students are being engaged in interactions to assess their level of awareness regarding plastic pollution. A survey form has also been floated as part of the campaign to gauge their responses regarding this.

   • The campaign educated students about Ecobricks as a sustainable solution for plastic waste management. Ecobricks are plastic bottles filled with tightly packed non-recyclable plastic waste. Students were shown how to create Ecobricks by collecting and compressing plastic waste inside the bottles. The importance of Ecobricks in reducing plastic pollution and their potential for construction purposes, such as building furniture or structures, was highlighted thereby illustrating the benefits of a zero-waste lifestyle.

1. • The campaign also involved a group painting session where students were encouraged to use their creativity to design and paint old plastic bottles to promote the concept of reusing plastic bottles.

1. • EcoClub organized an outing to the deserted old village of Curdi and the nearby Usgalimal rock carvings. 35 people including students and faculty members participated in the outing. The participants felt a sense of admiration for the beauty and resilience of nature as they saw how Curdi had submerged and reemerged over the years. They also felt a pang of sadness for the people who had lost their homes and livelihoods.

   • The Usgalimal site had some intriguing ancient petroglyphs but the site was polluted in spite of its beauty and historical importance. The participants learnt about the importance of preserving heritage sites and keeping their environment clean.

1. • Campus Phenology Network is an ongoing Citizen-Science National Project undertaken by the SeasonWatch Organisation. It hopes to draw conclusions from measuring the effects of climate and weather on the fruiting and flowering patterns of trees.

   • We are part of the data collection section. We monitor trees by way of their physical characteristics like height and width, to the number of fruits, flowers, leaves, etc. The BITS Goa team monitors more than 100 trees on our campus and we hope to increase this number as we progress.

   • CPN has allowed us to learn much about the various species of trees on our campus- trees we usually pay little attention to when walking by. We have understood how trees grow and flourish, we have learned about how these trees are being taken care of on our campus, and we are contributing to science on the way.

1. • The Hollant beach cleaning drive was organized by EcoClub to spread awareness on preserving the natural beauty of their local coastline. 20 students participated in the beach cleanup drive.

   • The students arrived at the beach at 5 pm in the evening and split into small teams and spread out across the beach, carefully picking up any trash they found. The trash they had collected included plastic bottles, glasses, cigarette butts, alcohol bottles as well as larger items like old beach chairs and broken umbrellas. Finally, a proper disposal of the collected litter was done, ensuring that it would not end up in the ocean again.

   • The event also highlighted the importance of individual and collective action in protecting the environment, and the students hope to inspire others to join in their efforts to create a cleaner and more sustainable future.

1. • Ecoclub organized a cleaning drive in association with the Sports body of the university. The areas around the sporting grounds were cleaned so as to create awareness among students to not litter the grounds when indulging in sport activities.

1. • The Ecoclub organized a series of birdwalks from 17-20th February as part of the Great Backyard Birdcount (GBBC). This event was conducted to introduce students to birdwatching and also to create awareness on the massive diversity that our campus boasted of.

   • Around 25 people participated in the birdwalks. Many of them were new to bird watching and Prof. Radhika Vatsan guided them. Including the team of students who are experts in bird watching -Tanuj Vaidya, Amruta Chaskar, Raina Mary Thomas, this event helped us to form a bird watching community on campus named "Swallows".

1. • During the cleaning drive on 14th January 2023, over 40 students, staff, and faculty members came together to make a difference in our community. Various types of garbage, including plastic and glass bottles, were collected from the nearby Malakar area and disposed of properly.

   • The participation of our director, faculty and community members encouraged the students. Not only were our campus grounds spruced up, but the sense of camaraderie and community spirit that was fostered was genuinely remarkable. The efforts of all involved resulted in a cleaner and more beautiful campus for all to enjoy.