The target group comprises the many groups that visit Vinayalaya, and by extension the Holy 

Family parish campus as well as the Snehasadan campus. These include students from our 

Jesuit schools & colleges, teachers who come for teacher-training programmes, retreat 

groups, parishioners of Holy Family parish, groups involved in psycho-spiritual 

programmes, prayer groups, and youth from Mumbai & other districts in Maharashtra.  

Our aim is that the participants leave this campus with the following learnings:

1.  Knowledge: Enhanced knowledge of good earth-practices like use of clean energy, recycling & its effect on the planet, composting garden & kitchen waste as well as the 

preciousness of compost that is made from it, appreciation of local & diverse flora & fauna, benefits of growing organic foods & herbal medicines, etc.   

2. Application: Applying this knowledge to their own life situation in schools, homes, work places, etc.  

3. Influencing-ability: Going on to become influencers in society, spreading the word about 

good practices that can help the planet, and in doing so be agents of change.  

4. Eco-spirituality: Cultivating a deep connection with the planet and to sense the Divine at work in all created things.

The Vinayalaya campus, Andheri, Mumbai, is home to diverse plant life. A variety of birds, some rare, are also spotted on campus. The green campus project includes enhancing this richness by planting fruit trees, flowering plants, local as well as exotic plants, that can turn Vinayalaya into one large Bio-Diversity Park. Small jungle patches as well as carpeted lawns are also planned. Every tree on campus will be identified by its botanical name, local name, and other essential data. As such, visitors will be made aware of the rich flora and fauna of the place.

The Jesuit team along with the Eco-Pals and our campus collaborators have installed a 7.5 HP Shredder machine, which will shred all the garden and kitchen waste on Vinayalaya campus as well as the waste generated on our neighbouring campuses. Appropriate steps will then be followed in order to process the shredded material and turn it into compost. This will then go directly to our gardens as manure for our vegetables and plants. 

Leaf composters are now installed at different points on campus. These composters will take some of the load of the many leaves that fall from tress. Some composters take the already shredded leaves which will make the process of composting faster. The green waste will be mixed with kitchen waste and coco peat in the right amounts, and kept for a designated period in the leaf composter. Once it turns into compost it will be removed and distributed for use in the gardens. This process of making compost has a two-fold purpose. The first, is that we use the compost to increase the vitality of the soil and thus of the plants on campus. The second, is to model a good practice which students and others can see and learn from.

Vinayalaya will now pay focused attention to the treatment of different kinds of waste generated. The aim is to collect different kinds of waste separately in designated bins and to dispose this waste by passing it on to groups who can take forward the recycling process.

The Vinayalaya community will now follow the process of segregation of its waste, reduction and abolition of single use plastic, and practicing recycling on a priority basis.

Vinayalaya has moved towards the use of alternate and clean energy by installing two large sets of solar panels (40 kW and 20 kW each). These panels generate the energy needed for all kinds of electrical appliances in almost all the departments of the house, including the Infirmary, Juniorate, Provincialate, Pre-novitiate, and the Retreat House. Some power is saved and stored at grid. The aim has been to arrive at a zero-electricity bill; something which Vinayalaya has been achieving for the last one year. The community has also moved towards using electric vehicles (EV).

Two sets of Solar panels, 40kW and 20kW each, are already installed.

With the space available on this campus, part of the plan is to put the earth to good use by growing plants that are organic in their yield, therefore more suited for consumption, as well as plants with medicinal properties, which can be used for treating certain ailments.

Two plots have been identified wherein medicinal herb plants will be grown as well as vegetables that would normally have been grown in a kitchen garden. The medicinal plants would include aloe vera, adulsa, tulsi, eucalyptus, pudina, fennel, ginger, aswagandha, ajwain, etc. Besides house staff, the Jesuit pre novices and Juniors will be engaged in this work towards the herb garden. It would also serve as good training in learning about local remedies & treatments and organic farming. We will also partner with our Jesuit teams at MPSM, Tara, Ambatha, and the Vedruna sisters in Unai, Gujarat, who have specialized in the cultivation of herbal medicine. Their expertise will be sought, and samples of herbal medicine will be procured as models on display at our center.

Vinayalaya has predominantly been a house of prayer and a house of Jesuit formation. This legacy has been deepened in recent years with the influx of various groups visiting Vinayalaya for some personal time of quiet, personal renewal, and peace. The lush green surroundings, the silence, and the rich biodiversity add to the retreat experience. So as part of the Green Campus project we hope to go deeper into helping people take on an earth centered spirituality.

This earth-centred awareness programme will be taken forward through the conducting of Eco-Retreats & recollections (2 or 3-day programmes as well as 8-day retreat/s), nature walks, Eco Examens, etc. Wesley D’Costa will coordinate this section. Vinayalaya has a well equipped Media Room wherein short video content on ecological concerns will be shot & edited, and aired on our Bombay Province YouTube channel. Sumit D’Souza will coordinate the Media effort. A Reconciliation Park is being planned outdoors at the North-eastern part of the campus. This will be a space for people to pray outdoors amidst green lawns and also have spiritual conversations and seek counselling. Arun Lobo and Learoy will plan this.

Our partners include organizations like D-ERT (an NGO focused on sustainable micro eco systems within the urban landscape), Reliable Recyclers (another Mumbai-based NGO specializing in waste managaement), Threco E-Waster Recycling (for e-waste management), Via Green (the group that assists us with dry waste collection), OTTO-BINS (a group that supplied to us the segregation bins), Project Mumbai 

(a Mumbai Based Organisation that help us collect Plastic waste and recycling) and ECO-PALS (the Holy Family parish Eco group which comprises corporate professionals engaged in eco activities). We also work closely with our neighbours in the vicinity - Vedruna sisters, Divya Jyoti sisters, Snehasadan (a registered home for rescued street children), Divine Child School, & Holy Family parish. Our Jesuit networks extend to the works done at Maharashtra Prabodhan Seva Mandal, Nashik (https://mpsm.in), Shanti Seva Mandal at Manor, Janhit Vikas Trust at Raigad, and various other groups.

1. Awareness: To heighten the awareness of the many people who come here regarding 

bio-diversity, use of sustainable and renewable energy, proper management of waste, and 

the cultivation of a lifestyle that embodies good earth-centred practices.  

2. Good ecological models: To develop models on campus (good eco-practices) which 

people can replicate in their own homes and places of work.  

3. Ongoing training: To train ourselves (Jesuits) to be ambassadors working towards 

building a sustainable planet.