Zero Waste Journey 5 : People Sustainability

Continued from zero waste series : Continuing from the Zero Waste Journey series .. AID Supported project at Tungabhadra Block, NGV, Bangalore . Topic Sustainability :People



People Sustainability 
 If we tend to think that something is NOT possible in  implementing waste management , it is ONLY the human factor - environmentally and economically it is possible to implement zero waste management . To give you few instances of people sustainability I need to narrate few incidents  in our community.  To me, this is the most important aspect and forms the basis of a strong foundation of "change" ... At personal level, one  must be prepared for an internal change at  spiritual level.. 


Labour - The change in attitude:
From day one, the old local team trained by Srinivasan wanted to join back and we never gave them an opportunity. We decided to let them go.. so that those who are really in need of a job would come back . By Jan end , we saw the Vellore team leaving considering their impracticality of staying away from family and local old team joining back. Labour problems we faced in the beginning were issues because of right expectation setting, we now operate with an optimal team all trained by Vellore Srinivasan.


Internal politics within management committee :
As far as few people within the association were concerned, it was AID project and no one within residents' welfare association need to be part of this. They felt it was not their duty to be overseeing anything related to ZWM ! When the project was started, we approached the local cleaning contractor to extend their team for managing waste. Internal politics within management committee members ensured this never happened - there were few women MC  members who gave adequate ignition to the local contractor to refrain from doing any ZWM work .  I must mention that the women members who were vehemently opposing ZWM to be clubbed with cleaning were NOT anti waste management, somehow they  did not understand the principles and advantages of "optimized team" ! 


We ignored all this , and went ahead with direct labour recruitment - we could have abandoned the project for lack of support, but never felt like doing that.. We thought , this could be few challenges that are thrown before the project to survive . Srinivasan says, we need to be put through tough situations to come out stronger.. Yes it is true, the coming days were indeed tough..


Single agency to manage cleaning and ZWM :
October and   Nov 2011 were the toughest months for us - one side we were struggling with labour issues and for the first time, we tried to involve management committee in the process of making them understand how important it is to combine cleaning and waste management through a single contracting company. There was a voting done and the majority voted for single agency to manage waste management and cleaning with two members opposing . Once the meeting was over, they conspired and there were emails as response to the secretary's minutes of the meeting saying "the voting was all farce "! The same people who voted for single agency, conveniently said "no " ! and once again the decision was dangling like a sword. This indecision costed ZWM close to Rs 25,500 extra  as charges for collecting waste which went out from ZWM sales money ! Eventually with the support of the new management committee, this too was stopped.


To give a gist of the allegations raised by the "educated" society on a waste management project .  

Voice of anti-ZWM management committee members :
A :“Why do you want apartment association to run social cause.If I am interested in social cause I will do in my personal capacity and contribute to ZWM. Not as an association member. We have been given task of running the welfare of Tungabhadra. I am sorry, I am not interested to run ZWM as part of Tungabhadra, like many others.” 

B: “ Prompt collection of waste from residents' home atleast once a day is of utmost importance. what we do with the collected waste is of little interest to the residents in general. The fact of the matter is even if ZWM is not functioning for some time, residents don't care whereas  if waste is not collected for two days and / or the building is not cleaned regularly, complaints will stream in.   So please think about it well before any decision is taken. Also how much more money can be contributed by the maintenance funds towards ZWM needs to be discussed.”  

B wanted the project to be closed within 3 months of execution ...  

C :  Doesn’t like emails sent by co ordinator praising others,   Thinks ZWM co ordinator is doing this for her fame , Wants to evict ZWM staff staying in terrace, Wants bins in all common areas and never came back with solution of managing mixed waste in those common bins
Opines ZWM issues should never be discussed in MC meetings and it is not MC’s problem

D : “There is no point in combining both the activities together (cleanliness and ZWM). 

E : “During the preliminary meeting of the ZWM, Mr. Srinivas ( AID  was promised that  "select the workforce (people)  and train them  for ZWM activities for Tungabhadra".  Now, the SIX months association of AID is completed,  but our trained workforce is at  'ZERO' level  for ZWM project.

F : Doesn't like the estate manager supporting ZWM  :-)

G: Doesn't like trolleys being used for waste collection ! 



 H: ZWM co cordinator has siphoned money from TRWA for ZWM - there is no verification of accounts  before making such statements ! 


A went one more step ahead - Went on a campaign and used ZWM as a scapegoat before a general body meeting that was to decide on an issue that was against her personal interest ! In the general body that was convened during end of November, ZWM was ripped apart - thanks to A's campaign ! Majority of the people who attended had no clue what was going on. Very few people understood that anti ZWM statements were a plot to safegaurd their personal interests. 


 I wish they knew the effort of Vellore Srinivasan who implemented this project, I wish they realised that AID Volunteers in Seattle direct and play stage shows to raise funds in small droplets which finally became our 5 Lakhs.. Not sure even if they had known, they would have cared...  I wish they had all cared for their children's future on this planet... As parents, grandparents, understanding the waste cycle is important to ensure that  we do not trash the earth. We are borrowing every bit of land, every drop of water, every molecule of clean air from the future of the next generation ... There is no room for politics and manipulation when we are dealing with what we do not own ! 


