Sustainable Schools

Sustainable schools is a comprehensive model which is creating a social, environmental, and economic impact. It is a local model which can be done in any public school around the world because most of the government or municipality-run schools across the world cater to the students who come from weaker sections of the society and have issues with waste, water, and energy.
Focusing on a targeted and tangible set of actions, we fill the sustainability skills gap in their education. The whole program's aim is to develop skill-based communities of change-makers, creating engagement in sustainable school projects to address their basic infrastructure needs.

Most children of Mumbai who study in the municipality school come from nearby slum areas.
1. Many schools do not have a constant source of electricity which leads to low performance of students in schools due to low lighting and nonworking fans.
2. Schools do not have proper sanitary water facilities.
3. Many students do not have access to computers and current technology and are hence left behind in the later stages of life.
4. Schools do not have a proper waste management system. Sangharsh Nagar is a slum that is littered with garbage and so is the area near its school.
5. Lack of infrastructure availabilty. Many schools do not have benches for children.
6. Lack of clean drinking water. Some schools have 1 water filter among 1400 students.

The Earth5R team trains children about waste segregation, encourages them to reduce the waste in the locality. Children transition their homes towards zero waste. They deposit the plastic waste in the given containers which is sent for recycling to make benches for the students. The plastic bottles collected during the clean-up is recycled to manufacture water-resistant school-bags.
Installation of roof-top solar panel system results in providing the facilities to the kids & also help in generating revenues for the school to work for the betterment of the future. To tackle food and other organic waste, a composting unit made up of Eco-Bricks is set up in the school that is made by these children. Electronic waste collected from the local program is exchanged with computers for the school. The school is also provided with water filters with coolers, so that the children have access to clean drinking water. 

School children of the slum areas lack the basic minimum facilities required to create a learning atmosphere. This project currently targets the schools which are in the slum areas of Mumbai having around 2 million children. The number of slum children scales up to around 24 million at the country level (India). Globally, it is estimated that around 250 million children live in slums worldwide and study in such conditions. This project can help such schools sustainable where children will work to bring the change for themselves.

Slum areas of Mumbai are short on services like waste management, continuous electricity supply, basic infrastructure like benches and desks, and computers. Most of these slums are unauthorised areas and thus, there is no role of municipality in it. Through sustainable school models, these schools could become self-relient in the long run. With proper waste management training and setup of technologies they could sustainably protect, manage, and restore their local (school) ecosystems.

Earth5R enrolled the project in a slum called Sangharsh Nagar, Chandivali, Mumbai. Around 4000 families are involved in this project who gave their plastics which was used to make benches and school bags for the students.Through this a circular economy based model is developed where the waste became a resource for the community. The initial funding was provided by Swiss Staff Foundation. Later the revenue is generated from solar panels when excess energy is supplied to the government. 

The sustainable school project is a very unique project because the entire project revolves around environment leadership development among children where the children are the change-makers. They are transitioning their own houses towards zero-waste they are the key factor responsible for reducing the garbage in their communities. 

It is a new model where children rather than becoming the victim of environmental issues are becoming the solution or catalyst of the process in this solution. The children are converting the environmental and resource problems into an opportunity and improving their surroundings and school conditions. 

Before starting the project Earth5R team conducts drone survey of the localities to understand the flow of waste and affected localities. Regular followup drone surveys and data analysis is done to map the progress and impact of the program.

Currently, we are serving around 3000 people the number would scale up to 24000 in a year and around 2.5 million in five years.

List of the indicators for measuring the impact in schools 

1. Total number of children who were earlier sitting on the floor have got  benches to sit. 
2. Improvement in the attendance of children in the school.
3. Decreased school dropout percentage in a given locality.
4. The total amount money school is saving on energy through solar equipment. 
5. The total amount of revenue school is generating by supplying energy to the government through solar equipment. 
6. Decrease in the number of children dependent per computer with improved ratio. 
7. Total number of children having the access to clean drinking water. 
8. Quantity of organic waste generated through composting. 
9. Total number of homes becoming zero waste.
10. Total number of clean streets without open dumping with hygiene and sanitation facilities improvement in the area.

There are 2 full time staff and 4 part time staff. 2 people are on contract in each community.

Earth5R is a leader in the environmental space in India and has one of the largest environmental citizen-driven movements in the country. 

With partnerships like United Nations Technology Innovation Labs(UNTIL), UNESCO, Government of France, MMRDA (Mumbai municipality) the project has been showcased in the Paris Peace Forum as one of the best projects. 

UN SDGs Action award winner Saurabh Gupta is Earth5R's founder and an eminent environmentalist. 

Other team members include Mrs Bharti Marathe (Environmental Architect) 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ouided Bouchamaoui. 

The team is very well experienced and has a solid background with environmental Research Organisations.

There is diversity in terms of core team members. 

50% of the overall team members are women. The project leaders are chosen from the local community from underserved areas, since they also have better understanding of the problem and can drive the change in a more efficient and sustainable manner.

We are working for the economic, financial inclusion of marginalised communities, especially children. This project model will work very well for refugee children who lack basic services and infrastructure which is critical for education and well being of the children.

This project helps communities make their own localities clean, healthy and waste free. It also uses circular economy and makes use of smart technology like drone mapping. Prize and funding support will help us upscale the project. 

This project focuses on transitioning public school to clean energy to decarbonise the economy, hence the project qualifies for The ServiceNow Prize.