The Green Campus, Energy and Environment Policy

Context
Mumbai is an Island city surrounded by water bodies (sea) all around. Despite its unique identity being
the financial capital of the country, it is overcrowded with population and has severe space constraints.
LalaLajpatrai’s college location is blessed by both land and water. It is flanked by Arabian sea in the
front and by lush greenery of Mahalaxmi Race Course and Golf Club in its back. The serenity of the sea
and rejuvenating land greenery sanctifies its existence in the midst of bustling city.
Ever since its existence in 1973, this college has co-existed between the land and the sea perfectly in
harmony. Despite having the space constraint, it has maintained its own little lush green garden that
flaunts various plants and trees of flowers and fruits of Botanical importance.
With the limited space where the entire college building runs into 8th floor that too vertically. It has
maintained its own little garden in its backyard and a park dedicated to LalaLajpatrai in its front area
that is maintained by our college in collaboration with Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Scope of the Policy

The Green Campus, Energy and Environment Policies will not only develop and sensitize our students
on green issues but will also encourage them to take part for green cause through various curricular
and co-curricular activities.
Following are the key areas of focus under this policy:
➔ Clean Green Campus Initiatives
➔ Landscaping Initiatives
➔ Plastic free Campus
➔ Solar Power Plant
➔ Installation of LED bulbs
➔ Water Conservation through Rainwater Harvesting System
➔ Waste Management processes

75
 ⮚ Solid Waste Management
⮚ Wet Waste Management
⮚ E-Waste Management
⮚ Tree Plantation initiatives
⮚ Environment centric activities
⮚ Green Audit
⮚ Energy Audit
⮚ Plastic-Free Campus

Objectives of the Policy

● To protect and conserve ecological systems and resources within the campus.
● To be sensitive towards environment and to ensure judicious use of environmental resources
to meet the needs for sustainable development.
● To integrate environmental concerns into policies, plans and programmes for social
development and outreach activities.
● To work with all stakeholders and the local community to raise awareness and seek the
adoption of environmental good practice and the reduction of any adverse effects on the
environment.
● To continuously improve the efficient use of all resources, including energy and water, and to
reduce consumption and the amount of waste produced, recovering and recycling waste
where possible.
● To make the campus plastic free.
● To conduct environmental and energy audits from time to time.
● To minimize the use of paper in administration by adopting the policy of E. circulars and
notices.
● Above all to emphasis on Reduce, Recycle and Reuse policy.

Clean Campus Initiatives

LalaLajpatrai College has pledged to actively coordinate cleanliness activities in the college and beyond

76
the campus in accordance with the vision of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It commits to continue with this
Programme. The broad vision is as follows:
 Generating mass awareness on cleanliness and hygiene amongst students and staff members
by holding regular cleanliness drives and activities to motivate them.
 Our students participate in the cleanliness drive from time to time both within and outside the
college from time to time.
 Events such as poster and slogan competitions, essay writing, speeches, skits on ‘Swachh
Bharat’ will be organized to sensitize them.
 Rallies on themes connected with ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ in and around the college caampus
will be conducted to create mass awareness.
 Remove all kinds of waste material like broken furniture, unusable equipment etc.
 Conduct workshops from time to time to sensitize students on: Reduce, Reusing and Recycle of
waste.
 Commitment to maintain clean and litter free campus.

Landscaping Initiatives
Dedicated to the freedom fighter, the Lion of Punjab, the college building can be seen as the physical
embodiment of the values that Lala Lajpatrai stood for. It provides space for study, play, outdoor
events including the appreciation for Arts and aesthetics despite being a Commerce College. Green
campus landscapes also help recharge groundwater, and clean and cool air in the campus. The
landscape serves as a visual representation of the campus community’s commitment to sustainability.
Despite space constraint, within the limited space we have a garden that has varieties of trees and
plants that provide the 5000+ staff and students not only clean and cool air but a soothing
environment too.
The diverse green cover of LLC is also home to a number of squirrels and varieties of rare birds
creating a rich biodiversity. The college commits to enriching this healthy habitat and maintaining the
symbiotic relation of the institution with nature by
• Organizing annual tree plantation drives

77
 • Encouraging student societies to hold tree planting events etc.

