We Mean To Clean helped fix a spot; request was received on radio Lakshmibai Nagar is a posh residential government residential neighbourhood in New Delhi. This neighbourhood has attractions such as the Sanjay Gandhi Lake Park and is in close proximity to shoppers' paradises such as Sarojini Nagar market and INA market. Lakshmibai Nagar's sanitation is under the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). And those of you who've seen NDMC areas would know how clean they are. A walk around this lush green neighbourhood is a treat for your mind, body and soul. However, discovering a spot that's exploited for defecation can be a bit disappointing. But it's good to have some responsible citizens who shoulder responsibility to solve civic issues. One such resident gave us a call when we appeared on BIG 92.7 FM's Dilli Meri Jaan, hosted by RJ Richa Anirudh. The resident told us that their neighbourhood had an open defecation spot which they wan...

We Mean To Clean shares experience of their Saket Spotfix on November 13, 2016 The morning of November 13, 2016, Sunday, saw the team assemble at Saket. For the uninitiated, Saket is probably one of Delhi’s busiest localities. It houses residential neighbourhoods, swanky malls and even a few tourist locations. And thus, inescapably, has a very challenging public sanitation situation. Apart from the usual problem that most of this city faces - open, unsegregated municipal waste disposal spots, sporadic and spotty collection of this waste and public apathy - Saket has a few problems of its own. One of these problems became evident when representatives of the Max Super Specialty Hospital at Saket got in touch with us about a location right outside their premises, on the main road cutting through Saket. A designated dhalao  (local garbage collection area) had been transformed into a large open dumping yard; to add to that, massive amounts of construction debris - referred...

We Mean To Clean shares their ideas to celebrate Diwali in an eco-friendly yet enjoyable way! It’s that time of the year again. The biggest festivals of all. A day to be with family. A day full of auspiciousness, togetherness and love. The most royal of all, the festival of lights… yes, Diwali. We all know how our air quality goes down on this night, especially in a city like Delhi, where air quality is already poor. So, here we are to offer you some suggestions to celebrate Diwali in an eco-friendly way! We hope you’ll like these ideas. 1. Avoid Firecrackers This is a common one and it goes without saying. Firecrackers not only add to air pollution but they also cause sound pollution. High decibel sound is especially harmful for sensitive ears of infants and small children. And let’s also show some compassion to our pets and stray animals who live in our vicinity. And worse, they emit toxic fumes which are harmful for our health. Additionally, we all know the amount...

Change is difficult but not impossible. Our cleanup drive on Oct 2, 2016 was able to make people responsible about littering. India is making a lot of attempts to shed its 'filthy' image. While a lot is being done in various aspects to that effect, some voices are suggesting we need a sea change in our attitude towards littering. Is it possible to change an indifferent attitude towards garbage, in a matter of a few days, that sadly became an acceptable part of our culture? And that too in a city like Delhi where people lack a sense of belongingness? Perhaps We Mean To Clean (WMTC) can provide answers. WMTC is a citizen-led initiative conducting spotfixes and cleanliness drives in the region. We celebrated our second anniversary on Oct 2, 2016 by conducting a spotfix. Considering it coincides with Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary and Rashtriya Swachhta Diwas, there couldn’t be a more befitting ode to the day’s significance! Of course, we wanted to do somethin...

This Sunday - October 2, 2016 - marks the 147th birth anniversary of the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi. But even more significantly for us, it also marks the second anniversary of the formation of our volunteer group - We Mean To Clean. These two years have seen us go through various ups, and some downs; we have swelled in our number - but still only a small army on the ground. This sinusoidal journey has brought along with it a lot of insight on how to make our city clean - and in an attempt at sharing some of that insight, here we enlist some of the challenges we have faced over this time, as well as proposed solutions to those problems: 1. Littering Littering is probably the most well-known and visible problem of them all - widely discussed, but very rarely acted upon. The most common excuse that we have heard from people littering in general is that there is no dustbin nearby - it is as if the lack of a dustbin in their vicinity automatically rids them of any ...

Date: 25-June-2016 No. of Volunteers: 29 Time: 2 Hours We were invited by India@75 team (a CII initiative) to participate in their cleanliness drive at CP. Our enthusiastic team of volunteers showed up in big numbers and removed paan-stains from pillars at inner circle in CP. We also painted them to restore their look. Our volunteers also spoke to some of the local vendors sitting around and big showrooms such as those of United Colors Of Benetton and Asian Paints and requested them all to help clean the surroundings clean. It'll only help their business after-all. WE MEAN TO CLEAN was also thrilled to be accompanied by Temsutula Imsong and Shailesh Pandey.  And our team thanks them to guide us with ideas for our future drives and their assured continued support.  We also assure them of our continued participation in nationwide shramdaan . We were also joined by Farzz NGO Team from Bangalore, including two Russians! We sincerely thank them for their support and hope to collabo...

Date: 27-Mar-16 Number of Volunteers: 4 You must remember or must have seen our subway spotfix at Dabri Mor on 13-Mar-16 . We'd removed posters from that subway entrance wall and repainted it to restore it. We did the same activity on the other side of the subway this time. Few posters, yes. But they make the job even more labourious. Why? Because they're firmly stuck to the wall and removing them is no easy task. But our volunteers can still do it! Metal plates and metal brushes were used to remove these posters. Our team in action. Wetting those posters with water helps soften their grip on the wall. After that removing them is easy. Our volunteers repainting the wall to restore it to its original state. It's important to have these black and yellow stripes as it's turn and these stripes serve as a caution for drivers. Few volunteers but tremendous work done.

Date: 13-Mar-2016 Number of Volunteers: 21 This subway entrance wall was covered with layers of posters. This subway is at a turn and is coloured with black and yellow stripes indicating caution, but the posters hid their significance beneath them. Our volunteers gathered on Sunday morning and removed all the posters and then painted the wall in its original colours. Few of the volunteers joined us from the crowd including four children. These children had helped us earlier also with cleaning Dabri Mor Flyover pillars ( https://www.facebook.com/pg/WeMeanToCleanMeetup/photos/?tab=album&album_id=733960576736510 ). We had also requested Pioneer Academy to help us in removing their own posters. Although they'd agreed to help but sadly none came from their end. After five hours of dedicated work we were able to restore the wall. Inspired? Then join us: http://wmtc.org.in