As a
part of Wipro’s deep commitment to ecological sustainability Wipro has been
involved with multiple environment related programs both, within our business
ecosystem as well as in the civic and social sectors outside. Commonly called
eco-eye, the inception of our sustainability program goes back to 2008.
Eco-eye, helps introduce Wiproites to different perspectives in sustainability,
and also allow them to understand their ability to make a difference in
everyday lives.
Our urban
biodiversity program includes the twin goals of (a) converting five of our
existing campuses to biodiversity zones and (b) ensuring that all new campuses
incorporate biodiversity principles into their design. Our first flagship
project in the Electronic City campus in Bangalore was initiated two years back
with the first phase of a unique Butterfly Park now completed. Our next phase
includes an innovatively conceived wetland biodiversity zone that will use
recycled water. For our Pune campus project, the first phase has seen a
trebling of the number of species of flora and fauna from to more than 200+
native species.
While
there are different initiatives in different locations that engage employees
through the year-the months of May and June in particular are months where we
host a series of engagement activities to familiarize and involve employees in
specific areas to support the International day of Biological Diversity and
World Environment Day respectively. One of these initiatives is what is featured
below-
About
the Initiative: Nurture Your Green Patch
Biodiversity
@ Wipro Electronic City (EC) 4 Campus: A Community Garden by Wiproites and an
initiative supported by teams @ Wipro EC across sustainability team and the
facilities team.
"Nurture
your green patch" is an opportunity for Wiproites to grow and harvest
vegetables and other plants. This is their space their space for showcasing and
learning horticulture at the workplace.
Living
in urban spaces, we seem to be moving further away from natural environments. A
large part of our lives is spent indoors staring at devices. Some of us are
lucky to have found a favourite nature-spot around where we live and work to
help us relax, unwind and be one with nature.
Ten
teams at EC 4 have a 10x10 sq ft area of land and they have a chance to grow
flowers, vegetables, spices of their choice on their green patch. These green
patches are built along the circumference of the dome/Center Court which houses
the campus cafeteria as a part of the EC 4 Biodiversity Park Project.The teams
which comprise of more than 30 employees are part of Phase 1 of this program.
An external resource person/expert Mr.Nadana Sigamani, guides the teams
regularly by showing them basic understanding in terms of how to plant, nurture
and maintain the saplings on their patches. Through this program we are
building connects with other ecology projects on campus. For example, recycled
water from the campus is used for watering the patches. It has been a
refreshing experience for employees as a lot of them attempted gardening for
the first time. The teams tend to their patches during the lunch breaks and
after hours. The gardening staff have also pitched in to make watering on the
weekends easy. We also plan to start similar projects in other Wipro campuses.
The
teams have made a great start and have harvested various vegetables like beans,
palak, methi, raddish, amaranthus, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, cluster beans,
cucumber, bitter gourd among others from their patches. A whatsapp group has
enabled live updates every day!
“Green
Spots can be created at any place - be it home, neighborhood or @ office.
Growing some greens in office is absolute fun and it gives sense of stress free
atmosphere when we nurture the green patches at office after a daylong work in
IT world. Green spots help us to unwind.
Wipro
came up with this idea of engaging interested employees to grow and nurture
their own patch. Employees formed their own teams. In the beginning employees
sowed what they liked and was not much interesting to begin. But once the
greens started giving yield, the enthusiasm of teams increased. Each of us
wanted to experiment with different kinds of produce. We have sown beans,
palak, methi, raddish, amaranthus, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, cluster beans,
cucumber, bitter gourd, drum sticks and list continues. We are eager to
experiment more and each team is asking for more plots
Biggest
support is from FMG and the gardening staff who help with digging and
watering over week ends and on request. They are the energy source.
Sigamani
sir and his team are a great help to the teams - be it clarifying doubts,
helping to procure seeds, organizing meetings near plots and giving feedback
etc.
Testimonials from Wiproites:
Hope
every corporate encourages their employees to grow and nurture some green patch
and this is sustainability and giving back to nature.” Lalithamba
Vishwanathaiah
“Gardening
is cheaper than therapy, plus you get to keep the produce” – Nadana Sigamani
“Pledge
to make our Environment clean and reduce waste” – Uttam Shukla
“It is
heartening to see the enthusiasm and dedication amongst all team members. From
sowing to harvesting, these teams are committed to the upkeep of their plots.
Excited to see this initiative spread across and outside Wipro”- Arathi
Hanumanthappa
