Society of Teresians for Environment Protection
STEP is a charitable and literary organization formed by students and faculty of St. Teresa’s College Ernakulam. It is registered under the Travancore Cochin Literary Scientific & Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 (Act XII of 1955) and objectives are to carry on activities for protection and conservation of environment, promote usage of biodegradable products, promote social entrepreneurship among students, provide livelihood to Kudumbasree members etc. All our products are stitched by the Kudumbashree members of the Cochin Corporation. As part of implementing Green Protocol in the college campus, the students are provided an eco-friendly cloth college bag and a cloth carry bag. The cloth bags- Prakriti Bgas and Bhoomithram Sanchis, are bags which serve as an alternative to bags made of rexin and plastic carry bags. The students are also provided with steel cups to make the campus free of plastic and paper cups. The college has also undertaken the ‘Ente Haritha Bhavanam’ project, brainchild of the District Collector and a joint initiative of Ernakulam District Administration, District Suchitwa Mission and St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam has provided a unique platform for college students to contribute to environmental protection from their own homes. The college is actively involved in other environmental activities promoted by the local government bodies and the students are instrumental in implementing and promoting the activities.
History of STEP
April 2016: Society of Teresians for Environment Protection (STEP) was formed in April 2016 with joint efforts of the Department of Economics, Commerce, Bhoomitra Sena and the Entrepreneurship Development Club (formed in 2010) of St. Teresa’s College.
As its first activity, an exhibition and sale of Bhoomitra bags was organized on 7th December 2016 as part of annual Alumni Christmas Sale at St. Teresa’s College. In an effort to make the campus plastic-free, the participating stalls were all provided paper bags made by the BMC and STEP members of the college.
December 2017: STEP training center was inaugurated in the Main block of the campus with the joint efforts of Cochin Shipyard Limited and TIECON Kochi.
June 2018: Teresian Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cell (IECD)was formed and a Startup Yatra jointly organized by Kerala Startup Mission, Startup India, Invest India and TIBIC on 15th November 2018 at the College.
December 2018: An Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre termed as TIBIC (Teresian Innovation and Business Incubation Centre) was formed in the campus during December 2018 to promote entrepreneurship among girls and women on a wider scale. This is being supported by Kerala Startup Mission, Govt. of Kerala and Kerala State Industries Development Corporation. The Incubation cum TOT (Training of Trainers) center in our institution aims at motivating women who would like to get back into self-employment after critical child rearing stage, as well as the young female graduates to get into business.
What we do
- College students are actively engaged in stitching cloth bags, mobile pouches and pencil cases that they sell through STEP’s promotional activities. Their latest venture is Changathi Cheppu (reasonably priced pencil pouches). Various committees have also been formed to steer forward the activities.
- Video tutorials with instructions to manufacture the various cloth bags and an awareness documentary on the hazards of plastic waste have been prepared by students and uploaded on the Suchitwa Mission of Kerala website for public access (find links below).
- Students have also trained more than 1000 Kudumbasree members in 80 Panchayats in Ernakulum District and various self-help groups in the other districts of Kerala in stitching such bags. In rural areas, the common strategy is to encourage people to get their own old clothes upcycled into such trendy products at very reasonable rates using the paid services of SHG groups.
- The STEP members of the college have been delivering conference bags, Prakriti bags and Bhoomitra Sanchis for various conferences and seminars conducted at GIFT (Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation), TIECON, GULATI and several other organisations since 2016.
The Team
Gallery
Strawberry Bag Tutorial
Ball Bag Tutorial
Zip Bag Tutorial
T-Shirt Bag Tutorial
STEP is now Online
To stay updated about our latest products and activities, follow our Facebook and Instagram page through the links given below –
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Stc_Step-111450400704504/
Instagram – https://instagram.com/stc_step?igshid=1o5zms6dab6ns
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