2023-08-23
Location: Bengali Basti
Date: 2021-07-23
Setting the bar high for source segregation and recycling in Rishikesh
Imagine a cluster with 200 households, a narrow lane, people coming out of their houses to dispose of their waste and getting back to their daily work within seconds! Our team in Rishikesh chose a challenging and exciting location for the ‘kooda Daan abhiyaan or donate your waste campaign. With an encouraging display of community participation and the Aviral team’s rigour, the campaign in Bengali Basti managed to convince a total of 70 households out of 144 to segregate their waste before donating it to us!
“Donate your Waste” or “Kooda Daan Abhiyaan” is a flagship campaign under Project Aviral that promotes a circular economy in communities. As part of this campaign, our team carries out interpersonal awareness sessions with each household in our pilot wards and informs residents about the possible recovery of resources from segregated dry waste. This campaign typically spans over 3-4 days and is divided into three stages i.e., first awareness sessions with households on source segregation of waste, second the commitment from households to segregate and store their dry waste, and third to donate their dry waste for recycling.
Between 21st to 23rd July, our team approached the residents of a densely populated, low-income residential area named ‘Bengali Basti’. With mostly packed houses, predominantly nestled in narrow lanes, it was a challenging task for the waste collection vehicle to reach every doorstep. The team also found that most households were disposing of their waste in a mixed form which makes recycling highly difficult.
The team came up with innovative methods to increase visibility and garner the attention of the Bengal Basti residents towards source segregation. We accompanied the collection staff and the collection vehicle which was used to spread awareness on proper disposal of waste through its loudspeaker. In addition, demonstrations on source segregation were given by the Aviral team to residents who were handing over mixed waste as an existing practice. This dedicated intervention made the awareness drive more practical and effective.
We distributed dry waste bags to 144 households out of which 70 households managed to segregate waste properly! We collected a total of 25 kgs of dry waste during this event and managed to achieve a 50% segregation rate, higher than usual, in Bengali Basti during the Kooda Dan Abhiyan campaign. We are confident that such initiatives motivate residents to properly manage their waste at home and contribute to a cleaner neighborhood and Ganga!
