It is a village school -- one of the few that had participated in GSP. It emerged the winner due to the amazingly precise audit data it produced. Its performance as an environmental manager was remarkable. The school meticulously collects spillage from drinking water taps in large troughs. This water is then used for watering plants and shrubs in the schools ground. This way it is able to reuse almost 50 per cent of the total waste water gererated.

For the air audit, students asked everyone how they commuted to school. A comprehensive list of plant and animal species was also submitted on time. Interestingly, CSE received the original land data sheets in Punjabi. Baljit Kaur, teacher coordinator, told GT, “In our school, we give a prize to each child, who is able to collect 100 wrappers of toffees. The result: no littering in the school."
 

Nestled in the picturesque Kodaikanal, this school is unique in many ways. It is a residential school, but has only 51 students living in its vast 100-acre campus. A small brook runs across the grounds and is embanked. This is the only source of water for the entire school. Sholai derives its energy from a number of non-conventional sources: solar, wind, bio-gas, even a draught animal. So, while the rest of the participants recorded three to four types of energy sources, Sholai came up with 13. The school is not connected to a power grid as it receives its entire supply from a micro-hydel project, which has been set up right in the campus.

But perhaps the most fascinating bit of information is that Sholai School still uses a pony for uphill travel as this saves energy.
 

The name could not have been more apt. It is one of the few schools which harvests rainwater optimally. While most others only collect the rain which falls on the roof top, Evergreen collects every drop that falls on its rooftop, paved, as well as unpaved areas. It reuses spillage from drinking water points to recharge ground water. The school also found out the exact amount of spillage per day and hence could collect the amount of water reused. The per capita consumption of water was found by monitoring the overhead tanks. The school ground now has a unique look, because each tree here is marked with a special number. So its A12 for the 12^th Ashoka tree, and G4 marks a Guava tree. Teacher coordinator Barnali Dutta worked along with a team of five teachers to execute the project. In fact, the idea of marking the trees was given by the teachers' team. No surprises, therefore, that the teachers' team won the Gobar Times Best Teachers Team Award.
 

Apart from having a rainwater harvesting structure in place, the school did a comprehensive land audit and documented the diversity in flora and fauna on the campus. It was even able to capture images of animal species found. Students made a scrap book on the plant species found. While doing the water audit, students found the exact amount of ground water consumed. For this, they switched on the pump and filled up a bucket, the volume, of which was measured. The average per day running time of the pump was noted and the average consumption calculated. To verify the volume, students used beakers from the lab. Veerinder Kaur, teacher coordinator, said, "We got to know a lot of new things about ourselves while implementing the programme."
 

This school from Jamshedpur sent us detailed data sheets on mileage of school vehicles and the passenger capacity along with details of commuting practices of the school.
 

This school has a clear cut environmental policy, which is mounted on a giant board that stands at the entrance. OUR ENVIRONMENT POLICY, it says. The school sent CSE precise data on commuting practices. Like others, Presentation Convent also puts up eco-friendly messages at different places within the school building. But it has been more meticulous in this task: it got stickers (with such messages) printed, so that these could weather dust, sun and rain. Meena Jethi coordinated the programme in the school.

 

This school was able to involve children even from the junior section in the audit. A professional horticulturist helped them identify almost all the plant species in the campus. The school is also conducting an experiment on three varieties of earthworms to find their suitability for vermicomposting.

Interestingly, Salwan Public School imparts special ecological training to its support staff. The sample answersheet here belongs to one of the security guards in the school. The school holds classes on weekends and also gives holiday homework to these adult students. Sheetal Bagati coordinated GSP here.

 

It was one of the first schools to send us a complete Green Schools Report. The only Navodaya to figure in the list of top 20, this school sent us a comprehensive energy audit. N P Singh coordinated the programme.
 

The only government school in Delhi to feature in the top 20, this was one of the few schools where the waste audit was conducted by scientific measurement of waste, using a spring balance. Neena Singh coordinated the programme.
 

The students of this school literally ‘harassed’ the administrative staff to get inputs for the Green Schools audit. The students' team here is very involved in community work, not only within the school, but also in the neighbourhood. It conducts street plays, and tends the park nearby. Meena Khanna coordinated the programme.