ZWM team's response :
The lesson from the wild is to remain camouflaged . We took December 2011 to attend to few genuine complaints and we never came out in the open nor did we respond to any email correspondence. We removed all the anti ZWM elements from the mailing group - we decided  not to disturb them with the  three letter acronym Z W M !  There was a fear of closure of the project since the old management committee was dissolved. It was because of  people like Hari Madhu (the treasurer ) who had strong ethical and social thinking that ZWM survived till Dec 2011  .   


Concentrate on your strengths and get into positive action: 
We decided to concentrate on positive aspects - there was an increased vigour  to do sales, especially Panchagavya . Somehow we ensured we attend every "Oota from Thotta" organised by citizen matters - Rajesh and Swapna were deadly contributors. They knew how to sell , and we had support from Mayank , Venkat and Pradeep from AID. We diverted our  energy and zeal to make ZWM survive  towards sale ! It was terrific effort and by end of March 2012, we not only optimised our expenses, we also ensured good inflow of money through sale. Beyond this AID distributed pamphlets on ZWM to every single apartment in Tungabhadra to make the neutral people understand the importance of the project.


ZWM , beyond me and you :
I believe that you cannot control what happens , but you can always control how you react to situations. To this day, all the events that we have witnessed,  ZWM is beyond all of us. We are mere spectators of a change, the outcry of the management committee is only a glimpse of this resistance to change . I always remember this statement by Gandhiji “ First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

The best thing that happened after 5 months of silence  was,  when the new management committee of core members took over , we got an opportunity to objectively explain the project and people issues . It was a make or break and on 21st April 2012, exactly after one year of its' execution the new core management committee (also comprising of old sub committee members who are anti ZWM ), the project was decided to be continued and managed by Tungabhadra Residents' Welfare Association. 

We just need to keep our positive energy and motivation high , rest all is law of nature . ZWM has, should and will continue to run with or without you and me ... It should be a community consciousness and not dependent on individuals. 


Eco consciousness , green thinking and spiritual realisation should be the future world order, all the noise that people create as resistance will just pass.. it has to pass, for the sustainability of homo sapiens as a race.... 


Achievements , in spite of challenges :
1. Tungabhadra , NGV has offset 90% of waste reaching landfills by composting its wet waste and further segregating its dry waste for recycling ie 48 tonnes has been recycled from 54 tonnes of waste generated by the block 
2. The first successful urban model that does both wet and dry waste management  in India emulating the vellore model of waste management 
3. Winer of the Bangalore 'Recyclathon award' in 2011 in the less than 250 apartment category for excellence in waste management - competed with 400 other entries
4. Bangalore Mayor Mrs Sharadamma and 20 BBMP officials had visited Tungabhadra ZWM Centre to understand the entire lifecycle of waste
5. Acknowledge by Karnataka Pollution Control Board as the model to be adopted in the notice sent to all major residential apartments in Bangalore dates 25th Nov 2011
6. Generated enough money to self finance itself with ONLY Rs 60 per apartment per month coming from the association. First model to prove the economic value of waste, generating close to Rs.1,86,364 in 13 months from what is thrown into landfills ! 
7. Obtained a fee waiver of Rs 42 per flat from KHB with effect from Oct 2011 as an incentive for doing waste management and to ensure the monetory benefits are passed on to zero waste management
8. Tungabhadra is now a living example for atleast 3 apartment complexes in Bangalore (HSR Layout, JP Nagar, Ulsoor and a large scale implementation with BBMP participation in Rajarajeswari Nagar _. These apartments take inputs and send visitors to Tungabhadra , NGV to learn about zero waste management
9. Labour challenges were overcome with 4 from the team trained by Srinivasan joining back


Tips to Follow :

1. Ensure the existing contractor for cleaning is also given responsibility to do zero waste management instead of dumping . This is the ONLY way to demand waste management service along with cleaning from contractors who provide services to huge apartment complexes. This has an advantage of having same pool of labour for waste collection and waste segregation - this ensures segregation at source , since the labour who manages waste becomes the true agents of change for the educated society !
2. Continue with constant awareness programs
3. Ignore people with negative thinking, they are always there in the society - but take clues from them if there are geniune corrections to be made - for all you know they make you hone your people skills 
4. Keep the core management committee informed about the financial status and sale proceedings 
5. Ensure proper accounting of sale income and expenses - this is the only proof that will support your project 
6. Take pictures of major events , these are proof of what happened in the past 
7. Ensure under no circumstance we lose our temper with people - this is for the overall benefit of the project - arguments are unnecessary; what is important is our dedication and devotion to work and show outcome - rest will fall in place
8. Involve as many people as possible, while appearing in media - this could still create unavoidable jealousy issues in neighborhood !

Courtesy : The anti ZWM team who helped us in excelling, showing maturity in our reactions and being a strong challenge everytime we intended to relax, this was the trigger for us to generate various graphs , reports and ensure robust sales !


