JOIN USWhile Bangalore battles its increasing garbage problem, the BBMP has made yet another effort to spread more awareness about correction measures — the ‘Wake Up, Clean Up Bengaluru’ expo, which was held recently at Freedom Park.
“The idea of such an expo came about two and half months back. This needs to happen, as this is a platform that provides a buffet of options. In today’s world, peer pressure motivates everyone to contribute to the cause,” says Kalpana Kar, the orchestrator of the ‘Wake Up, Clean Up Bengaluru’ movement.
There were many different activities to explore as part of the expo.
Rithish Gopinath, a sixth-grader who attended the programme, describes one of them, saying, “We were given some garbage and asked to make reusable items from it. The whole idea is to reuse whatever is already out there and create awareness about the condition the City is in.”
Apart from this, ideas on reusing scrap — like using cut-out bottles to plant saplings — were also displayed.
Poster and collage-making competitions, quizzes and other activities were also conducted to spread more awareness.
“I’m interested in knowing how we can educate the children about their responsibility towards their surroundings. We have already conducted several workshops about segregation. I’m looking for more ideas to communicate the message to them,” says Jeevitha Gowda, assistant programme coordinator with the Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness.
One of the many interesting stalls that caught people’s attention was put up by Tetra Pak India.
It showcased a material made out of recycled tetra-paks, which is strong enough to use to construct swings, desks and benches. “We will be supplying these desks to government schools. Tetra-paks are 100 per cent recyclable and can be used to make something beneficial,”
says Swapoorna Sen, a volunteer.
A K Shyam, a visitor, feels that the waste generation in the City is much too high. He says, “I’m impressed with the efforts seen here. The present generation needs to know how to handle this problem and transform it into something useful.”
He adds with a smile, “I saw a stall which showed the generation of oil from plastic. Maybe, there will soon be someone who could generate petrol from the same — that would also be a solution to the ever-increasing petrol prices.”
The expo also included sessions on waste management for hotels, wedding halls and restaurants.
Basavaiah, a member of the BBMP Expert Committee, mentions, “More than 80 per cent of the waste generated by hotels is wet and organic in nature, which is suitable for converting into biogas. Composting is another option. The importance of segregation has to be emphasised, and hotels need to use paper over plastic material.”