The members of CLEAN programme
are made aware of the glaring (but overlooked) problem of waste in
our cities. Activities and film shows have made students aware
of the solid waste problem in urban areas and their role in
reducing it. Issues like the ill effects of polybags, littering
on our streets, excessive consumerism are all discussed and
deliberated with student groups. Clean-up drives in local parks
and markets are organised in which students very
enthusiastically help in cleaning up and drive home the message
that adults should not indulge in littering.
With the objective of managing
the waste locally through simple techniques, natural composting,
vermicomposting, paper recycling and Reuse Society have been
initiated in schools and community.
Composting
Composting is, in
the broadest terms, the biological reduction of organic wastes
to humus. Whenever a plant / animal dies, its remains are
attacked by soil micro-organisms and are reduced to an
earthlike substance that is beneficial for the growth of plant
(roots). This process is repeated universally and continuously
in every part of the world, and is a part of the wheel of life.
Two methods of Composting
undertaken at the school level are Vermicomposting and Natural
Composting.
Natural Composting
In natural composting, the waste decomposes with
the aid of other factors such as insects, worms and tiny
microbes. This is possible in each and every school,
irrespective of the amount of waste they generate. Schools that
do not have their own canteens and consequently have little
biodegradable waste generated can adopt this project. They can
decompose all their garden waste easily by alternatively
layering a pit ( 1 m deep, 1 m wide and 1 m.long, as per
convenience) with the waste and soil. This form of composting is
recommended particularly for those schools which have a lot of
garden waste like dried leaves that can be saved from burning.
The compost thus generated is used in the school lawns and
gardens as a substitute for manure, thus saving the cost of fertilisers.
Vermicomposting
This is the process through
which we can convert biodegradable waste into rich humus by
using earthworms. After an earthworm ingests organic matter, the
matter undergoes chemical changes and what comes out is a rich
plant food. This makes our soil fertile and plants stronger.
Then we need not buy chemical fertilisers.
Many CLEAN-India schools, that
have their own canteens and gardens have adopted this project.
Hands-on-experience in vermicomposting shows students effective
ways of taking care of biodegradable waste. The project not only
solves the problem of solid waste to an extent and gives rich
compost in return, it also helps students realize the importance
of small creatures like earthworms and helps them shed their
fear. In the process it brings alive the concepts learnt in
class about decomposition in nature and how earthworms function.
In many schools, the compost produced is also sold to the
parents. Few schools like Shri Ram and Joseph and Mary in Delhi
are now providing earthworms and helping people of nearby
villages to initiate their own vermicomposting units.
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Re-Use
Society
A king once offered five
hundred garments to a disciple of Buddha.
The king asked the disciple what he would do with so many garments
?
The Disciple replied : " Oh King, many of our brothers are
in rags:I am going to distribute the garments among
brothers."
What will you do with the old garments ?
We will make bed - covers out of them.
What will you do with the old bed - covers ?
We will make pillow - cases out of them.
What will you do with the old pillow - cases ?
We will make floor - covers out of them.
What will you do with the old floor - covers ?
We will use them for foot towels .
What will you do with the old foot - towels ?
Your highness, we will tear them into pieces,
mix them with mud and use the mud to plaster the house walls.
What is waste for you, is
wealth for somebody else. There has been a tradition in India of
finding an innovative use for every thing: - tyres, battery
cases, plastic bins and what not. A similar thing is started in
School which saves both the environment and money in the bargain,
in addition to inculcating in students a habit of not discarding
things unthinkingly.
Apart from making innovative
things from discarded things in the Crafts Period, two major
activities are suggested to the school under the Reuse Society. The first activity is to
exchange books and even notes at the beginning of each academic
session. Students
of a senior class give the books to the students of a junior
class and, in turn, receive books from the senior section, and a
chain is established throughout the school. This way a lot of
paper and consequently trees can be saved.
The next major activity in the
Reuse Society is to
donate books and outgrown clothes, toys, etc. The books / story books
/comics that have been read and re-read, the clothes and shoes
that have outgrown, are collected in schools and given to the
less fortunate children of the society. Such collection is
presented to Child Welfare organizations, slums, orphanages etc.
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