ZWM team of women who are the grass root level workers managing our waste


The different management committees of Tungabhadra  who supported the project from year 2010 - first on initiated, second one implemented, third one is sustaining and improving... 


Mayank Rungta,  Soumya Thontesh, Swapna Manoj, Rajesh who were closely linked during the sales .Dr Meenakshi Bharat who gave her support to involve large number of citizens from outside Tungabhadra to involve and replicate the project. Dr Meenakshi was also instrumental in ensuring some of the medical aspects of ZWM team are ensured. Dhandapany, Ramanath and Ajith who raised funds to sponsor the childrens' education program for the old team. Akshay Yadav and team from Green Commandos who were involved in sharing the AID brochure to all the 220 apartments in Tungabhadra. Mr.Hari Madhu, Rajesh, Mr. Sivaraman, Mr. Behra who supported the project during the previous management committee.  Mr. Alagiri Swami, Capt Prahraj, Manoj Menon ,   Kirti Athreya, Felix A, Santosh Ramakumar, Sunil Khurana from the current management committee who voted for continuing the project.  Many many well wishers and visitors who have supported us and encouraged us ....  Hope the names I have missed out will forgive me for my bad memory ! 

Zero Waste Journey 4 : Economic Sustainability

Continuing from the Zero Waste Journey series .. AID Supported project at Tungabhadra Block, NGV, Bangalore . Sustainability : Topics discussed are Environmental. This blog would be useful for people who are  interested in the economic aspects of waste management. This data could be extrapolated for estimation for your apartment blocks and convincing your residents' welfare association management committee (All values are estimated for an apartment of size 220 )


Economic Sustainability 
While the work on zero waste was going on, I remember our treasurer Mr. Hari Madhu asking me "when will someone join you and actively help you "?  Even when I started, I never had a clue who would help me, but there was always one belief that if you do things out of passion, there would be people who will come and join you - that is nature's law which is beyond me and you. I believe we are mere spectators in a larger scheme of things, if something has to happen, it will and what we can control is how we react to situations.


There was one such person among the 220 apartment whose active participation has not just helped, but has formed a strong financial monitoring of this project with  data - She is Soumya Thontesh ,  a professional accountant  whose profession is to deal with numbers. She sat for my presentation sessions to question on economic sustainability . There was a difference between her and others who questioned on sustainability, once she was convinced of the cause, she became a very active volunteer in the whole process whereas others were no where in the scene . My biggest strength was the active participation of an accountant like her who ensured every single penny spent and received was accounted for  . 


Sales Split in % - Data from April 2011 - April 2012
Approximately 1.8 lakhs was our income from sales for a one year period from what we throw into landfills and dumpyards . Egg shell powder sales was low because of our low effort in marketing . It has a high potential in gardening considering the high calcium percentage the product can offer.

Ideally, compost and leaf mulch should NOT be sold outside the community, these should be used as input for growing organic vegetable garden within the community . In case of Tungabhadra , we are yet to start an organic vegetable garden ... for which there is a very high potential.


Expenditure on waste before implementing zero waste management :
 We spend close to  INR 3.36 Lakhs per block per annum ( Rs.130 per month per apartment ) for collection,  clearing , displacing and dumping waste to landfills without implementing waste management. This could be in the form of women collecting unsegregated waste in small covers and dumping in nearby dumps which would be cleared by a local contractor once in 2 days. The mixed waste from many such apartments get accumulated for 2 days before it is displaced and sent to BBMP trucks parked in common collection points within the locality. Over and above this, there is a heavy use of fuel to transport waste everyday ... Greenhouse gases are not only emitted in  landfills, but also during transportation of waste to landfills in the form of fossil fuel burning.

Then why are we digging our own grave by contributing 3.36 Lakhs ? Why aren't we trying to leverage the same money for "managing waste " and NOT dumping ?


There is a common notion among the educated that once it is waste , the money spent on it is also waste !  Over the decades , people have become insensitive to issues that do not have a direct impact on them . So when landfill issues are articulated with emotion they give a passive response with  "so what" attitude . (You will see more examples while articulating people sustainability in the next section ). 


It is important for environmental thinkers to also understand  economic sustainability - this is the basis of convincing a non - eco thinker NOT resistant to environmental initiatives !

Tertiary Segregation - The revenue generating Step:
Under the guidance of Vellore Srinivasan, we did tertiary for over 6 months and that is when we realized  the potential of converting waste into material . I remember few of the tertiary segregation practice where plastic was removed from cardboard to ensure there is no waste generated while pulping.  


Tertiary segregation has a potential of making 3 times the revenue from waste when compared to secondary especially when you depend on way side Raddiwalas . However an optimal volume of waste  from atleast 1000 households is needed to ensure sustainability.


Demographic Setup of the Community:
The waste generated is proportional to the income earned by the family. This community has 70% bank employees/ people in public sector and 15 % from IT /BPO industry and another 15% in private manufacturing sector / business. Our observation is that the waste generated here is indicative of a middle class society.


