<p>Long ago, Bengaluru used to be a beautiful city, when people marvelled at the greenery, the clean, open spaces and the pleasant climate. But those days are long gone. Fortunately, many proactive citizens have been stepping in to take responsibility for the waste generated over time and bring about effective change.<br /><br /></p>.<p>One such citizen action group is the Kasa Muktha Bellandur (KMB). KMB evolved into an active citizen movement for responsible waste management from one community starting segregation at source in 2010. Two years later, the movement expanded to take responsibility of segregated waste outside their community gate too. <br /><br />“Work started on creating destinations for wet waste as well as finding responsible vendors for collection and transportation. Other communities also started reaching out to KMB for guidance,” says member Malini Parmar.<br /><br />Meera Nair, another member, says their vision encompasses three focal points. “We envisage segregation at source to be a simple, effective and crucial first step in waste processing. We want waste management to be decentralised at the ward level to avoid landfills which infringe on the basic rights of people elsewhere. We envision a zero-waste Bengaluru and India, where everyone owns their waste and works to reduce it.”<br /><br />KMB has helped initiate waste segregation at source, using a standard colour coded system, in more than 12,000 households in Bellandur. As per this system called ‘2bin1bag’, the food waste goes into the green bin, the dry recyclable waste into the white bag and the reject goes into the red bin. <br /><br />Similarly, the HSR Citizen Forum was started by Dr Shanthi Tummala, a dentist, who is now an environmentalist. She is joined by like-minded citizens in this initiative. The ongoing work includes segregation of garbage at source, as per the 2bin1bag model, by residents, commercial establishments and eateries in HSR Layout. “We aim for only five percent rejects to go to landfills,”says Shanthi. <br /><br />The forum has achieved a lot since its inception. “More than 7,000 kg of wet waste is going to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation for composting from HSR Layout everyday. With help from BBMP officials, we are ensuring the implementation of the 2bin1bag model across the area and that no garbage is given in plastic covers. Defaulters are penalised. Many garbage points have been cancelled and subsequently beautified. Also, no dumping of garbage has happened till date as our motivational drives have been very effective,” she shares adding, “HSR Citizen Forum, along with RWA, has also been instrumental in preserving public parks– illegal encroachment has been stopped and herbal plantation has been initiated.”<br /><br />They have conducted campaigns and nurtured children, in many schools in HSR Layout, towards active citizenship. Residing in Malleswaram, Vani Murthy started ‘We Care for Malleswaram’ together with other residents. The focus of the group is sensitising people about the issue of garbage which includes reducing trash, waste management, composting and urban farming. They strongly advocate the 2bin1bag model and share their practices with everyone — in the City, in other districts and outside the state too — through participation in talks and seminars. <br /><br />“Some of our members regularly cycle so as to reduce the use of natural resources. Efforts are made to carpool as much as possible. We actualise the concept of ‘eco-friendly’– refusing disposables and carrying steel tumblers and plates to eat, whether its for a meet, to work or even to weddings. Many carry their own ‘dabbas’ to bakeries to buy biscuits and avoid packaged goods,” she says. <br /><br />They have visual demos showcasing different categories of waste and different kinds of composting. The recyclables are sent to the dry waste collection centre in Malleswaram and they encourage people to do their own composting and terrace gardening.<br /><br />Together with other citizen action groups in other localities, activists from all these groups are part of |several citywide initiatives around solid waste management.<br /><br />One can also visit their stalls in Cubbon Park on the first Sunday of every month and take the first step towards waste segregation.<br /></p>
<p>Long ago, Bengaluru used to be a beautiful city, when people marvelled at the greenery, the clean, open spaces and the pleasant climate. But those days are long gone. Fortunately, many proactive citizens have been stepping in to take responsibility for the waste generated over time and bring about effective change.<br /><br /></p>.<p>One such citizen action group is the Kasa Muktha Bellandur (KMB). KMB evolved into an active citizen movement for responsible waste management from one community starting segregation at source in 2010. Two years later, the movement expanded to take responsibility of segregated waste outside their community gate too. <br /><br />“Work started on creating destinations for wet waste as well as finding responsible vendors for collection and transportation. Other communities also started reaching out to KMB for guidance,” says member Malini Parmar.<br /><br />Meera Nair, another member, says their vision encompasses three focal points. “We envisage segregation at source to be a simple, effective and crucial first step in waste processing. We want waste management to be decentralised at the ward level to avoid landfills which infringe on the basic rights of people elsewhere. We envision a zero-waste Bengaluru and India, where everyone owns their waste and works to reduce it.”<br /><br />KMB has helped initiate waste segregation at source, using a standard colour coded system, in more than 12,000 households in Bellandur. As per this system called ‘2bin1bag’, the food waste goes into the green bin, the dry recyclable waste into the white bag and the reject goes into the red bin. <br /><br />Similarly, the HSR Citizen Forum was started by Dr Shanthi Tummala, a dentist, who is now an environmentalist. She is joined by like-minded citizens in this initiative. The ongoing work includes segregation of garbage at source, as per the 2bin1bag model, by residents, commercial establishments and eateries in HSR Layout. “We aim for only five percent rejects to go to landfills,”says Shanthi. <br /><br />The forum has achieved a lot since its inception. “More than 7,000 kg of wet waste is going to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation for composting from HSR Layout everyday. With help from BBMP officials, we are ensuring the implementation of the 2bin1bag model across the area and that no garbage is given in plastic covers. Defaulters are penalised. Many garbage points have been cancelled and subsequently beautified. Also, no dumping of garbage has happened till date as our motivational drives have been very effective,” she shares adding, “HSR Citizen Forum, along with RWA, has also been instrumental in preserving public parks– illegal encroachment has been stopped and herbal plantation has been initiated.”<br /><br />They have conducted campaigns and nurtured children, in many schools in HSR Layout, towards active citizenship. Residing in Malleswaram, Vani Murthy started ‘We Care for Malleswaram’ together with other residents. The focus of the group is sensitising people about the issue of garbage which includes reducing trash, waste management, composting and urban farming. They strongly advocate the 2bin1bag model and share their practices with everyone — in the City, in other districts and outside the state too — through participation in talks and seminars. <br /><br />“Some of our members regularly cycle so as to reduce the use of natural resources. Efforts are made to carpool as much as possible. We actualise the concept of ‘eco-friendly’– refusing disposables and carrying steel tumblers and plates to eat, whether its for a meet, to work or even to weddings. Many carry their own ‘dabbas’ to bakeries to buy biscuits and avoid packaged goods,” she says. <br /><br />They have visual demos showcasing different categories of waste and different kinds of composting. The recyclables are sent to the dry waste collection centre in Malleswaram and they encourage people to do their own composting and terrace gardening.<br /><br />Together with other citizen action groups in other localities, activists from all these groups are part of |several citywide initiatives around solid waste management.<br /><br />One can also visit their stalls in Cubbon Park on the first Sunday of every month and take the first step towards waste segregation.<br /></p>
