Awareness Session on used plastic and its management

Since the 1950s about 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced. It is estimated until 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. It's time we take responsibility and find ways in which we can recycle plastic. ShristiChetna: The Zoological Society of Hansraj College in collaboration with IQAC Hansraj organized an Awareness Session on used plastic and its management with Bisleri International Pvt Ltd entitled: "Bottles for Change" on 29th October 2021. They all emphasized the ways of recycling plastic waste by merely segregating the waste that is produced daily in our homes. Plastic is 100% recyclable; you can give the plastic waste to ragpickers or you can download the "Bottles for Change " app. from the play store. This app. is an initiative of Bisleri International Pvt Ltd to recycle plastic waste.

Awareness campaign and plastic collection

Awareness campaign and plastic collection drive were conducted in Hansraj College from 13th May 2022. Boxes, bins, and plastic polybags were given to local vendors outside & inside the college campus where they can collect their plastic waste separately. The interns acquaintedthe vendors and consumers present there about the importance of plastic collection and recycling. A rally or Awareness Walk was conducted in which all the faculty members of the department and Ms. Madhubala, Senior Executive, Bisleri Pvt. International Limited motivated and participated with the students. The campaign lasted for about 2 hours starting from Hansraj College’s main gate to around the North Campus. It was filled with slogans on "Save Plastic" and "Recycle Plastic". Students of the department also collected plastic waste throughout the month and handed it over to the Bisleri van for recycling. Collaboration with ECA SOCIETY of Hansraj College for plastic collection and awareness campaign inside Hansraj College was done to increase awareness inside our college campus. This awareness campaign and collection drive lasted for one week.

Nest-making workshop on National Science Day

Srishti Chetna organized "A Nest making workshop" on 28th February 2022, at Hansraj College on the occasion of National Science Day. The event was graced by the presence of The Nest Man of India, Mr. Rakesh Khatri. Nest-making kits were provided to individual participants as well as to students in groups of five. The Nest kit relied only on waste materials and contained zero plastic waste. Mr. Rakesh Khatri taught students step-by-step how to make a beautiful bird’s nest using jute fibers, and wooden hoops. Throughout the workshop, everyone learned a lot about the sparrows. They gained knowledge ranging from their habitats to behaviours; a lot of practical knowledge was also imparted to students. Mr. Khatri himself supervised all the steps for making a comfortable nest for sparrows. In the end, after an hour of hard work, the beautiful nests were ready and students surrounded our chief guest for capturing a new experience.

We at the department of Zoology always focus on energy conservation in all forms. We practice switching off the air-conditioning (AC), lights, fans, and all the equipment present in our department when not in use. We are keen on the minimal usage of printout machines in the department. We also regularly emphasize at reducing paper usage/ reuse paper / sending waste paper for recycling.

With the onset of the National Education Policy (NEP), our department is focusing on implementing a multidisciplinary approach for the upcoming students for holistic development. For instance, this year we are offering ‘Basic IT Tools’ as one of the Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC) for the integration of computational skills with basic zoology/biology concepts. Further, to diversify the young minds of students with the programming language “PYTHON”, SrishtiChetna, Zoological Society, Hansraj College organized an interactive session and workshop for the students of Biology (Botany, Zoology, and Life sciences) on 7th September 2019 as “PYTHON FOR BIOLOGY”. The lecture was informative and was followed by the Biopython workshop to elaborate on basic coding and programming. Students found it to be a new learning exposure and get a glimpse into the wide world of computational biology and bioinformatics. Our department is committed to implementing best practices for the bright future of our students in the upcoming times.