When 24-year-old Mandeep Shangwan moved from Haryana to Delhi for his master’s degree, he couldn’t help but notice the lack of abundant greenery and nature amidst the pollution and vehicles in the national capital.
An avid gardener, as soon as Mandeep saw the mounds of plastic waste thrown in the campus of the Delhi School of Social Work, he knew it lacked an intentional effort toward sustainability.
Rather than wait for change, he took root in 2024, cultivating Green Dreams — the college’s inaugural eco-club since 1946 — by establishing a vertical garden and fostering ecological awareness.
Making use of plastic bottles
Mandeep (26) has always been invested in gardening and nature. “From taking saplings from our neighbour’s yard when I was a kid to growing hundreds of plants from a few spider and shade plant cuttings given by my grandmother, I have done it all,” shares Mandeep.
To strengthen his foundation in gardening, Mandeep took up a course on organic farming from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) during COVID-19. “This experience made me understand the difference between conventional and organic practices, along with the health benefits of consuming organically grown food,” he says.
When Mandeep entered the Delhi campus, all that he could see was plastic waste, especially bottles, lying around and ruining the ambience. “These bottles reminded me of a vertical gardening project that I had done earlier using motor oil cans. The project was also selected as one of the top two entries among 500 virtual exhibitors. So I decided, why not implement the same here?” Mandeep says, explaining the idea behind Green Dreams.
Green Dreams and what they do
Green Dreams was started in 2024 as a student-led initiative with a simple but powerful goal: to practice sustainability and be involved in eco-friendly practices around the campus. “We are a group of 55 volunteers who are students of social work,” shares Mandeep.
“I was happy when Mandeep took the initiative to start an eco club in the department,” shares Prof Sanjay Roy, the head of the Department of Social Work.
“The college did have its greenery, but they were just trees,” shares Sanjay. “As someone who has seen how the campus has transformed, Green Dreams was necessary, not only for the beautification of the campus but also to remind students not to take nature for granted,” Sanjay, who is also an alumnus of the college, adds.
The first project that Green Dreams took up was setting up a vertical garden by reusing plastic bottles. “We collected the used plastic bottles from the campus, cleaned them up, and used the funnel part of the bottle,” explains Mandeep. This became the holder for each sapling. “We made around 20 such holders with the bottles, placed the sapling inside the mud-filled holder and installed it individually on one of the walls of the campus.”
What began as a small initiative with 18 members gained significant momentum after Green Dreams introduced vertical gardens and hosted an eco-friendly Teacher’s Day celebration, leading to a substantial increase in participation.
“We raised funds through internal contribution and conducted a sustainable event with games and food stalls,” shares Vidushi Sharma, a volunteer at the club. Their tangible impact of collecting Rs 2000 as profit after covering the expenses proved the seriousness and dedication of the volunteers.
After this celebration, the club was successful in setting up its second vertical garden near the pledge board of the campus. “Students and faculty members liked the creative and aesthetic use of trash,” shares Mandeep. He tries to conduct one eco-event per month.
Moving beyond vertical gardening
While Green Dreams is Mandeep and Piyush’s brainchild, the club operates as a flat organisation. “We have kept it this way so that people take initiative beyond their assigned role and suggest new ideas that can be implemented,” Mandeep explains.
“We have also created hanging baskets of plants which are hung on the window of each class. This idea was suggested by one of our volunteers,” he adds.
Since the inception of the club, the volunteers have been mindful of giving due recognition to Ramveer, Chander Prakash, and Nandlal Pal — the gardeners who have been maintaining the greenery of the campus for 20 years.
“We are organising an appreciation event to honour their hard work and recognise their contribution. In fact, they play the biggest role in our college’s ecosystem,” Mandeep says.
The team has been active in taking feedback and suggestions and implementing them diligently. “Our gardeners pointed out a problem where students were taking a shortcut across the grass instead of using the paved path to the hostel, which was damaging the lawn.”
Realising these continued actions had big consequences for these plants, they made a collective pledge to stick to the pavement to protect the grass and not dance on them during college events like the freshers’ party. “Now, the lawn is growing — a reminder that respect for nature starts with small, conscious choices,” Mandeep smiles.
With their primary focus on practical implementation, the club has also hosted guest speakers, like Dr Ekta Saroha, an Epidemiologist and Public Health Expert from IIHMR, who explored ‘Environment Health and Social Work Practice,’ and Dr Santhosh G, Founder of We Plant, who led a session titled ‘Saving the Seeds, Sowing Hope: Seed Bank Initiative.’
“Sensitisation efforts via seminars also help students get exposure to green social work, where civil societies and NGOs work with environmental activities,” Mandeep says, explaining that this ultimately helps students to make an informed career decision.
Their recent activity includes planting a sapling for each company that has been visiting the campus for placements. “We add the logo of the company on the sapling, which marks their presence amidst our greenery,” shares Mandeep.
Encouraging the next batch of students
With Mandeep and his batchmates graduating this May, he has been working hard to ensure a smooth transition to the next set of volunteers. “I hope the next batch is as driven as ours and creates more awareness towards sustainability and eco-consciousness — tangibly and theoretically,” the 24-year-old says.
“Before graduating, I want to try to establish a butterfly garden on the campus, which we failed to implement earlier. That would be a good milestone for our club,” he adds.
Mandeep’s vision is to leave a lasting legacy, planning to integrate Green Dreams into the department’s orientation programme. “I want to leave a small amount of funds for the next batch from our first salaries post securing a job as an encouragement for future members to learn the art of fundraising.”
If a group of students can transform their campus, what small steps can we take today in our colleges, workspaces and homes?
Edited by Arunava Banerjee. All images courtesy Green Dreams.
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