Clean Air Initiatives

We encourage our students and staff to use public transportation. We encourage carpooling to
college, an activity that will control air pollution and strengthen social interaction. The entry of
automobiles inside the campus is restricted to discourage the use of private vehicles.

Infrastructural Initiatives
(a) Renewable Sources of Energy: LalaLajpatrai College is committed to minimize and sustainably
manage its use of electricity. The college believes in reducing the consumption of electricity
produced by non-renewable resources by switching to clean energy sources like solar energy for
purposes like lighting the campus.
(b) Energy Saving and Energy Efficient Equipment: We commit to install environment-friendly
electrical appliances that save energy and reduce wasteful inefficiencies. The college believes in
using cleaner energy such as LED lighting.
(c) Water Conservation through Rainwater Harvesting System: As an institution located in the
South Mumbai in Greater Mumbai District, our college location is surrounded by Sea yet we
depend on monsoon rain and water reservoir. Hence, we have committed to replenish the
groundwater table by practicing rainwater harvesting in our college premises.
(d) Waste Management Processes: LLC strives to have a minimal impact on the environment and is
dedicated to reduce and manage the waste generated by the college campus. The following
specific procedures will be undertaken to ensure LLC’s contribution in protecting the
environment.
(e) Solid Waste Management: With its aim to provide holistic education that also has a positive
impact on the environment, the college will adopt practices that will mitigate

The generation, and manage solid waste through the following methods:
 Encouraging students and staff for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle policy

78
  Collect paper waste produced on campus and collaborate with scrap dealers for recycling.
 Reduce use of paper by supporting digitization of attendance and internal, circulation of e-notices
and assessment records.
 Reduce requirement of printed books by updating e. books and e. journals in the library.
 Encourage the students and teachers to use emails for assignment submissions.
Take initiatives to spread awareness amongst students about
 Food wastage and ways of minimizing it
 Minimizing the use of packaged food
 The habit of reusing and recycling non-biodegradable products
 Organizing workshops for students on solid waste management

Liquid Waste Management

• Maintain leak proof water fixtures.
• Continued employment of a caretaker to take immediate steps to stop any water leakage
through taps, pipes, tanks, toilet flush etc.
• This way the Biochemical Oxygen Demand is reduced in the effluent waste water produced by
the JMC canteen.
• Reuse of wastewater generated by the Reverse Osmosis (RO) system in washrooms.

E-Waste Management
LLC ensures that its usage of technology and generation of e-waste does not impact the environment.
For this purpose, the college plans to strive towards:
• More provisions for the disposal of the institutional e-waste.
• Collaboration with e-waste recycling companies including NGOs to get electronic
• Awareness amongst students about reduction of e-waste and
• Environment friendly disposal practices for e-waste.
• Encouraging students for college level and outreach activities pertaining to e- waste
management.

79
Awareness Initiatives
Outreach and education are of utmost importance so that all members of the campus community
may value the objectives of the policy and aid in its implementation. Therefore, LLC is committed to
encourage awareness campaigns, seminars, workshops, conferences and other interactive sessions to
facilitate effective implementation of the Green Campus, Energy and Environment policies.

Conduct Green Audit

The college aims to regularly conduct a Green Audit of our college campus to assess our strengths and
weaknesses to further our goals of long-term sustainability. A green audit is a useful tool to determine
how and where most energy or water or resources are being used. The college can then consider how
to implement changes and make savings. It can determine the type and volume of waste. Recycling
projects or waste minimization plans can be adopted. It will create health consciousness and promote
environmental values and ethics. It provides a better understanding of the impact of eco- friendly
practices on campus. Green auditing will promote financial savings through reduction of resource use.
It is imperative that the college evaluate its own contributions toward a sustainable future.

Conduct Energy Audit

An Energy Audit to be conducted as and when required to further reduce its carbon footprint. The
importance of reducing energy consumption cannot be overstated. The energy audit, with its
specialized tools will identify wastage of energy. Such an inspection often reveals several different
flaws which cause a loss of significant amounts of energy which the college will not be able to detect.
These flaws often have easy and affordable solutions and provide significant savings.

Plastic-Free Campus
LLC has been observing most of its duties in terms of solid waste management since its inception. In
view of the Government of India’s resolution to ban all single use plastics due to the hazardous impact
of plastic use and pollution, the college administration strictly bans the use of single use plastics in its
premise to make it a ‘Plastic Free Campus’.

80