In this blog series we have looked at various aspects related to cleanliness, waste management, plantation etc. In this concluding part we would like to focus on general awareness. Publicity and Information The necessity to ensure that stakeholders and participants are involved in the scheme at an early stage, for maximizing acceptance and participation rates, exact information, publicity and parlance is pivotal. Different strata of society will require different forms of communication. Corporates and offices shall require being informed about minimizing paper usage, reusing of plastic packets and switching to non-plastic cutlery at their dining areas. Some areas will require very intensive publicity campaign involving direct mailing to householders presentations in villages, campaigns in schools and retirement homes, and advertisements in newspapers and on television and radio.  Composting schemes tend to be popular with the local population, creating jobs and a ‘fe

In this blog series we have looked at an overview of our waste situation and some different aspects of waste management . Here we shall go through certain minor aspects, even some lifestyle changes that can go a long way in achieving a Swachh Bharat. Just Say No To Plastic It’s a choke until death. The Earth is choking until plastic fills every inch of land and every cusec of water. It is giving rise to plastic pollution which is adversely affecting wildlife, their habitat and our ecosystems.  World Economic Forum report says that by 2050, fishes will not find any oxygen, hence space to live because of the plastic debris. Plastic, when dumped into landfills release harmful greenhouse gases. A foam plastic cup will take 50 years, a plastic beverage holder 400 years, a disposable diaper 450 years, and fishing line will take 600 years to degrade. Start by reusing, plastic cups, folders and taking your own bags for shopping. When it is dumped into landfills, it gener

In this blog series we attempt to cover all these aspects with our suggestions and recommendations towards achieiving a clean India or a Swachh Bharat. In our first part of this series we looked at an overview of the situation. Here we will try to look at waste management at a deeper level. Separate Collection of the Waste Waste is not waste until it is wasted. If we separate waste at sources, we will earn, learn and save. This "Not In My Backyard (NIMBY)" syndrome amongst the uber users will receive a hard-hit from separation of biodegradable wastes at source which offers the opportunity of selling home-made compost.  When we eat, mow the lawn or prune trees, we produce waste. But this waste is a special type of waste. It can easily be transformed into a useful product that can enhance the quality of our soils, especially the soils that an intensive agricultural system is making less fertile. This product is compost. A successful separation of ‘clean

India is one big nation. We are rich in cultural heritage. Over century we’ve developed, economically, especially the middle class. About 43% of population resides in urban areas, which were 11.4% according to 1901 census, 28.53% in the 2001 census and crossed 30% as per 2011 census, standing at 31.16%. There are 53 urban agglomerations in India with a population of 1 million or more as of 2011 against 35 in 2001. Our transcendence can be termed as “a consumerist culture”, where virtually every item purchased comes fixed in a box wrapped in a bubble sheet. In science, this fact reduces time of impact and absorbs the momentum after collision but in reality it is aggregating to an irreparable damage to environment. It is waste generation.  India generates 62 million tonnes out of which 43 million Tonnes Per Annum is collected from source. Read below: 5.6 million tonnes is plastic waste 0.17 million tonnes is biomedical waste, 15 lakh tonne is e-waste 7.90 million TPA

A volunteer shares a few lifestyle changes he has adopted over past few years as his contribution towards a clean India and climate action: 1. Consumerism has done a lot of harm to the society. This rat race of owning things to look cool or for self-esteem has led people to BUY things they DON'T need. I buy ONLY what is necessary. Following the first R in waste management REDUCE, REUSE RECYCLE. 2. I try to REUSE whatever waste I have in some or the other form. For example, using an expired credit card as a key chain. Or I use thermocol packing material as a mini stand for my laptop, using old towel as a mop, a discarded CD as a tea-coaster etc. 3. I own a car and a scooter but I commute to office by metro. I use metro as extensively as possible. Imagine doing that in a city that's obsessed with the culture of showing off! I walk to places within 1-1.5 kms. I'll take a scooter only if it's a time-critical errand. For long distances, I take scooter only if t

Home-made Compost My Motivation There can be different motivating factors for composting your organic waste at home. Compost is an excellent source of nutrition for your plants and home composting ensures it is free of any added chemicals. However, I do not have many plants at the ground floor, where I live. So, my motivation was different. I wanted to start the practice of segregating our household waste into: Wet Waste including kitchen waste such as fruits and vegetable peels, leftover raw food etc. Dry Waste including plastic, paper, cardboard etc. Why Segregate? It is important to segregate our waste because doing so makes waste a resource. Wet waste can yield products like compost and dry waste can be recycled. In both cases we can reduce our contribution to our local dhalaos . These dhalaos become a breeding spot for flies and other insects that are harmful to our health. Further, segregating also ensures that your waste collector won’t have to put thei

We Mean To Clean shares experience of their Noida City Centre Spotfix on April 30, 2017 There are experiences which can alter the dimensions of mind and mould it to think broadly. With this as the motto We Mean To Clean (WMTC) conducted their another cleanliness drive at Noida City Centre Metro Station’s parking. When one exited from the terminus of uber class commuting transport, the smeared face of staunch neglect was inevitable. Although there is a considerably well maintained Sulabh Toilet Complex, the wall of parking bay actually radiated some different colors due to open urination. Adding to the woes, the path for the pedestrians was the poor cousin of the stench scenario. When WMTC volunteers got to know about this, they visited the spot. In a general checkup of the spot, the area was diagnosed with sporadic cleaning, minimal enforcement and zero awareness. So as a general strategy, for the basic cleansing NOIDA authority was approached. With the coordina

BRILLIANT!!! Kudos to the volunteers for such tremendous effort! Over 100 people, including workers from NOIDA authority, turned up for this on an early Sunday morning! Join us: http://wmtc.org.in

We Mean To Clean shares experience of their Janak Cinema Complex Spotfix on January 28, 2017 Anticipating a chilly January morning, the team assembled slightly late - around 11 AM - on Saturday, the 28th at the Janak Cinema Complex, in Janakpuri - a posh, residential locality of Delhi. Although it has - like any other residential colony of Delhi - a list of problems, the most visible of them was an absence of a public hygiene consciousness.  That became instantly clear when we noticed that the community shopping complex around the cinema hall - which was essentially the target for the day - had no dustbins installed anywhere. What it did have was filth: garbage in multiple heaps beside each of the temporary vendors that set up shop at such locations, pillars riddled with posters advertising everything under the sun. Rains the previous night had worsened the situation with the main approach road to the complex having become waterlogged. Amidst the aforementioned circumstance