Large Companies' waste collecting programmes - Questions to ponder ? :  I was astonished to know that the backside raddiwala was willing to give market rate without much negotiation, double that of these large companies who call it CSR. India has a very strong recycling industry that has evolved over many years. The companies who are giving the consumer throw away rate in the pretext of green thinking are trying to make more money. Can't we jointly agree that they have already polluted by adopting un ecofriendly packaging ? So in that context shouldn't they be paying double the market rate ? Isn't their CSR programme a material retrieving programme through cheap means at lesser market rate ? Let them continue doing what they are doing, but it would make ethical sense if they do NOT call it CSR !
.  
What was the economic model emulated from Vellore model  ? (All numbers are estimated  for 220 flats - the estimation was derived from actual project execution of 13 months ) 


Components : a) Service Charge b) Income from waste d) Estimated Expenditure


a) Service Charge from individual homes for "managing " waste : 


Roughly for urban implementation, this would mean Rs. 100 Per apartment  = Rs. 22,000 (Per Month per block) (Less than Rs. 130 per apartment per month required for collection, clearing and dumping of waste !!) 


b) Income from waste :
Estimated Income  without Tertiary : Rs. 5000 per month per block  (Inclusive of recyclables, composting, mulching) 
Estimated Income with tertiary : Rs.15,000 per month per block  (Inclusive of all of the above) 


c) Total monthly income (a)+(b) = Rs. 27,000 ( lower sale value without tertiary) 


d) Estimated Expenditure 


Expense on Labour : Rs. 18 ,000 
Other expenses  : Rs. 2000 
-----------------------------------------
Total Expense  : Rs. 20,000  per month per block


e) Net Surplus per month predicted = (c) - (d) = Rs. 5,000 per month per block (minimum)


The net surplus should be managed separately for waste management purpose ONLY . In Tungabhadra , a separate account was maintained for waste management purpose managed by the same signatories as the association's account. This ensured there was better accounting of income and expenditure . Only a fixed amount of Rs.2 per apartment per day 


(Rs.13,200 was coming as service charge towards waste management , rest  came from income generation through waste, after 6 months of project execution there was a nominal fee waiver (from common garbage collection fee charged to apartment) from KHB for implementing ZWM  )


Govt Incentive :
At policy level, it is important that government pays an incentive  to apartments who have implemented wet and dry waste segregation. This would ensure  the money paid to contractor who is interested in dumping waste is channelised rightly towards waste management at block level. Incentivization would ensure non eco people within apartments are muted easily for their anti zero waste thinking !


Why Service Charge ? 
Waste management is definitely not an easy job, considering the amount of mixed waste and irresponsible dumping people practice . It is important that we ensure the women dealing with segregating waste gets adequately remunerated . Also in order for ethical disposal of  waste, there is a price that a waste generator needs to pay . This price is far below the price paid by all of us in polluting our environment  for generations to come. 


a) Equate the pollution caused by lead pollution in our water sources through landfills  to the Rs.100 service charge that we are paying per month  to manage the same waste that is being offset  
b) Equate the pollution we cause in some distant farming land to the  Rs. 130 spent on collection and dumping into some BBMP truck ? 
c) Isn't Rs.100 cheaper for us to adopt ZWM than Rs.130 for dumping  ? 
d) Or how does it matter if we were to estimate Rs. 150 service charge and ensure we employ few more people who can ensure the more eco friendly tertiary segregation as suggested by Vellore Srinivasan ?


Conclusion : 
Total expenses for segregated collection and waste management = Rs.22, 000 + Rs. 6000 = Rs.28,000  (Rs. 3.36 Lakhs per annum ) 


We are paying Rs.3.36 lakhs per annum prior to implementing zero waste management for collecting and dumping waste ! ( See section " Expenditure on waste before implementing zero waste management " )


Isn't this economically viable and self sustaining initiative to adopt in your apartment ?  It would make it more viable when 2-3 blocks with a total of 1000 houses can manage primary, secondary and  tertiary segregation by sharing common resources like labour, infrastructure, transportation expenses . The net surplus thus created can be used for further improving zero waste initiatives and also in initiating organic terrace gardening within the blocks ! 


NOTE: The economic viability has been discussed in detail ONLY to ensure that apartments who are resisting to do waste management has an understanding of the economics involved. This is NOT a profit making business .... the money generated will only aid in sustaining .


(See the next blog in the zero waste series : Zero Waste Journey 5 : People Sustainability) 
http://meeresh.blogspot.in/2012/04/zero-waste-journey-5-people.html


Courtesy : KHB Chief engineer, Asst Executive engineer who supported us in getting the land and our much awaited fee waiver for initiating the project, Balbir Bora who supported us since its' inception by buying leaf mulch , compost and Panchagavya, Oota from Thota where we could sell our Panchagavya, Mr. Jayaraj of Greenpath who gave us opportunity to sell in Era Organics and spread word about zero waste management . Vani Murthy who supported in spreading word about our organic products and project, Antara Mukherji who supported in designing our posters , the various raddiwalas who gave us a good rate to sustain the project inspite of hiccups . SWMRT and BBMP for encouraging us through the Bengaluru Recyclathon Awards, KSPCB who supported our project with a written directive to all apartments within NGV to follow Tungabhadra Model

