Garbology lessons create a new generation of little waste warriors

“In this ‘Follow the Bottle’ month, our students track the bottle’s journey from source to end,” says Shyamala Raja, coordinator of Garbology, a program on waste management in 10 schools (managed by the RAMCO Group). of which five are government-aided), in Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu. Last month, in the ‘Map my soft drink’ programme, children learned to make an informed choice about the container when deciding which soft drink to pick up. Shyamala says, “When disposed of, a PET bottle will remain in a landfill for hundreds of years, a metal container can be recycled, and a glass bottle can be reused at least 30 times.” The responsibility of making the choice is in our hands. ,

Conceived and created by Auroville-based social entrepreneurs Ribhu Vohra and Chandrah Nusselin, the Garbology journey began in 2011 with the founding of Westless, a non-profit social enterprise. “We believe that, through education, we can start a significant change along the way. We create, dispose of and think about waste. We had a dream that children should be the changemakers in the home. home and inspire change there.”

Influenced by the research behind the program, Nirmala Raju, who heads the Rajapalayam-based Ramco Group’s CSR initiative, introduced the concept in 2014 at Arsha Vidya Mandir in Chennai. “We have Swachh Bharat Mission but what is the process behind the management. Our garbage?” she asked. Simultaneously she facilitated the subject in 10 schools in Rajapalayam, five government-aided and five schools under the Ramco group. She also met the state education minister and included the subject in textbooks in 2019. Integrated in and taught in 234 government schools in Tamil Nadu. Activity-based programs were halted during the pandemic but are now in full swing.

“We signed an MoU to train government school teachers in the subject and integrate the concept in the textbooks” Nirmala says, adding that the behavior change in the children was evident and was a major reason why the program should be part of the curriculum. needed. In a follow-up action, representatives of schools from 37 districts were trained in four sessions at Tiruchirappalli and Rajapalayam. “We were sitting with government teachers and writing garbology concepts. Millions of textbooks were printed in Tamil, English and Arabic,” says Nirmala, adding that information on plastics was integrated into the chapter on carbon and its compounds.

Interactive Educational Tools

One of the first programs, Garbology 101, is an interactive educational tool for ages six-12. A free online version, GarboLite includes 13 extensively tested classroom activities designed to develop knowledge of waste management and inspire behavior change.

Ribhu quit his corporate job in the Netherlands in 2008 and spent a year traveling around the world, discovering that waste management is a challenge in every country. He spent more than three years working with residents and local government on on-the-ground waste management projects, researching innovative and sustainable ways to increase resource recovery from Indian waste. Together with Chandra, with their background in child-centered pedagogy, the two developed Garbology 101.

In addition to observing best practices in all countries, the two co-design programs with teachers and students. “We sit at the back of the classrooms and watch the teacher open up our material and observe the students’ reactions,” says Ribhu. “We see a keen interest in sharing information and 97% and ninety-nine percent of children go back home and share information with their parents.” The team’s latest offering is the kNOw Plastics program which includes a memory game.

Arpita Reddy, Deputy Correspondent, Arsha Vidya Mandir, Chennai says, “We started the activity-oriented program from class I to VIII in 2014 and are seeing a clear change in the behavior of students towards waste management.” Some of their activities include segregation of waste at source, weighing and knowing the amount of waste generated daily, and composting of waste in the school. “Children learn to live sustainably in a very systematic way and are now familiar with topics related to solid waste management and composting, such as conscious consumerism and resource conservation. Senior students analyze the impact of waste; they know that corporations have What goes and will end up in landfills,” says Arpita. The school uses ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) paper made from wheat straw, has a system to lend textbooks to the next batch of students, student steel lunch boxes And use steel bottles.

Small Waste Warriors of Devaiah Memorial Preparatory School in Bittangala, Coorg

little useless warrior

The first batch of eight-10 year olds to learn garbology at Devaiah Memorial Preparatory (DMP) School in Bittangala, Coorg, are called Little West Warriors. In the Waste Relay Race, they race to separate a mixed bag of waste into four baskets: wet, dry, hazardous and discarded. Faced with doubts over a bottle of nail polish or a perfume bottle, they make an informed choice and place it in the appropriate basket. Amidst the noise, laughter and confusion, the game teaches them to distinguish solid waste.

Savita Chengappa of the family-run boarding school says that Garbology was introduced in the school in 2017 which was established in 1980. The school follows low waste and sustainable policies. Six months into his curriculum, he put on The Garbology Skit in Kannada and took the act to government and tribal schools. “We reached out to around 800 children and their teachers. Children are the best medium to teach to other children and their parents too,” says Savita.

Pawan Ayyappa, a volunteer teacher with DMP, says this subject is part of the curriculum. “We have added two more R-Rethink and Repair- to the four R-Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Refuge- of waste management,” says Pawan. Lessons make youth think about ‘want and need’ and think about ‘use and throw’ actions to ‘repair and enhance’ the life cycle. A mechanical engineer and planter, Pawan shuttles between Coorg and Bangalore. By the end of 2018, he says the children of the DMP had spread the concept “taught” to more than 800 children and their teachers in various schools. “We are reviving this topic because COVID-19 has put it on hold,” he says.

An upcycled lamp made using empty soft drink cans by students of Arsha Vidya Mandir, Chennai

Shyamala speaks proudly about the innovative ways that children are translating learning into day-to-day lives. In Swachh Vaibhavam, a festival on the theme of Garbology held at PSK Auditorium at PACR Educational Trust Campus in Rajapalayam, children made a mobile urinal using bubble top water containers, lampshades from single-use plastics, sofas from old tires and scientific teaching. Help with old stuff lying in the house. “These are all manifestations of a change in thinking,” she says.

The program was kept alive through WhatsApp during the pandemic. “Most of our students are from underprivileged backgrounds and do not have access to online facilities. So we took to social media, sent videos and shared their stories on waste management. We have kept the theme alive and are rejuvenating it with the Follow the Bottle programme,” she says.

Many school teachers report new behaviors such as students bringing birthday treats without packaging and homemade items instead of chocolates packed in plastic.

Shyamala recalls a former student: “Madam, your face lit up whenever I found the resin code on a plastic object.” She says happily, “It feels good to be remembered like this; Resin codes tell us how safe or harmful a plastic is. It is mandatory for manufacturers to have a code on plastics.”