Nothing goes waste
Posted On Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at Bangalore Mirror
For residents of Diamond District, off HAL Airport Road, even waste is dear. Hence, they have formed a zero waste management team called ‘Project Green Diamond’, which aims at not only segregating waste but also selling it and using the money for betterment of their housekeeping staff.
These residents, who are also Rotary Club members, realised they were sending out one truckload of garbage every day. So, together with the Century Galaxy Developers Ltd, the facility management team of India Builders which is in charge of Diamond District, decided to train the housekeeping staff.
Shalini Khanna Charles, an active member of the project and a resident, said, “Before embarking on the project, we conducted a lot of research. The first step included training the housekeeping staff.”
 |
| Members of Project Green Diamond (From left): Jacob Mendonsa, Shalini Khanna, Priyanka Gupta, Neera Madhok, Urmila Chandy, Minal Ajay Patel and Mini Sharma |
The plan was to find innovative ways to get other residents don a more active role. “We made posters with messages like, ‘We are generating 2,000 kg of waste daily’, so that people will become aware of the waste accumulation,” said Urmila M Chandy, another member. Urmila is also a Block Champion, a person entrusted with the task of making sure residents in every block properly segregate waste. This team made a presentation on Nov 21, attended by 200 residents. “We told them waste is of three kinds: dry, wet and toxic. Assuming that residents would have one bin in bathroom and kitchen, we gave them a blue bin for dry waste. And we gave them three stickers - green for wet waste, blue for dry and black for toxic waste,” said Shalini. Stickers like, ‘I am green! Are you?’ were also stuck on the letter boxes of residents who were a part of this initiative.
BI-MONTHLY CHECKS
The Block Champions also hold bi-monthly surprise checks. “These ‘champions’ accompany the housekeeping staff and check if residents are segregating the waste accordingly. The garbage is collected in three bags - blue, green and black,” said Mini Sharma, another resident.
To make sure zero waste management is sustainable, the team also has periodic events that reinforces its theme. Priyanka Gupta, another member, said, “On January 26, we had a carnival, where we asked children, elders and others to make products using waste materials. For instance, using a shoe box to make something interesting. In another event, we had a team relay, in which the baton was made of recycled paper.”
YOUNG BUT SUCCESSFUL
The team also sells waste such as plastic, cardboard, bottles and earn about Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per month. This money is then pumped into the system. “We use this money to improve the lives of our housekeeping staff. We buy them ration and provide them with gloves and masks,” said Neera Madhok, a member.
The team, on an average, sells 15-20 kg of plastic and 30-40 kg of paper every day.
WHAT WENT OUT (SINCE DEC 2009)
3,602 kg of waste paper sent out in 234 sacks
1,770 kg of plastic sent out in 191 sacks
1,317 kg of cardboard
2,334 glass bottles
279 kg of metal
2,298 aluminium cans
0 Response to "Nothing goes waste"
Post a Comment