Zero Waste Journey 3 : Environmental Sustainability

Continuing from the Zero Waste Journey series .. AID Supported project at Tungabhadra Block, NGV, Bangalore . Sustainability : Topics discussed are Environmental. This blog would be useful for people who are  interested in the operational aspects of waste management. (All values are estimated for an apartment of size 220 )


Environmental Sustainability 

It is interesting to think of sustainability after running this project for 13 months of execution. 
Before getting into the project, my sole aim of sustainability was environmental sustainability.  . Within the first month of the project execution we could arrive at daily figures of waste generation both wet and dry. At the end of 1 month, we arrived at 4.5 Tonnes per month as our total waste output from 220 apartments within Tungabhadra. Which means, 54 tonnes of waste is generated from 220 apartments per annum. Out of this ,  we were able to reduce 90% (48 tonnes ) from reaching the landfills . The waste that is left for regular garbage collector is sanitary pads and diapers and plastic covers that are too soiled with wet waste mixing. The objective of the project to reduce waste reaching landfills causing health hazards to unknown and poor people was successfully met.


Typically , 50-60% comprises of wet waste and remaining is dry waste. This ratio can change depending on the strata of the community . An experiment done by Srinivasan in Dollar's colony , Bangalore showed a high output of dry waste - the men there drink too much producing lot of beer and wine bottles and the women there shop too much producing dry waste of higher quality :-) !

Environmental sustainability was the easiest aspect that was achieved , in the first month we reduced 90% from reaching landfill. 



The intend of AID was  to give job to local people through an environmentally sustainable project and to ensure there is reduction of waste reaching landfills. Chosing a city like Bangalore could also attract and inspire many more apartments ... within NGV and beyond.


Implementation Challenges :
1. Landspace of 40x60 ft was not difficult to find within NGV . However, the time involved in getting the approval to use the space was over 6 months. It is also important to ensure the ZWM centre is not to close and not too far away (keep atleast 40 ft  distance) from the residential community where the zero waste is being implemented. This landspace and infrastructure can manage waste from 660 apartments (3 Blocks) - today this manages just one block's waste. In case of Tungabhadra, 80% of initial setup cost of infrastructure (the shed for segregating waste and composting) came from AID . The remaining came as one time cost from residents  .  Landspace was provided by Karnataka Housing Board, adjacent to the Tungabhadra block so that the waste collected is also segregated and managed locally before sending for recycling. 


2. Infrastructure : Building a low cost infrastructure has been an important aspect. Srinivasan's philosophy was to ensure there is no waste generated from the material that has gone into making of the centre . The initial roofing was of tarpaulin could not survive the Bangalore rains, and we had to use fibre sheet roofing which escalated the cost and compromised on the flooring plans.


It is important to have flooring and compost beds ( models of low cost compost beds available with Vellore Srinivasan ) to ensure there is higher volume of waste managed per bed - we are yet to adopt this and what we now have is a very low cost compost bed with no side walls - this is a disadvantage. 


3. Labour : NGV has a proximity to Viveknagar/ Neelasandra slum from where most of the domestic and cleaning staff depend on over 2500 apartments within NGV for work. Unlike rural where Srinivasan's other implementations were made possible, the challenge was to attract people in need of steady flow of income.  The initial attitude of labour was a challenge as can be seen below : 



We celebrated the first salary given to the ZWM workers with lot of sharing and caring with them distributing sweets and making them part of an extended family. What we didnot realise was, one lady who was a strong influencer in the team failed to understand our salary cycle and instigated the rest , overnight ! The very next day  only one woman turned up for work ! This had a direct bearing on our waste collection since we were dependent on them .  By afternoon we had the entire worker team join back - they had a very innate capability to turn plates upside down based on situations.. Humans are humans, be it rich or poor  - politics and manipulation to our advantage is in our blood , else you are a saint !


At the end of 6 months of project execution the same team decided to leave  - their demand was they wanted baksheesh from us on a festival day. When we tried to explain that extra money would come with salary, the women who were given incentives like yearly education support for their children, loan and salary advance every month decided to conspire against us and leave. They left as of 6th Oct and thought we would negotiate.. By then we had got a backup team to support and they were put on job , and we resorted back to cleaning women for waste collection once again. The situation could have gone out of control if not for the backup team from Vellore who were mostly comprising of disabled people.  However, after a week we saw the old team were interested in joining back and within 3 months atleast 4 of them joined us back with a change in attitude.


