Environmental Awareness and Action week
Day-1
The first day of Environmental Awareness and Action week began with cleaning of our own campuses.The Changchup Choeling Nunnery ,Zangla cleaned up the temple area, Gonpa school, guest house area and the surrounding.The Govt .High school Zangla as well Ama association also cleaned up their school and office premises.The nuns of the Zangla nunnery segregated the Biodegradable and Non biodegradable waste .Further segregation of paper waste, plastic bottles and plastic wrappers will be done further for reuse and recycle.
Day -2
Environmental Awareness & action week :
Day 2:The second was scheduled for the cleaning of the entire village by the nuns, students and villagers.The cleanliness drive began at 10:00 am on 1st June,2023.The changchup Choeling nuns went to the village where the students of Govt. High School ,Zangla & members of Ama Association were gathered .The groups were divided and area for cleaning was allotted.The nuns were all geared up carrying mask , reusable gloves and carry bags .The entire village including farms and fields, Canals and stupa were cleaned up.The waste collected by everyone has been kept for further segregation.The task intended for Day 2 of the Environmental Awareness & action week has been completed successfully by mass participation.
Day-3
Environmental Awareness & action week :
Day 3:The third day of the Environmental Awareness & action week was scheduled for the cleaning of the natural medicinal water at Zangla.The cleanliness drive began at 10:30 am on 2nd June,2023.The medicinal water is considered to have medicinal value which can cure a number of diseases .Due to it’s enchanting beauty , it is considered to have the most favourite place for camping by the tourists.Unfortunately the place is being polluted by the visitors.The Zangla nunnery took the lead clean up the medicinal water and also involve the villagers in this noble cause.The changchup Choeling nuns ,students of Govt. High School ,Zangla & members of Ama Association were gathered .The groups were divided and area for cleaning was allotted.The nuns were all geared up carrying mask , reusable gloves and carry bags The most common waste found there was beer bottles, soft drink bottles, cigarette butts, polybags etc.The waste collected by everyone has been kept for further segregation.The task intended for Day 3 of the Environmental Awareness & action week has been completed successfully by mass participation.
Day-4 and 5
Environmental Awareness & action week :
Day 4 & 5 :The first three days of the Environmental Awareness & action , loads of waste has been collected at Zangla.The waste is collected from nunnery,school,farm,fields ,medicinal water etc.Now the biggest challenge is Waste Management.So, the first step followed by the nuns is segregation of waste.The waste which are collected in past three days majorly plastic bottles,plastic wrappers, Glass bottles, old clothes, tin and aluminium cans,Tetrapacks ,cardboards etc. The cardboards and clothes are composted to make manure which will further be used in the green houses and the farms.The tin and aluminium cans with glass bottles will be sent for recycling The real challenge for recycling is no junkdealer or agency approachable to this place..Plastic bottles and wrappers will be reused differently in the garden.
The papers collected from the school and Zangla monastery office are used for making fuel by soaking in water and mixing with cow dung.The kids are taught to reuse the waste as a craft.
Day 6
The concluding day of the event was a reflection upon past 5 days of the Environmental Awareness and action program. The event was organized by Changchup Choeling Nunnery in collaboration with AMA tsokspa and Govt. High school Zangla at the community centre of Zangla village. The event began with the history of Zangla village which says that ,the village has been shifted down from the hills around the Zangla palace.Somewhere it is believed that the reason was water scarcity. The story about the shifting of the village was narrated by Abi Tashi Lanzom , sister of Zangla King Nyima Nurboo who is 85 years old shared her experience.
Sonam Dorjey ,a villager also shared his experience about the Glacier behind the Zangla Gonpa. He shared the changes in the glacier he has observed over the period of 83 years.
The highlight of the event was the “Focussed Group Discussion “ about Water : Scarcity and pollution.The villagers were divided in the groups and shown the quantified data of the garbage collected .The discussed the challenges and the probable solutions to protect Natural spring medicinal water.They were also shown a video conveying the message to replace tissue papers with clothes to avoid cutting trees.
The village BDC Stanzin Sandup , K.C.Namgyal ,the co - Ordinator of Snowleopard conservancy India trust appealed the gathering to segregate the waste at home and not to use too much of packaged food. They also emphasized upon reuse of the waste.
The Changchup Choeling Nunnery students presented a Street play conveying the message to save water and reduce the garbage. The Govt. High school students presented a skit on saving Shukpa (A tree found in Himalayan region ).A heart touching poem …….”Story of a water drop” was recited by a nun of Changchup Choeling Nunnery , which sensitized the audience about the glacier and it’s importance. At the end of the event , the gathering took the pledge to reduce the garbage at least to the half of the quantity collected this year.
