Father Agnel School in Greater Noida’s Sector Beta 2 pipped 500 schools from across the country to emerge as the ‘greenest school’. The award given away by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on February 23 came as part of a green school programme promoted by the CSE. Father Agnel had been systematically turning green over the last two years after signing up with the CSE’s programme. The second prize went to Queen’s Valley School, Dwarka (Delhi), and the third to the Government Senior Secondary School, Devnagar (Shimla).

Father Agnel School has gradually weeded out junk food and polythene use on the school campus. They have also started running a lot of solar panels. In addition to that they have kept medicinal plants on the campus, and are preserving the green areas. The degradable waste is sent to the Greater Noida Authority for composting, paper waste is recycled. They are also working on managing the e-waste.

Of the 500 schools that had applied for this award, 10 were shortlisted. Schools were rated after a detailed assessment of environment-friendly practices such as waste management, rainwater harvesting, and proportion of green area in school, availability of health-promoting food in the canteen, and sanitation practices, among others.