A workshop on “”Effective Waste Management” was conducted on Tuesday, July 14 2015 for students of Grades 5th to 8th. The main aim of this workshop was to sensitize the students on the importance of waste management and its connection with cleanliness and climate change. The workshop was conducted by Ms. Kalpana Andhare of Stree Mukti Sanghatana.
The thrust of the workshop was to reinforce the three golden principles of “Reduce, Recycle and Reuse”. The students were encouraged to “refuse” using plastic to the extent possible. Methods on how to reduce the usage of plastic in our daily lives were discussed. Students interacted very well with Ms. Andhare and were aware that simple actions like dumping plastic bottles, wrappers, food waste etc. carelessly can amount to generating tones of garbage which cannot be recycled effectively. Students were asked to be responsible and take action to minimize the usage of plastics in these simple yet effective ways:
– Carry cloth bags while going out to shop in the local market/store
– Use newspapers to wrap gifts
– Use bottles of shampoo instead of sachets. Bottles are easily recycled
– Observe “No waste Meal” atleast once a week with family and in school.
– Follow the Dry/Wet garbage policy at home. This will automatically reduce the amount of garbage going to the dumping grounds and also make it easy to segregate and effectively recycle.
The students were shown by way of a short film the benefits of recycling bio-degradable wastes and the harmful effects of hazardous wastes. They pledged to take responsibility in keeping the environment safe. They understood that if these small steps are implemented consciously, it would result in creating an environment that is safe and healthy.