Talent Retention   :
What attracts women to work ?
a) Steady inflow of money
b) Salary advance after salary is given - most of them have hand to mouth existence with huge loan to be repaid every month; cash liquidity gives them comfort 
c) Working with people whom they are comfortable with - they have lot of internal politics in their community which they carry to workplace
d) Timings - they like to come for work by 9:30 AM and leave by 5:30 PM
e) Proximity to home  



Movables required for the project implementation (Sample List)  : This was borne by Tungabhadra residents by paying Rs.500 per apartment which constituted 20% of project launch cost
a) Trolleys and drums for collecting waste
b) Red and Green bins for every house 
c) Tools required at the ZWM centre (example aluminum bins for segregation)
d) Information board for every household
e) Fly trapper


Planning for manual leaf shredder would also be ideal in order to ensure faster leaf mulching


Pre ZWM waste collection Process

The process involved in achieving Environmental Sustainability
1. Awareness Building : 

We conducted 6 sessions for 2 days involving the residents and maids of the apartment . We had Vellore Srinivasan, Dr Meenakshi as external speakers. It is important to show an external face in your community since there are higher chances of audience listening to someone new. We also screened the movie "Garbage to Gold " (www.zerowastemanagement.org) . Kids were involved through quiz and poster making organised and planned by a women sub committee

2. Primary Segregation or Segregation at Source : This is the foundation of waste management. The better we do segregation at source into wet and dry , the easier it is to manage waste once collected. Wet (green colour) bin and Dry (red colour) bins were provided to every household along with instructions as below . Prior to the project launch we provided this kit.  In the initial few months we saw atleast 60% waste being segregated at source. However, with less of constant awareness the segregation at source has not reduced to just 40% .. Continuous awareness is required atleast every 4 months to ensure segregation at source is ensured.
 .

3. Formal Project Launch (9th April 2011):We had a formal function involving residents, kids and also invitees from all walks of life , teachers, school children, horticulture department, NGV Central association to launch the project . We held this function and flagged off our trolleys and explained how the system would work post implementing zero waste management 

4. Segregated Collection System :

5. Secondary Segregation  (Back end process managed by ZWM team employed):
Plastic covers come in large quantities in the wet bin and hence need to be removed. Small sachets of sweets , ghutka are always a menace and they invariably are dumped into wet bin , beyond this there is a threat of sanitary pads that find their way into wet bin . Now we know that our wet drums are not really wet and our dry drums are not really dry, since our primary segregation with all the awareness is NOT fool proof. So the wet drums and dry drums need further segregation . This phase onwards is performed by a team of ZWM workers who are paid to do "waste management" and not waste dumping.


a) Wet waste Secondary : The dry items in the wet bin need to be separated before the food waste is put into the compost bed. The plastics covers mixed with food are washed and air dried to ensure  maggots are not attracted.Citrus peels are removed in order to ensure there is no acidic component in compost

Cowdung Magic : Anytime if you are faced with smell coming from the composting unit,  it is time to question the amount of cowdung going into the compost bed . The food waste need to be dipped in cowdung slurry before putting into the compost bed so that every molecule has the baterial innoculant added. Once I was faced with an issue where the women working at the centre broke the bed without my knowledge and put everything outside the centre - this was just one month after we started the project .... How can one stop the smell ? One golden advice from Srinivasan was to add cow dung and we added generously . I must tell you it acts like a switch on the smell ... that was my personal experience - anytime, I get slight smell near the centre, I make them add more of cowdung . 


Srinivasan is right, waste when managed on time, is material and the manual labour required converts what is dumped into resource.. Our experience at secondary and tertiary segregation is a direct experience and proof of what Srinivasan had not just been preaching, but practicing . When I was talking about how people dumped sanitary pads, he recalled how they got human parts from surgery section which came in a large black bag ! We need more Srinivasans to inspire people.. 


b) Dry  waste Secondary : Dry waste is further segregated into cardboards, paper, plastic covers, bottles, plastic items, metals . Secondary of waste would ensure various types of waste is separated based on the nature of their material. The material at secondary level if sold would have a rough market value of Rs.2 to Rs.4 per kg. There would be lot of plastic embedded inside cardboard/ paper which can cause wastage during recycling, if not properly segregated.

c) Dry  waste Tertiary Segregation : Srinivasan with his extensive understanding and research in the recycling market, has arrived at 13 different types of paper, 44 types of plastic items, 22 types of plastic covers, 9 types of cardboard. This level of segregation not only ensures finer segregation without generation of waste while recycling. 

To illustrate an example, the regular pet bottle comprises of 3 different items
 1. Pet bottle (white or colour)
 2. BOPP plastic , which is the label (it comes under plastic cover category)  
3. The cap  is PP plastic . 
If we were to send the pet bottle for recycling, the middle men would do this level of segregation to retrieve maximum material and price from pet bottle. BOPP plastic would normally be burnt by the recycler as it is not viable for him to send to plastic cover recycling company.. ! So your pet bottle is not completely recycled unless tertiary is done. Likewise,  there are many items that are burnt when it reaches recyclers who do not specialise or make money from that specific material.





6. Leaf Mulching :

A total of 4119 Kg of leaf mulch was sold between April 2011 and April 2012 in Tungabhadra. The leaf was collected within NGV premises.

7. Releasing our Products after 60 days (4th June 2011):
This step was necessary to give awareness to residents about the waste lifecycle and what is the back end processing done with the waste they have segregated and dumped. A day before the World Environment Day (5th June) we decided to release our products from waste collected for 2 months.

