Of the many achievements that Cognizance has earned, last year it also earned the title of being Carbon Neutral Festival. That’s right, Cognizance 2009 truly realised its dream of thinking energy and going green.

So what does Carbon Neutrality mean? Carbon neutrality, or having a net zero carbon footprint, refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset. Or in layman’s language, it means making sure we are not adding to Greenhouse Gases to the atmosphere and preventing Global Warming.

Cognizance is the second biggest Technical Festival in the whole of Asia, with the largest number of events on its schedule. Hence there is larger electricity consumption on the days of the events than normal lecture days. This is because many additional types of equipment (like speakers, microphones, computers, generators, sophisticated technical devices used in robotics, electronics, etc and generators) are also in use, apart from the numerous auditoriums and lecture halls in use. This is bound to create a substantial carbon footprint.

So how did we manage to neutralize the effect? This was done by the activity of planting trees at various places in the campus. Planting of trees is the only way to actually neutralize one’s GHG emissions (carbon credits is only a virtual method). Not only did IITR students themselves participate, but also many students from other colleges too contributed.

Hence Cognizance can be proud of leaving no carbon footprints that its later generation is going to regret.

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