Garbage Garbage Everywhere!

Whitefield. Clean this up!

Are you disgusted by the garbage that you see all over? An inconvenient truth is that you (yes that’s not a typo) are responsible for it. So read on to get a gist.

Two problems face us

1. Massive amounts of Garbage we are generating
2. Streets full of Litter

Problem 1: Massive amounts of Garbage we are generating

Mandur the landfill for our area is exploding and cannot take garbage at the pace we are generating.  We had a crisis with it recently and you know what can happen if it repeats. Logic tells you that sending less stuff there will help us all. To send less stuff there, you need to buy less. If you cant do that, atleast buy recyclable, eco, green products. The least you can do however is Segregate. Segregation will ensure that ONLY 10% of all the garbage you generate will go to the landfill.  A whole bunch of your questions are answered later (Eg: Don’t the ragpickers segregate it all? Why should I bother? ).  Until you read up and understand all the details, just follow the steps for Segregation  because its now the law and you can be sent to jail.

Resident’s Role Simplified

1. Just Segregate, its easy
2. Take bags from home with you to shop and say NO to all plastic bags you get.
3. Check if the shopkeeper you are visiting has a bin.
4. Ask the shopkeeper why he keeps his front so littered
5. Snigger at your neighbor that does not segregate or comes home with plastic shopping bags.
6. Check with your MC on why you are not a 7 star community yet. It could affect your property price
7. Adopt your Zone

Your Association’s Role

1. Compost your wet waste. Alternatively ensure your wet waste is being composted where it ends up(not the case quite often)
2. Provide a clear process for you to manage your  Wet, Sanitary, E-Waste, Medical Waste, Hazardous Waste, Recyclable Paper and Plastic.  Each category may need separate process for pick-up.
3. Report monthly on quantum of “Rejects to Landfill” in your association

FAQs

Problem 2: Streets full of Litter

The aesthetics is the least of our problems. Dengue, Stray Dogs, and other health issues are the bigger ones and especially affect the residents/workers right around the area. To this end, the Waste Management Team of Whitefield Rising negotiated a challenge with BBMP to take on a 1 km stretch from Varthur Kodi to Whitefield Club and with citizen partnership, transform it into an ideal stretch. BBMP not only took on the challenge but extended the 1km to 4 kms – Thubarahalli to Hopefarm! The 3 month challenge ends on Sep 14^th. Through this as well as other discussions with experts like “The Ugly Indian” or “Lets do it Delhi”, we have multiple reasons uncovered. Understanding the reasons, leads us to the proposed solutions.

1. No bins anywhere in sight. So where to toss that packet of kurkure or candy wrapper?
2. Shop owners don’t have their own bins so all their garbage finds their way to the street (nicely tucked away to the side of the shop just outside the shop’s own territory)
3. Where there is open or un-owned/unmonitored space, people feel free to toss their garbage there knowing there will be no repercussions.
4. One person tosses garbage in a place and soon it attracts more!
5. Typical ugly spots come up around trees, BWSSB enclosures, Bus Stops, or areas that look ugly anyway – broken pavement, existing garbage.
6. The pick-up of garbage seems ineffective. The same piece of garbage seems to be touched by so many people before it makes it to the landfill!
7. Sweepers seem to need training on “how to sweep” and collect the garbage. A lackluster effort kicking up dust on main roads at peak traffic time is not helping.
8. Garbage trucks picking up garbage seem to need training on how to “properly” pick it “All” up
9. Many residential lanes have “erratic” pick up of garbage and hence resort to dumping their daily garbage wherever they can. Often in a publicly accepted area.
10. We seem to be “ugly” Indians. There are numerous examples daily of people driving by the main streets in their “Car”, rolling down their window and voila, tossing out a bag of garbage which may or may not land in the unofficial pile already collecting on the street.
11. The sweepers seem to be listless and reluctant to do their jobs

Waste Management Team at it!

The Whitefield Rising Waste Management team is working systematically on all this and are coming up with standards for Whitefield residents and businesses. Some glimpses..

1. All Shops HAVE to have bins
2. All shops will keep their frontage clean
3. Sweepers will sweep not just the roads but sidewalks as well and collect garbage in “Bins” rather than mound them on the road. So proper training required.
4. BBMP trucks will come and collect each day and their activity will be recorded everyday via  a citizen watch process. New process will be required.
5. Fines will be levied on all those flouting these rules.
6. We need to understand and take care of those that are cleaning out our streets ie the Pourakarmikas (Sweepers)
7. Backend systems will need to be improved so that only 10% or less of the garbage generated by Whitefield leaves Whitefield. This means that a DWCC, E-Waste recycling and safely disposing all Hazardous waste will need to be addressed.