Other aspects that could be considered (Not implemented in Tungabhadra)  :
Bio gas plant or bio methanation unit - would reduce need for composting and sale of compost . This would also reduce the space required for managing wet waste. However, one needs to estimate the waste quantity that would go as input before implementing
What we dump to landfills and need for Continued Awareness :
1. Diapers and Sanitary pads
2. Non Recyclable plastic covers - aluminum coated plastic covers - Our bad eating habits is the real culprit !

When there is clear instruction to wrap sanitary pads and diapers in newspaper and mark with red sketch pen, the educated community dumps irresponsibly as seen in the below picture. Only 40% of waste comes as segregated remaining is all mixed inspite of awareness through door to door campaigns, posters and various video screening. 

 Economic and People Sustainability :  Read  blogs in below links
http://meeresh.blogspot.in/2012/04/zero-waste-journey-4-economic.html
http://meeresh.blogspot.in/2012/04/zero-waste-journey-5-people.html


Courtesy : Residents of Tungabhadra who segregated waste at source and co operated with the project, the management committee and association who supported. Vellore Srinivasan who was at the project site for over 6 months hand holding with us as and when we needed his help, Dr Meenakshi Bharath who supported in our initial awareness sessions, Mr Khanauttulla, Principal , KK English School who came with his school children and addressed the crowd with an inspirational speech during the inauguration day, Jithendra who supported in translating Vellore Srinivasan's talk in Kannada, the women committee who supported in awareness building and kids participation (Soumya, Meeta, Renu, Preeti, Bhagya, Remy, Kirti, Malini, , Latha, Sudha )


About Vellore Srinivasan and his passion :
Srinivasan's field experience and knowledge of various material and market is the root cause of this high income in the form of sales. If there had been issues, it was purely because of initial teething problems and various infrastructure restrictions that we as a team faced. I am glad that I never listened to the speculations and conclusions of "arm- chair " environmentalists who said "Srinivasan just talks" ..  My personal experience has been it was very very difficult for me to keep up with Srinivasan's passion on the topic. He would come in at 6:00 AM in the morning and work along with the labourers to train them on secondary and tertiary ... and often he would end his day at 1:00 AM in the midnight. One man, not just training people at the grass root level, but trying to bring in funds, mentoring other AID projects over phone , dealing with Govt for implementing similar models in distant parts of India , as distant from his home-town as North East India, sending reports to sponsorers of other AID projects he is managaing ! He has always made me feel, we at IT Industry are more or less lethargic and lazy people :-) Someone who earns close to 20 lakh per annum in a company could be heard saying "this company gives me peanuts " ! And here, we have Srinivasan who was never a slave to money or power, it was sheer passion towards environment that was driving him and for a lesser mortal like me, it was a tough task to keep up the same passion and contribute towards a common goal.

Channels of mass communication
The news of Tungabhadra doing waste management helped us in connecting with many more apartments who were interested in waste management. We were supporting atleast 3-4 apartments in the implementation of waste management in Bangalore 

Zero Waste Journey 2 : Making of the Centre

Coming from God's Own Country ,  getting drenched in monsoon is not new to me. I love the huge droplets that fall on the large canopy above ... long after the rain stops,  water droplets fall  from the trees.. No "poppykkuda" (a popular umbrella brand in Kerala) can save us from these ferocious monsoons. Northeast monsoon brings thunderstorms and lightning. Rain has always brought joy.. the feeling that the trees you have planted is not starved of water, somewhere a farmer is benefiting from the downpour.. 


The making of Zero Waste Management (ZWM) centre started in Feb 2011. KHB gave an approval to build a structure not with mortar and concrete . With the available budget from AID, we built a structure with iron poles and cut stones. The roofing was of tarpaulin . After the project launch on April 9th 2011, by the third week, Bangalore was getting good showers. Somehow, I wouldn't sleep when it is raining.. There was a very deep fear in me that the tarpaulin will not hold the water. To confirm my fears, one day I saw water holding on the tarpaulin and realised we are in for trouble. 

AID team volunteering to carry the heavy tarpaulin with Srini

There was a heavy downpour one evening and the fear made me rush down to see the state of the centre. I was standing inside the centre, when a heavy metal frame fell few inches from me. I just saw that the women were all out and it was just me inside the centre... Just then for my luck, the block estate manager , Gopi walked in and he had the presence of mind to cut open the tarpaulin to let water into the centre. A smart move to ensure there was no further weight on the roof.  I must admit that for the next few days, I dreaded rain..


I cannot forget how Venkat Hari from AID arrived right in time to make decisions on the roof - it not just helped in getting the understanding of the situation at the centre, but ensured there was emergency funding released for repairing the damage.


The making of the centre has given me contacts of blacksmith , masons, electrician and contractor. Finally, with a good support from Venkat, AID Seattle team, and Senthil from AID we got a contractor engaged for a proper roofing of the centre - a very important and vital step to ensure safety for future.


Moral of the story : Any well thought project can have surprises like these, how we react to it is purely dependent on the people involved in it .. In this case, AID team had a good understanding of the field information and they were able to mobilise more funds .

