As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan completed three years on 2 October 2017, students of a Navi Mumbai school held a cleanliness drive to make a point.
Nikhilesh Iyer’s report published in The Better India said that students of Samta Hindu Vidyalaya, Turbhe were taught how to handle waste scientifically by a Navi Mumbai group. ‘Educators for Equality’ trained around 200 students from the school.
It was the students of 9th and 10th classes who took out the drive. They raised slogans to promote cleanliness and waste segregation.
The students, who left from the school at 9:00 am, used broomsticks, trash cans and trolleys. They went to several streets nearby their school, cleaning and segregating whatever waste that came their way.
‘Prayaas’, an NGO working for sustainable development, gave gloves, nose masks and caps for the campaign.
Waste Segregation and Volume Reduction
The students focused on segregating different kind of waste and then reducing its volume using innovative methods.
Non-biodegradable waste like polythene and food wrappers were stuffed into 30 plastic bottles. This resulted in the volume of the waste being reduced by over 10 times.
About 25 kg of leaves, paper and leftover food, which comprise biodegradable waste were separated from rest of the garbage. Thermocol waste was mixed with acetone. This reduced its volume by 50 times.
Students were also taught how to treat organic waste.
After all the hard work, the students were rewarded with a puppet show performed by professional puppeteers.
We experienced the hardships and perils that safai karmcharis encounter every day. It does not make much sense to simply collect all waste and dump them in a common dustbin once in a year. The fullest utilisation is only possible by careful segregation of source in a scientific manner, at grassroots level and day-to-day basis, and inculcate the habit of transforming ‘waste’ into valuable materials!Volunteers to The Better India
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