2024

The Eco Club organised an educational outing to the Mollem Wildlife Sanctuary, providing participants with an experience in biodiversity conservation and the ecological significance of protected areas. This trek-cum-learning experience immersed students from our college into the rich flora and fauna of the Western Ghats of Goa and their ecological sensitivity. 

The Eco Club conducted tree-tagging drives to label campus trees with information about their species, origin, and significance while encouraging students to document nature through journalism. Faculty members, their families, and students from outside the club also participated in the event to learn more about the flora around them. Members from Kala, the fine arts club of our campus, engaged in nature journalism by appreciating the natural beauty of our campus through their artwork. This activity helped increase awareness about our immediate environment within the campus. 

The Eco Club released a monthly newsletter covering The Eco Club’s activities, sustainability tips, and environmental news to engage the campus community and spread eco-awareness. This document is available on The Eco Club’s website and Instagram handles. It covers pressing issues on sustainability and raises public awareness on lesser-known topics such as greenwashing and the impact of consumerism on the environment.

As part of the BITS Goa inter-hostel event Zephyr, the Eco Club, along with Quiz Club organized an exciting GeoGuessr tournament that celebrated the beauty and diversity of our planet. This engaging competition brought together students passionate about geography, as well as plant and animal diversity.

GeoGuessr immerses players in random locations via street view, challenging them to deduce their whereabouts on the world map. This thrilling game tests not only geographical knowledge but also players’ familiarity with the world’s landscapes, flora, and fauna.

As The Eco Club organised an engaging Geoguessr game session as a fun and interactive pre-induction event to familiarise new members with geography and eco-awareness. This was conducted during the pre-induction process to introduce the newly joined students (first-year students) to The Eco Club and its activities. 

The Eco Club organized an impactful expo, inviting members of the NGO Arz to exhibit and sell their handmade creations on campus. Arz is a social work organization dedicated to combating human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of women in Goa. The women supported by Arz, who have been rescued from these exploitative practices, are employed in making upcycled products such as bags, pouches, scrunchies, crochet items, and scarves from used clothing, as well as tissues from recycled paper. By providing them a platform to sell their goods, the event promoted sustainability and empowered these women to gain financial independence. A talk was also held during the expo to raise awareness about the vital work Arz does in rehabilitating survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation.

SeasonWatch’s Campus Phenology Network (CPN) is an India-wide citizen science project following the patterns of emergence and maturation of leaves, flowers, and fruits (“phenology”) on common tree species of India. The Eco Club is proud to announce that BITS Goa is the 3rd most active campus in India in the CPN initiative, with 1475 trees being actively monitored for climate change and other patterns. This is thanks to the relentless documentation and fieldwork of The Eco Club’s student volunteers and faculty members who have joined us in this initiative.

The Eco Club completed a four-month project (Nov 2023 to Mar 2024) documenting the campus's tree diversity, identifying 8,063 trees across 136 species, and analysing native and invasive species' impacts. Ms Anjitha Devarajan led this study, and student volunteers from the club did extensive fieldwork to complete this project. Each tree on campus was meticulously documented with details regarding its height, number of primary stems, location, species and other ecological remarks. Various analyses, conclusions, and recommendations have been formulated from this study. 

Following the success of the Republic Day Campus Cleanup, The Eco Club collaborated with Abhigyaan to conduct another campus cleanup drive to clean those areas that were untouched in the previous cleanup. This collaborative effort led to the large-scale removal of waste products, particularly near the A-side hostels and supermarket shopping complex. 

The Eco Club organized a large-scale campus cleanup drive on Republic Day to promote environmental responsibility and sustainability among students and staff. This nation-building effort was conducted during the Republic Day Celebrations at BITS Pilani, Goa Campus, in line with the vision of cleanliness promoted by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.