MC Members Rajesh and Mr.Felix with AID team Balaji during construction of ZWM centre

Zero Waste Series of Blogs on Sustainability :
http://meeresh.blogspot.in/2012/04/zero-waste-journey-3-environmental.html

http://meeresh.blogspot.in/2012/04/zero-waste-journey-4-economic.html
http://meeresh.blogspot.in/2012/04/zero-waste-journey-5-people.html


Courtesy  : Estate Manager, Gopi who saved my life, Senthil from AID for being a good moral support, Venkat Hari from AID, AID Seattle team who got funding to get the new roofing, Balaji  from AID for getting  funds on time for the entire infrastructure.. Last but never the least, people like Mayank and Samarendra who were providing support during the construction whenever we called for help !

Zero Waste Journey 1 : The beginning

(Starting a new series of blogs based on my experience in implementing  zero waste management project at Tungabhadra Block, sponsored by Association for India's Development )


My love for nature dates back to my childhood. Brought up in a pristine environment , I had a very strong connection with nature which I forgot in my journey for making money and climbing the corporate ladder. In year 2006 , I happened to attend Prof R Rajagopalan's one week workshop at Auroville on environmental sustainability. Later I happened to be part of Sanctuary Asia's "Kid's for Tigers" initiative as a volunteer to instill environment awareness in children. It helped me connect with children across various schools in Bangalore. Beyond this, got a rare opportunity to trail through the forests with Dr. Anish Andheria , a fine wildlife biologist and Director of Sanctuary Asia. The workshops, the wildlife trails awakened the nature lover in me  and I felt a strong urge to work towards a cause that was for the planet . 


In year 2007, I adopted the Khambha (www.dailydump.org)  for composting my food waste.  Dr Meenakshi Bharath, a gynecologist turned environmentalist had anchored a one day workshop later in year 2008 to introduce C Srinivasan to Bangaloreans. C Srinivasan is better known as Vellore Srinivasan. Srinivasan's workshop  convinced me that the way to do waste management in large scale was inevitable and important for this society. Since then I was on a personal mission to implement zero waste management within a community , it didn't matter if the community was small or big, the important aspect was to implement the model .... 


While I spoke to many people about this model, there was always a mixed response, some felt Srinivasan is a mere talker, some felt it is not viable to use cows , some felt economic sustainability is not possible and few were of the opinion that it could work. To me, everything was new. All I knew was I was not an expert on waste management - from the many people I had met, it was Srinivasan who seemed to have good knowledge on waste management and its entire cycle, be it wet waste composting or dry waste segregation and sale and he had practical experience  from implementing projects.


In year 2010,  Association for India's Development was looking for prospective communities who could implement the Vellore model in an urban community.  That was when my desire to implement waste management in a community met with AID's desire to sponsor a project  - with the strong support of Vellore Srinivasan.


The Starting Trouble
It is not enough if we have desire , it is important to have will and the patience and persistence. I realised this truth during my 6 month long persuasion with Karnataka Housing Board to approve land that was used as a semi-dump yard behind our block. Everyday, before leaving for office, I would go and wait in front of the assistant executive engineer. He was a good man and we need to understand his position before they approve a land . After about 3 months of persuasion, it came from him," I wanted to know how serious you were ..". Well, for someone who makes it like a ritual going to KHB office everyday, the desire and will could be strong..  but that is when I realised I need to have more patience.. Govt has very courteous people, they make you submit various documents and letters on behalf of the association , they will keep it safe in their files .. but it may take them few months to take action. 




There was one basic question from KHB , "how will you do waste management" ? None of them were aware at that point in time.. All we had to do was to make  them watch the movie "Garbage to Gold " (/www.zerowastemanagement.org) which gave a strong message through Vellore Srinivasan's implementation of waste management . Since this was the first urban model being implemented, it was difficult to show a working model within Bangalore and inspire people to take action.


People in Government Offices : We come with a baggage that "all government people are bad". Well, like all of us they too have families, they deal with problems of this city more than we do. However they are also caught in  tug of wars by politicians or low level officers who want to make some quick buck. The entire credit of approving the land goes to the Chief Engineer of Karnataka Housing Board. He has truly internalised and understood the importance of this project for the benefit of Bangalore . I would say these are people who have power and whose strong will to support would yield results ... solid results..  We need to work with more people like him .


Finally, after 6 months of walking up to KHB, writing letters on behalf of Tungabhadra association, we got the approval to use the land for zero waste management purpose.. ONLY. 


AND, on 1st Feb 2011, AID started the initial work to build the infrastructure on the approved land . Land site before implementation of zero waste and after implementation it was converted into a space for managing waste and not dumping and misplacing waste !



(Read ahead the new " Zero Waste Journey " Series )


Courtesy : KHB staff who appoved the land,  KHB Chief Engineer Mr Bisse Gowda who supported the cause,  


The TRWA management committee of 2010 who supported the cause :  Rajeev Jayarajan , Secretary , Capt Gabriel , President , Mr. Felix, Vice President -  .