Companies join communities in sustainable initiatives

As alarm grows over environmental degradation, institutions, hospitals and corporate entities are joining support groups to promote eco-friendly habits.

DH caught a glimpse of sustainable initiatives by some of Bengaluru’s hospitals and corporate houses like Infosys, whose campus uses 45 litres of water per person per day, about 60%less than what it spent five years ago.

Company spokesperson Guruprakash Sastry says Infosys campuses across the country have been implementing water conservation projects. “We do 100% recycling of water with our water recycling plants,” he said.

“Rainwater from the rooftop is collected in an underground tank, treated and used for gardening, hand washing, and even for drinking. Around 300 recharge wells in our 16 campuses across India help recharge ground water,” Sastry adds.

Titan Company Limited follows a structured approach to lower its carbon footprint. It has reduced its energy consumption over the years. It met the strategic objective of reduced heat load for comfort and energy efficiency in its buildings by removing air-conditioning even for its data centres and replacing power-guzzling desktop PCs with power-saving laptops.

Combining solar energy and rainwater harvesting, Aster CMI Hospital brought down its power consumption by 15% and water use by 10%. The hospital staff also planted a few saplings in the campus, while also gifting away Tulsi and Neem along with succulents for indoor plantation.

Here is what communities are doing on World Environment Day:

Students of Canadian International School (CIS) organised ‘The Garbage Challenge’ to clean up the whole lane leading up to their school. Joining hands with their teachers, they removed large mounds of garbage.

The Mythri Mahila Koota marked its eighth anniversary by planting 8 saplings at Agara lake mini-forest which the Kaagaz Foundation has been maintaining for the past four years. This is among several tree plantation drives in the city to mark the day on June 5.