Techie goes on waste exercise
Shashwathi Bhanukumar
Posted On Sunday, March 21, 2010 at Bangalore Mirror
Her mission was to advocate the importance of segregation of waste at Brigade Gardenia in J P Nagar 7th Phase, which has some 1,024 flats. And, she has accomplished her task. Partnering Divya are children living in the complex.
Divya (left) explains importance of segregating waste to a resident of Brigade Gardenia in J P Nagar
After working continuously for a decade in Infosys, she went on a three-month sabbatical to do things she could not, due to a hectic schedule. She used this time to inculcate in residents the culture of waste segregation. To begin with, she roped in 62 families.
DRAWING INSPIRATION
It all started in November last year. “My husband’s friend told us how they were segregating waste in their apartment in Marathahalli and we thought of doing something here,” she said. Divya contacted the present and past members of her apartment’s association and told them of her plan. “I also got in touch with the Samarthanam Trust, which collects segregated waste from apartments,” she said. Getting residents to segregate waste wasn’t easy. “That is why I roped in 20 houses as a pilot project. Now, there are 62 houses which are a part of this initiative and they segregate waste every day,” she said.
DRAWING INSPIRATION
It all started in November last year. “My husband’s friend told us how they were segregating waste in their apartment in Marathahalli and we thought of doing something here,” she said. Divya contacted the present and past members of her apartment’s association and told them of her plan. “I also got in touch with the Samarthanam Trust, which collects segregated waste from apartments,” she said. Getting residents to segregate waste wasn’t easy. “That is why I roped in 20 houses as a pilot project. Now, there are 62 houses which are a part of this initiative and they segregate waste every day,” she said.
HOW TO DO
Divya has given residents a hand-out explaining how to segregate waste. They segregate dry waste and e-waste though. “Bio-waste needs to be burned first, which is not possible here. The wet waste needs to be collected every day, which is done by the housekeeping staff, she said. Residents are given three ‘marked’ bags for disposing paper, plastic and metals. While paper waste would include tickets, carton boxes and soap wrappers, plastic waste includes toys, chocolate wrappers and milk pouches. Metal items include tetra packs, aluminium foil and used batteries.
These segregated items are emptied into separate bins kept in the basement and labelled accordingly. The waste is collected once in two weeks.
FOR A CAUSE
“I keep the 62 families informed via SMSes and mails on what time Samarthanam Trust staff would come to collect the waste. So far, we have given 120 kg of waste to the trust. They sell it to various people and use the money collected to help the disabled children,” said Divya.
FOR A CAUSE
“I keep the 62 families informed via SMSes and mails on what time Samarthanam Trust staff would come to collect the waste. So far, we have given 120 kg of waste to the trust. They sell it to various people and use the money collected to help the disabled children,” said Divya.
She also visits the nearby shops to find out how many plastic bags they use every day. “I go around and request customers to bring down the use of plastic bags,” she said.
TIPS FOR STUDENTS
TIPS FOR STUDENTS
Divya plans to give a presentation on March 26 to students of Brigade School. “They will do a community project ‘say no to plastic’ in their neighbourhood during their summer vacation. They will talk to residents and create awareness on taking their own bags for shopping, enrol grocery and vegetable shops in the neighbourhood to display on boards statistics on plastic bags used per day/per month/per year and request customers to bring their own bags,” she added.
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